Where to buy a new MBP?

looking to buy my first macbook pro (and first apple actually!) and am really excited - but i'd love some advice from more seasoned users.
when i buy the machine, i definitely plan to purchase applecare. there is a local apple dealer that sells MBPs with _another_ service plan that can piggyback on to applecare. before i lay out the details of said plan below, what i'd like to know is basically whether this is necessary and/or worth the $99 this plan costs.
here's what this piggyback plan would give me:
MacTraining
Get free access to our introductory training classes: Intro toMac, Intro to iLife and Intro to iWork.
4thYear Warranty
We will cover the cost of labor (but not parts) for repairs for a fourth year, if you purchase a Mac and AppleCare from us.
FreeLoaner Laptop
Bring your computer in for repair to us and we’ll loan you a MacBook to tide you over.
HomeSetup
We’ll set up your computer, Airport network or Time Capsule at your homeat discounted rates.
MacSetup
We’ll install your software and transfer files onto your new Mac.
PriorityRepair Service
Get automatically moved to the front of the line for in-house repairs.
MacAssessment & Tune Up
Get your computer optimized and cleaned up—inside & out—eachyear.
10%Off Ink & Paper
Save an additional 10 percent off the manufacturer’s suggested price onink jet printer supplies.
10%Off any Used Mac
Get an additional 10 percent off any of our pre-owned Macs.
what looks potentially the most attractive to me is the 4th year warranty and the free loaner laptop in case of repairs (as i have no other backup computer at home, should the new one fail). i also appreciate the mac assessment and tune-up, though i wonder whether that is actually necessary for the maintenance/performance of the machine (?).
so my main question: should i buy my new MBP and applecare at a regular apple store or other retailer (best buy, etc.) - or should i go to this specific apple dealer in order to spring for this piggyback plan as well?
any thoughts and/or advice is most welcome...thanks in advance!!

The plan is only as good as the company backing it. If you've done your due-diligence on the company then I'd say it's a pretty good deal. You can compare how much they would sell the system for vs Apple or Best Buy etc.
If they aren't asking a premium, I'd say go for it.
Regards,
Captfred

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ccshaw wrote:
Wouldn't it just make sense to put the money for the 7200rpm drive towards one more upgrade on the MBP? I could just cut that up front cost.
You can choose to forgo the hard drive upgrade, however 250GB is quite small, meaning your likely using a great portion of the second 50% of the drive, which the read/wrire performance is substancially reduced.
7,200 RPM doesn't make that much of a battery life dent that one will notice it, but one will notice the speedier response.
S0 by incrreasing the RPM's and the storage size, plus newer drive with better read/write speeds through technology improvments combined with a zero erase + fresh install of 10.6.1 (your original disks) and Software Updated to 10.6.8 (10.7 is slow) should make a dramatic improvement on that model.
However a erase + fresh install of 10.6 on that present 250GB can do the job well too, 10.7 is slow and you likely have other problems the 10.6 install will also cure.
How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6
How to revert your Mac to Snow Leopard
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Thanks for all the advice, it's appreciated. Particularly the advice to go down to the mac store and talk to a guru. I'm going to do that tomorrow.
I've been able to tolerate things up until the latest bug, the fan now periodically starts spinning like a helicopter. It's way beyond anything I've dealt with.. I can't listen to music it's so loud and it disturbs anyone else around (clearly needs a fix).
I can't send it in to be repaired as I can't do without a computer for that long. This said I thought to connect the new and old machine and copy the most important files over.
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, I was going to downgrade the hardrive on the mbp from 320 gigs ATA at 5400 to the 250 gig ATA at 7200 to save a few bucks. Now this is actually an upgrade in quality/speed..correct? because the speed is now 7200 as compared to 5400? So it will preform better than the orriginal 320 at 5400?
The 250 will perform faster then the 320 because of the rotational speeds
As far as buying the actual computer I want to try to get it around or just after christmas.
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Message was edited by: Michael Flynn

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You can read my initial view of the i7 17" Quad Core here: http://www.markc.me.uk/MarkC/Blog/Entries/2011/2/25Early_2011_MacbookPro.html
The unit supports SATA 3 & SATA 6: http://grab.by/9adG
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Where to buy a new MBP?

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