Always wondering whether or not you should go for that extended warranty when buying gear at circuit city or best buy?

Consumer Reports says no. Their finding is that in most cases, the gear never needs repair in the warranty period, and if it does, the repair will often cost as much as the warranty itself. read article

For me, i know that the warranty is pure profit, but it definitely plays on your fears of the big expensive product breaking down, which is a reality. In the last one- two years i've bought two 'big' items from circuit city:

Sony 30" CRT HDTV
i didn't buy the warranty, and the set failed on day 29. Luckily under Circuit City's standard 30 day warranty, they replaced free no problem. I have to give them credit here- i called them the morning after it failed and within four hours they had brought me a new set, set it up, and took the old one away. But if it had happened a day later, I would have been screwed. The new set has been fine for over a year now. Usually it seems like if your set can make it through the first year or two, it will be good for many many more. That's why i am getting my mom a used tv for christmas (not because i'm a cheapskate )

Toshiba Laptop
I bought it in february, and the monitor just crapped out on me. It seems like it should be an easy fix, but i didn't buy the warranty here either. I'm going to do my best to badger toshiba to take care of it.

So. I've bought two items at CC and they've both failed in one way or another. Is the lesson that the extended warranty is worth the money, or that CC sells junk??