If the machine has been "refurbished" truly, then the stitch count may not matter so much. What matters most is the max hoop size it will take.....AND this is an 'embroidery only' machine (right?)...so do you want a stand alone embroidery, or would you like a combined sewing/emb? But as stated above, most important is how you will get designs to the machine. With USB you can transfer from computer. But if you must have design cards, they can get very expensive and you would be wisest to purchase the transfer software, PED Basic. It will cover the cost of about 2 design cards, so it pays for itself. Of course there are PE Design softwares that let you do digitizing (expensive) and Magic Box or Ultimate Box, or one other? Get some ideas of your additional costs before making the decision. But all being said, I don't consider the price to be overly high for the machine. And a 5x7 hoop can give you a lot of size choices. Just depends on you and what you want it to do with it.