I bought a 3 year plan through Best Buy when I bought my laptop for college. I have had things replaced well exceeding the cost of the plan. For example, within the first month or two of owning it, something happened to the motherboard and everything inside had to be replaced. Just got it back from having the right speaker replaced and a new power jack put in (I was told the power jack out of warranty would be about a $400 fix, so figure what it would be if it was major like my first problem). It is always better to have it just in case. So far, I have never had an extended warranty not be used on anything I have bought one for.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. We just picked up a HP for my wife back in February at BestBuy and it has been a great laptop. It has the 17" screen so we are looking at the same one with a 15" screen for the kid.

I guess when we get there, I'll start asking questions and make my decision from what I hear and the price I see.

I hate to pay the extra money. It's like car insurance. I can't imagine the amount of money I have paid my insurance company over 21 years to cover two cracked windshields. That's it.