I had essentially taken this for granted, since Best Buy's instant rebate policy is storewide, but hey, just in case: Whittling the HTC Hero's price down to the advertised $180 will take the redemption of a $50 "instant savings" (don't worry about this) as well as a $100 mail-in rebate, which Best Buy has confirmed they'll take care of, sparing you the endless torment of cutting out a barcode, sticking it in an envelope and driving by the post office.

They've also confirmed that they're the only non-Sprint-store retailer that'll have the Hero. Aaaaand Sprint stores will be handing you a rebate form to take home, so, well, you've got a pretty obvious choice to make here.

Send an email to John Herrman, the author of this post, at jherrman@gizmodo.com.