Extended Service Contracts

The cost of an HDTV, it turns out, is more than what is advertised in the newspapers. At least, it is higher if you buy one of those "highly recommended" Extended Service Contracts. These can run from $200 to $500 or more. When I find a low price offered on a set, it generally turns out that the company has raised the price on the service contract. I found contracts on the direct-view sets were at the low end, but they went up sharply for the newer technologies. And with a major purchase involved, who is confident enough to reject the contract?