Looking for a beginner DSLR (D3100 vs T3?)

[JohnnyRebel]

I agree that does sound nice... Amazon has it new for $600 though - wouldn't it be safer for so little to go new? Or are the refurbs regarded pretty much as being close to new?

Are the warrantys refurb vs new close?

I have bought a number of Nikon refurbs and have never had any issues (dating back to my first digital, the Nikon CP995). That being said, the $600 price ($598 @ Adorama) is $100 less than they were just a bit ago. Adorama calls it a "special price".

I could go either way; those "only $60" do add up over time. You're paying for a 9 month extended warranty, basically. Whatever makes you feel better about the purchase.

Over the years I have developed this theory that refurb might actually be better, due to having a number of new electronics suffer a catastrophic failure due to manufacturing defect or "Chinese-junk" component failure (anyone remember the capacitor plague?). I seem to feel that the catastrophic component failure might have already happened on the refurb and already been fixed. I have had much better luck with refurb hard drives than with new hard drives. FWIW.

JR