I tried to stop the post and put MI in, honest.

danf: I can't help you with the [MI--->] however, I strongly recommend that you buy new as opposed to that G4 powerbook. Reason being that you'll get much more bang for your buck plus an Intel processor and hence dual (tri) boot versatility in case she needs Windoze at any juncture. The newer MacIntels are just so, so much faster and more powerful processor- and memory-wise.

I assume you're looking at laptops because this beast must be portable due to school, right? If not, the iMacs are the way to go.

Macbooks are somewhat configurable when buying new (at least so says the Apple store), although nothing's going to increase the screen size. Can you opt to add an LCD / cinema display? I do believe that all Apple laptops sell with a monitor cable specifically so that you can hook them to a bigger display.

I think you should get an apple refurbished powerbook. This is what I did in February when I had to replace my G4 and I am really happy with mine.
My roommate just went through the same crisis and she ended up deciding to go apple refurbished too, because it was almost as good as the new macbook and still cheaper even with the education discount.
I don't know about the used one you linked to or how reputable that company is, but I liked the security of still being able to buy from apple and get the applecare package on the refurbished one.
Here is the site for the apple refurbished products.

This is the one I would choose for her from there:
(The superdrive is better than the combo drive because this way she can burn DVDs of the movies she makes, and in college smaller can be better because she can carry it with her more easily to the library or class.)

Refurbished MacBook 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - White
13.3-inch glossy widescreen display
1GB memory
120GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Built-in iSight camera
Learn More
• Save 24% off the original price
Original price: $1,299.00
Your price: $999.00

(when I said powerbook at first I mean macbook)

and on review: rmless2 has it. Apple's refurbished site is the way to go. I entirely forgot about it, but yea, looks a refurb. MacIntel macbook + applecare = full of win and awesome.

But it's less of a computer. Why is it an advantage to get 1GB of memory rather than 2, and 2.2 GHz processor rather than 2.4? 120GB hard drive instead of 200 (although who fills up a big hard drive anymore?)?

They both are listed as "superdrives" but this seems a slippery term with Apple.

Could you explain further?

yes, get refurbished from apple so you get the applecare for a year. 2 gigs of memory is essential for running designy shit like photoshop and professional video editing tools, i have found. The big hard drive isn't as important unless she's editing a hugeass movie. My 2 gig macbook runs my web design business, my political strategy business, and my day job (as I hate their shitputer) just fine.

Some points:
• 120 vs. 250 GB- Neither is very big for someone doing video work, so you'll probably need an external drive anyway
• RAM is cheap and easy to install
• If you can get the Applecare extended past a year it would be worth doing. If this laptop is going to spend its lifetime being dragged around from class to class, it's probably going to see a fair share of abuse.

YES! get 3 years' applecare!!! my macbook pro developed a scratched LCD after 13.5 months that was driving me nucking futz doing photoshop work. But I bought 3yr applecare so I just took it to the Boulder Apple Store and they replaced not just the screen but the whole frickin' lid (plus some keys on the keyboard that were worn-looking) for zip, zilch, nada - they also adjusted the hinge alignment issue that had caused the scratch in the first place.

That alone would have cost me seriously more than the 3 benjamins or whatever that I spent for it, plus I was early adopting of the macIntel architecture so I wanted my ass covered in case it all went pearshaped.

RAM is the least of your worries - it is indeed very cheap, very easy to install. DON'T bother to buy apple ram, as it's a crock of wasted cash.

But if I buy a machine with 1GB or ram can I put 2 more aftermarket gigs in pretty easily?

I'd ask your grad what she would like. What's important for her. HD space is v. important, but it can be solved with an external terrabyte drive. RAM, quite important, especially if it's the only computer and has to do double duty of a box [or Hackintosh].
Does she already own a digital cam or camera¿ Speed is important, because as they say, time is money.
Convenience is king. 17" is too heavy to lug around, so a 13" or 15" screen is fine, but it must be able to be hooked up to a larger or multiple monitors. Is she going away¿ Can she hook up to the house monitor¿ Is the house computer + monitor up to scratch¿ [we need more bckgrnd info]

(although I doubt that the first couple years will feature much hands-on movie editing)

It's about the stuff she does outside of school work that counts. And she will be working on outside projects, for sure, for fun or profit and plumb plain interest.

Narrow it down with her input and have her ask those already in the course what they wished for... budget notwithstanding.

I'm using my niece and nephew as a reference. The nephew DJ's and does his own mixes + videotapes his band and music and u/l's to UToob on his Mac portable as well as photoshopping images from his digital SLR... sorry, don't even know which one he has, but both use the external HD a lot and are quite comfortable using their portable Mac's [Read: gotta have WiFi].
They're smart and u/l their photo's to off home sites in case the home HD toasts out and all that time goes to naught. The niece's need of her portable doesn't match your grad's needs [although she did just graduate].
Teens think HD space is infinite and don't delete much and have numerous duplication going on. Found that out when the nephew was d/l'ing video's from his DVD cam and I mentioned 'what of the HD space available'...oops. Basics, like space, needs to be addressed.

Hope this helps you out.
HAH./