PS3 Extended Warranties - Which & Why?

I'm planning on buying a 160GB Playstation 3 Slim this holiday, possibly on Black Friday. I already own a Microsoft Xbox 360 Slim with no extended warranty. At the time of purchase the Best Buy warranty seemed really high, and when I brought it home and decided to buy a Square Trade warranty, I noticed I no longer could because I live in Wisconsin. Square Trade no longer deals with my state, some issue with regulations.

So here's my dilemma: I will most likely buy a warranty if I'm able to, but I haven't decided from where yet.

My choices:

-- Target (??)
-- Best Buy (I checked - $59.99 for 2 years for systems priced to a max of $299.99)
-- Buy from any store and order an extended warranty from Sony ($44.99 1 year, $59.99 2 years)
-- Gamestop (??)


Have any of you had any experience with these? I'm looking for repair stories, good & bad, any horror stories, etc.

Best Buy's 'warranties' suck anymore. They used to have a Product Replacement Plan, which allowed you to go in, say 'my shit's broke' and they would tell you to go grab another one and swap out right then and there. Of course, then you'd have to buy a new warranty on it, but that's to be expected.

But since then they've replaced that great plan with the Product Service Plan, where they have to send it out three times to attempt a repair on it before they give you a replacement and then I believe the replacement is going to be either a new OR used console at THEIR discretion.

As for Target or buying an extended warranty from Sony, I don't know how Target's warranties run, but I do know that you NEED to keep your original receipt from when you buy the PS3 in a safe place. Why? Because Sony will REQUIRE a copy of the receipt to be sent in with the console if you should happen to need to send it in for service while their factory warranty(one year) is still in effect. Unfortunately, they also may not send you back your original PS3 you sent in to them.

If anything, I would say go to Costco if you have one in your state, as many people keep mentioning how they will take a return of an item bought there even YEARS after the original warranty has lapsed. Although I also remember seeing that they tightened that up a bit recently somewhere.

I know this really doesn't answer your question completely, but it should give you some info on which to base your decision. Hope it helps...

I'm not really concerned about getting back the exact same system I would send in for repairs. Almost all companies send out refurbished systems under warranty to cut down on the amount of time repairing the exact system you sent in and returning it to you. As long as I'm sent a system of the same system level or greater (I mail in a slim 160GB, they send me a slim 160GB or better) It's fine.

I stopped in to Best Buy tonight to get the Xbox Live 12month for $30 after coupon and also looked at their warranty plan. I agree that it has special verbage now speaking about how they can repair it first then decide to replace. The employee there said that Geek Squad takes a stab at it first. I asked if Geek Squad was certified Sony Repair center, and they said no, but it couldn't hurt. I think it could, as it states in Sony's warranty verbage that the warranty is void if a non-certified repair is done.

So far I'm thinking of buying an extended Sony warranty. That way it doesn't matter where I buy the system. The holiday deal is looking better at Target anyway.

I bought a Target warranty once for a portable tv, and they needed to be activated by going to a website and punching in a code. The whole process seemed a little hokey.

Need an actuary to weigh in here...failure rate vs cost vs repair cost vs replacement cost. You actually need failure rate @

I bought mine with my American Express. They add an extra year to the warranty.

Plus, I've never got the impression that the failure rate on PS3s was so bad that you needed to worry about it not making it very far once the warranty was out. Especially if you don't put it in a tiny cabinet with no room to breath. Personally, if mine breaks after the second year of warranty is up, then I'd probably rather just be putting that $50 towards the new one.

I have an extended warranty on one item. My iPod Touch 64GB. Why? Because the battery cannot be replaced by me and Square Trade said they would consider a battery that has diminished capacity as warranting replacement. Most of these portable device's batteries don't perform as well after a couple years.

The PS3 would be on a metal 3 level shelf. The Xbox 360 S would be on top since it has a airflow vent on the top of it. The PS3 would be on the second level, and my Sony Blu-ray player would be on the bottom shelf. There's roughly 1ft of open air space around the metal shelf unit, and each shelf is made up of tiny airflow holes. Each shelf has an interior space of 7 inches (between the shelf piece and the next level's bottom). I'm not about to give up the Sony Blu-Ray player even if the PS3 can do Blu-Ray, as I've grown attached to it.

The room is a closed bedroom used by me as an office. Opposite wall has an iMac and various other computer equipment. There is carpeting but it is not high traffic, and is very thin.

The only problem I can see for example with my current setup is that it attracts dust. Not thick, but just regular house dust. I have a dog but he doesn't shed and doesn't spend time in this room. I don't smoke.

Temperature-wise this room tends to be on the cold side. It shares a eastern wall with my garage. So cold that in the winter I have been known to bring in a heater and let it run on low to make it more tolerable.

I too have a 4th Gen iPod Touch 64GB with Applecare warranty. I got the warranty because I've replaced a 2nd gen touch under warranty once before.

Thinking out loud to my past, I have replaced a Xbox 360 original release model. I have owned the PS1, PSOne, PS2 Phat, PS2 Slim, PSP, and never had a problem with any of those. I figure the system won't be used more then 2 hours a day, perhaps as great as 4 if I decide to game more.