If you need a bigger HD then just get a WesternDigital portable HD or two for the money you will save. I don't know much about refurbs so if you trust it and the only diff is the HD size and the price. Can you add apple care to a refurb? I have 160Gb and a 80Gb portable and a 2Gb flash and I still want more space and I use the same apps. If you can add applecare to the refurb then thats whst I'd get and save some cash for toys.
What you said about external drives is true, but I do not think you have to fall in love with WD, at least not to the exclusion of others. Certain people have preferences, and one failure can spoil their party for many years. I think Seagate, WD, Hitachi and Maxtor all make decent drives. I can also recall a period when each had its' manufacturing issues. However, on the whole they are all pretty good.
As it turns out, I just returned from Fry's having purchased two externals. Both are Seagates:
320GB - USB 2.0 - $149.00
500GB - USB 2.0 - $209.00
My department (IT) maintains a small inventory of loaners. These two are for use with Dell/HP. For our Macs, I purchase LaCie FW800/FW400/USB 2.0 Triple Interface. I am hoping that someday one will fail and I can see what drive is in there. What I noticed at Fry's, the cost for a 160GB drive was about the same as the 320GB. The 120GB drives were ~$129.00. So, I do not see much advantage in buying the lower capacity drives.
