This :-)
A lot of garbage in this price range. But not just no-names, but also Orion, Meade and Celestron! (e.g. the common 127/1000 and 114/1000 bird-jones type reflectors on weak mount)
A refractor may perform a tad better than a reflector of same size and quality, but you can easily get a much larger reflector as they are cheaper to make. And easier to mount (cheap&simple dobsonian rockerbox VS equatorial mount)
Check out this link on what to expect in different apertures:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Astronomy/comments/3j2wjo/what_is_a_good_telescope_in_this_budget/cum0622
Movies and pictures do not represent the visual view through a telescope, especially regarding nebulae, as our eyes are not as sensitive and can't do long exposures :-) But there's still a lot to see.
sw 6" (better finder and focuser than the Orion XT6) http://www.amazon.com/SkyWatcher-S11600-Traditional-Dobsonian-6-Inch/dp/B00Z4G3D22 (though you might also consider a 8" then for a bit more, as it shows a lot more...)
The Meade lightbridge mini 5" would be within the gift certificate's value; http://www.amazon.com/Meade-Instruments-130mm-LightBridge-Telescope/dp/B01C5TG53Y/ref=sr_1_6?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1460368855&sr=1-6&keywords=meade+lightbridge
It's a nice starter telescope, not quite as compact as the AWB Onesky, but the closed tube has some benefits.
You would need one or two eyepieces in addition to the telescope kits to get the most of it - but don't buy a eyepiece set, it depends strongly on the telescope on what to buy, and the price of such sets are not justified; You can easily get some nice wide-angle eyepieces for the same money (e.g. chinese $25 or Corvus-optics $35 "gold line" wide angle eyepiece).