I have purchased and returned several refurb Toshiba units (Satellites), over a year ago now, due to overheating and/or mainboard failures.
I actually prefer the Qosmios to the Satellites and I think they handle things better, however, I must say, I don't get refurbished. You take a chance no matter what you get.
I prefer the Lenovo laptops as I (knock on wood) have had very little to no problems with the LT's we use in our office, service techs and home use.
My mom and sister use Lenovo laptops (mom for Ps, sis for Ai) and they love theirs. Maybe when the Toshiba goes, that might be the route I take.
Mac refurbished units have proven well worth it for me in the past.
Talk about ones that are getting harder to work on and fix, especially when talking about the laptops. Just about all work will almost always necessitate sending off to Apple to fix. Alicia has an Air that she just loves using. Her's was one of the old ones were things weren't all soldered together. Now that isn't the case, even with the Pro line of laptops as well, if I recall correctly.
Of course, I do have to add that her's (bought brand new) lasted less then 2 yrs, where my crappy Windows machine is going on 4 yrs of heavy use. Just always feel the need to add that in there.
