Just got this refurb Nook as my first ebook reader, and I am very happy.  Like any other refurb electronic device I've bought in the past, the only way to tell this was a refurb was by looking at the receipt.  Otherwise, it looks brand-new, perfect finish and screen, and so far, it works fine.  Downloaded a couple free books from the B&N Store, a bunch of Project Gutenberg books, something from the Google bookstore, and a PDF, and they have all worked fine.  Even tried out the web browser.  It works, but with the slow refresh rate of the e-ink screen and the small size of the color LCD, it's more of a novelty than something you would use as a primary internet device.  Unfortunately, the browser doesn't support downloading, so you can't go the Project Gutenberg website and download a book directly from the site to the Nook.  Hopefully that gets changed in the future, that would be nice to be able to do!  But this is not a make-or-break issue, just a convenience I would like.  Otherwise, I'm very happy with this purchase!