Why buy it at all if you so concerned about the price that you are scoping out a refurbished discontinued product? No one "needs" an iPad. btw, you can probably get a good price on a Motorola Startac right about now.
I noticed you didn't answer the question. I wasn't so concerned about the price that's your assumption. I could have gotten a new Ipad 2 for just $100 more , this one more than meets it's need , I don't need a thinner Ipad or a marginally faster one , I'll never use Facetime so these features will be redundant.
My g/f's Ipod touch is coming to the end of it's battery life and she toyed with the idea of sending it back to Apple for a replacement battery , and she uses this more than her laptop. It will be primarily used for searching the web , checking email and watching movies in bed , so for it's purposes it's neither discontinued or outdated
And your analogy with the StarTac is weak because I had one back in 1999 the Ipad is only a year old so it's neither antiquated or outdated.