refurbs are complete and come with the same one year warranty, the only difference is it ships in a generic box. sometimes it's just last year's model being cleared out, not a return. on occasion you might even get a higher spec unit than what you bought, typically extra memory or a larger hard drive. it doesn't happen often, but it does happen.

get applecare from someplace other than the apple store - it's much cheaper. shop around. ebay can be ok but beware of scammers who send out bogus codes via email or opened boxes that have already been registered. check their feedback very closely. also, if you are associated with a school (or know someone who is), you can get a decent discount that way.