Should you buy those extended warranties on electronics?

So the question asked by a salesperson or cashier is, 'Do you want to buy an extended warranty?'

Of course, each warranty should be judged by its own merits, so there isn't an easy answer. There's also the question of how long of a warranty should you get? What are you buying?

Getting a warranty on a toaster oven is not worth it. Buying a laptop? Not the way technology is advancing. How about a TV? That all depends. Are you getting an expensive one? A cheap one? If you're getting a quality flat screen television, you're probably going to keep it for quite awhile (let's say more than 5 years).

If you're going to have one for that length of time, you might want to consider getting a warranty for five years if the warranty provides that if anything goes wrong you can get a replacement 'of like value'.

That's the key here folks! It's almost guaranteed that the tv you bought won't be available in five years time, so make sure the warranty covers the cost for a replacement at no cost to you.

Now why do I bring this up? I bought a flat screen LCD TV from Samsung. While I won't recommend their smartphones, I will say they probably make the best televisions (That is until Apple decides to ever actually make one). I bought the TV back in 2009 and now the screen is on the fritz. It seems to only happens on Sundays, so lets hope it goes away sometime today. Do I wish I bought the warranty? Maybe, maybe not.

I'm just hoping it holds out long enough so I can buy that Apple iTV.