TheMacGuy: Yes, AppleCare is very nice! My MBP's battery failed after a little over a year (at which point the standard warranty would've expired), but thanks to AppleCare, I was able to get it replaced free of charge.
I am currently running an extended test with AHT (I was fortunate enough to have the original disks included with the machine). I will inform all as to any results, but I suspect it will turn up negative.
Is it possible that nothing's wrong, and this was just a false positive?
c