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I want something that produces a good quality sound, has a long life, can be repaired without sending the unit back to the manufacturer, and is durable.

I would suggest a few different characteristics to consider:

1. Memory. How many songs would you like for her to be able to save on it? You're somewhat limited in that price range, but you could probably get a model that allows her to save a couple hundred songs. Personally, I think the more memory the better.
2. Display. Some models have a display on it so she can see what's playing; others do not. Which would she prefer?
3. Flash memory v. hard drive. If she has an active lifestyle, get flash memory because bouncing around won't impact it.

(also, you can forget about repairing it - if it breaks it'll be cheaper to buy a new one.)

Thanks, I never even thought about display. One more thing to worry about. You mentioned the advantage of a flash memory over a hard drive, is there any advantage of a hard drive over a flash memory?