Apple is a business. If they did not tell you about AppleCare, how would you find out about it? The employees at the Apple Store are required to tell you about it if you buy a computer there. $149 is not a lot of money to basically have a replacement plan for your Mac mini and get 3 years of unlimited technical support. You can't scratch the LCD on a Mac mini because it does not have one!

As far as portables go, I have seen Apple replace and repair many iBooks and Powerbooks under AppleCare where there was visible abuse by the owner. They are very good about taking care of the customer as long as you are not a jerk about it.