I just bought one of these $199 refurbs and I absolutely love it! If I didn't know it was refurbished, I'd think it was brand new -- the Kindle itself is in immaculate condition and it arrived factory sealed.
I'd been wanting to upgrade for quite awhile from my eBookwise to something with e-ink, but since I only paid $129 for that, all these $250-300+ ebook readers just didn't seem worth the cost to me (especially since there's nothing
wrong with my eBookwise -- other than being somewhat dated). But when I saw these Kindles for $199, I jumped on the chance to get one -- I hope that $199 is a "magic price" for others that have been holding out for an e-ink reader as well.
Oh, and pboss, they appear to have quite a few of these refurbs on hand -- every time I've checked the site since the 16th they've shown the refurbs in stock.
Regardless of the recent "1984 debacle" (which I think everyone is blowing way out of proportion -- just my two cents), I'm loving my Kindle so far. It's a very sexy device
(and I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I dig the K1's kinda funky design, haha).