I have a 89 CBR with 140K on it and it runs great, and there not expensive to repair you can buy tons of aftermarket parts for them. Now Triumphs are expensive to repair.
This is one of my other friend's pic of my bike
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonychiarot/5812964195/in/photostream#/photos/tonychiarot/5812964195/in/photostream/lightbox/
Well don't upgrade your old one just not worth it and for under 400$ it doesn't really matter. I have had acer, hp, toshiba and lenovo, and they all have issues eventually. Just get her whatever one she thinks looks nice.