Just to clarify my earlier point. As a former Best Buy employee who was periodically pressured by department managers to sell service plans at any cost, I can assure you that they are generally a rip-off. (Don't even get me started on the ways BB expects its employees to act like commissioned salespeople without actually giving them commissions) Best Buy pushes the extended warranties, because they are the single biggest way the company can improve its margins. By and large, service plans are all profit. After they're sold, the company does EVERYTHING it can to avoid making good on claims. When I worked in the Geek Squad, I was explicitly told to give customers a hard time: to delay service, try to convince the customer that everything was fine, or to obfuscate as much as possible. Turn around times are terrible, and there is little, if any, support for the end user at the corporate level. Granted, these are one man's observations while working at two stores here in southern Arizona. Still, I would urge you to stick with Applecare and avoid Best Buy's plans like the plague...unless you are exceedingly tenacious and don't mind waiting for multiple weeks/months for repairs/service. True, Applecare doesn't cover accidental damage, but my experience has always been that there is some wiggle room. Plus, Apple's customer support is second to none, in my opinion, and the value of the phone support has inestimable value. Caveat emptor wth BB.
