just some info -
- hp and compaq merged so regardless which name in on the computer its the same company now
-about inferior parts - i find that to be more true of desktop computers then laptops, the reason alot of desktop computers are inferior is because the sound, video, and other parts are intergrated into the motherboard, making them hard to update, and generally a lessor quality (but not necessarily) on a laptop these parts basicly have to be intergrated for space issues. I know several ppl with dell laptops, and they are really nice, but you get what you pay for and they tend to be more expensive then a hp (or other brand).
-Laptops can be very fragile, within the first year of owning ours we had 2 accidents. The first was beer spilled on the keyboard, the cost of the keyboard itself was $100 and they wanted another $100 to install it (we did it ourselves, but your average computer user wouldn't). The second was a slip picking it up, it dropped about 2 inches jamming the wireless card into the pcmia slot. We had to take the computer apart and clean it out before it would boot again and we still haven't been able to replace the pcmia slot.
My advice is if she NEEDS the portability of a laptop go for it, but if its space issues, look at flat pannels, and maybe see if a local computer shop could build you a micro atx computer. If performace is king, again try a local computer shop, or build it yourself.