I have nothing against refurbs. I love refurbs! They are usually the best bargains and all the bugs have been worked out!!! π
What I have right now is a 9 yo i5, with 8GB RAM and 2GB video, all with 2+year old drivers that can no longer be updated. Not even the BIOS. For simple chores, it's fine, but starting to struggle. For SketchUp and video editing, it's done for. π
In fact, a refurb was what I was going looking for when I could afford it.