Just need opinions.
Would you buy a refurbished PS3 from Gamestop? Its only $50 cheaper than other places, but I have a lot of Gamestop credit.

Or where would be the best place to buy one and maximize the value?

If you have a lot of gamestop credit I would recommend just buying a new one.

The main question would be what kind of warranty does Gamestop provide on the refurbished one. Some people are reporting that there blu-ray drives are going kaput within a year of owning and are having to get warranty work done.

I checked on that and they provide a whole 30 days warranty....woo hoo.

Or you can purchase an extended warranty for $50... thereby bringing the price right back up to the cost of a brand new unit.

I'll just get it from Amazon. No tax and free shipping.

Yeah, the only way I'd recommend a refurbished one with no warranty and such a little price difference would be if backwards compatibility really matters to you and you were getting one of the old 60GB models.