i've actually bought 2 refurbs (they sell the certified preowned devices cheaper than the brand new ones. i bought an allias II and original moto droid). there was no way to tell that they weren't brand new, and they worked just fine. the allias is now over two years old and my wife still uses it and the droid was for my brother who used it for a year and a half, until he had an upgrade and got a new phone.