In January of 2007, for reasons documented elsewhere, I made the switch to Mac. Well, it was sort of a switch back; the first computer I ever bought myself was a Rev B iMac back in 1998, then I bought a Dell notebook in 2003. I’ve been quite happy to smoke the ApplePipe, and will be content to do so for the foreseeable future.
That said, the one thing about my MacBook that has been frustrating has been how the plastic on the case cracks. It’s not a unique problem, unfortunately, and is a known design flaw. I’ll be getting one of the aluminum case MacBooks next time around, for sure.
On the other hand, AppleCare has made the problem go away twice now. The first time, since the nearest Apple Store is an hour and a half away, I sent it in; it took two and a half weeks to get it back, so I’m not likely to do that again. This time, I drove up to the Apple Store, dropped it off, and the next day had it back.
When I picked it up, I asked the customer service person, “Out of curiosity, how much would that repair have cost if I didn’t have AppleCare?”
“Around $200.”
AppleCare cost me about $180, as I recall; therefore, having this done twice, it has paid for itself and saved me another $220 (and keeps the machine in decent condition for when I sell it down the road). Just to be realistic, let’s go ahead and toss in $20 worth of gas — I’m still $200 better off than I would have been paying for the repairs out of pocket.
Many thanks to the good folks at the Keystone Crossing Apple Store in Indianapolis!
Leitourgeia kai Qurbana: Contra den Zeitgeist 
Oh dear. Mine is doing the same thing, and I didn’t buy AppleCare. That’s a hefty price to replace a toothpick’s worth of plastic… think Scotch tape would work?
I would call Apple Customer Service; I have heard of cases where non-AppleCare customers have been able to have it fixed for free because it is a known design flaw on the part of Apple.