I wouldn't buy a refurbished item, there are many NEW laptops for a good price.

Toshiba is one of the best brand i've ever seen (i'm the owner of a little PC store in Italy), less expensive than Sony and way much better than Acer or HP. I would not recommend to buy Dell or Packard Bell or other brands, in my experience they are not so good... If you want my brand top 5 list:

1 Toshiba
2 Asus
3 Sony
4 Acer
5 HP

Almost every brand had a policy of extended warranty, i would recommend to buy it, at least 3 years warranty. In Europe if you try to repair a laptop out of warranty you will be more likely buy a new one, it's cheaper. I had a 440 EUROS ($ 660.00) bill for a small electrical issue from HP.