Hey guys, just wanted to chime in on a couple things after stumbling across this thread. Figured I'd register and throw in the 2 cents.
I'm a computer tech at Future Shop, which is a canadian company owned by Best Buy. I am not sure if the optomization at the american best buy (they are run seperately) is the same or not but the one we have here is very popular and I don't feel at all a rip off. Ours are $99.99, there isn't a lot to really optomize on the mac's. They get all of the updates done and little things like right click enabled, flip4mac, firefox, etc.
What they do include (at least in Canada at Future Shops) is data transfer from there old PC or Mac to the new one. This isn't simply just transferring the data, we put it where it's supposed to be (pictures, docs, music in the proper folders), import favorites, emails, address book, etc. Beyond that we install and update any software that the customer has purchased. If they purchased a printer, we take it out of the box, install the cartridges, install the software, connect it to the mac and print a test page. If they already have a printer, we download the mac driver and put it on the desktop for them. We also setup there email account with the mail server, usernames, passwords, etc. If they have dial up we setup the modem and connection, then test it and verify that it works.
When they come to get the machine, we set it up on our bench and go over everything with them, answer any additional questions that they have (usually spend 15-30 minutes). It's also great for people on dial up to get all of the updates, as the models get older it's common for some to have 2-3gb in updates right ouf ot he box, try doing that on your dial up modem. It also includes things like installing parallels or boot camp if needed.
Granted this service isn't for everyone, but a lot of people do find it very valuable. First itme buyers love it because they take it home and it's ready to go, they are not spending hours configuring it and transferring data. They don't get home and find out they don't have Mac drivers for there printer, so they have to download a 300mb file from HP on dial up to get there printer to work... saves time and frustration. Again I don't know if the american best buy is the same as here.
A lot of people don't buy the servive and that's fine. SOme people, myself included the setup is half the fun of buying a new computer! I enjoy doing it myself and getting everything organized how I want it. The sales person trying to sell this isn't trying to rip anyone off, they don't force you to buy anything. They are simply doing there job, they offer the service to someone and then that person decides if they want to purchase it or not. As an example I had a customer in today that bought a Mac online from Apple for his son for Christmas, he got the Mac but had no way of transferring data from the sons now dead laptop. They couldn't get online because it didn't come with a dial up modem and they didn't realise it, there 10 year old HP also didn't support the mac. They spent Christmas day fighting with the thing, calling tech support for mac, for there isp, etc and wound up having a very frustrating experience. They where in today to buy a PC because they where sending the Mac back after wasting a few hours of time on it.
As far as the warranty goes, again it's the salesperons job to present it to the customer and make them aware of what it offers to them. No salesperson should EVER make a judgement call on what a customer needs, they are not offering good service.
Not all batteries are going to last 5 years, I'd say actually that the majority won't. What about your white macbook that is now cracked because on the palm rest? What about how it's stained and ugly looking from your palms resting on it, that's all covered. If you have a 2 year old iMac that needs a new hard drive, 99% of mac owners are nowhere near comfortable enough to do that repair. Your looking at a couple hours labour to swap out the drive and reload the OS. I fix macs constantly at work, your dellusional if you think the hardware is anymore reliable then a PC. They use the exact same hard drives, and they fail constantly. Backlights can fail, just like on any other display. How about the warped lids... louds fans, etc. It also includes yearly cleanings of the fans, heatsinks, disk drives, etc.
http://www.macintouch.com/reliability/macbooks.html
Overall repairs: 13% of all MacBook and MacBook Pro computers in this survey were repaired.
Fewest repairs: 6.3% 17" MacBook Pro
7.7% Black MacBook
Most repairs: 24% 15" MacBook Pro/1.83GHz (January) MA091LL/A
23% 15" MacBook Pro/2.0GHz (March) MA464LL/A
When your 2 year old mac fails, your not comfortable doing the repair on your own and now your paying a tech $80 an hour to fix it plus buying parts from apple you'll be wishing you had the service plan. If you can take it apart and fix it yourself, then maybe the plans not for you.
Sorry this turned into more of a rant, just got fed up reading some of the responses on here. That sales person offering the service has no right to not offer the service to the customer, just like you have no right to decide if the customer needs it or not. ANyways to sum this all up, some people just need to seek to understand the entire picture, and not just jump to conclusions.
p.s I didn't come on here to bash mac in anyway, I'm looking up info on the screen flickering on the new 27" iMac I have a few in my tech room right now that the update isn't helping. I'm looking at buying one myself as my PC is 6 years old now and my son drew all over my monitor with a sharpie... 27" iMac here I come... once they fix the screen flicker.