Suggestions for a good, inexpensive notebook?

It seems that you are looking for an inexpensive general purpose notebook that is especially strong in the area of sound processing and sound reproduction.

It is somewhat above your $1k price target, but my recommendation to you is the Gateway M505X. The M505X is specifically designed as a multimedia computer. It has the best sounding internal speakers I have heard in a laptop. It has a 20 bit audio processor, unusually good for a notebook computer (most are 16 bit). It has an AV Control Panel to control audio recording and playback. The M505X also has two Firewire ports for audio capture (most laptops have zero to one). Finally, it has a built-in combo drive for recording CDs and playing CDs and DVDs. Best of all, the M505X is almost totally silent in operation so it adds no sound of its own. It runs so cool that the fan doesn't turn on at all in normal operation. Only when tasked with a high end computer game (which it is perfectly capable of running) do the fans come on. Even then, the fans are far from loud. The hard disk drive and keyboard are also whisper quiet.

The list price of the Gateway M505X is $1599. It is available from Gateway Country Stores, Gateway online, Office Depot and Amazon.com. Gateway offers a 10% discount ($160) to AAA members.

Reviews and comments on the Gateway M505X are here. More information on the M505X can be found at the Gateway site here.

I would definitely not rely on the internal speakers of a laptop -- simply hook up some external speakers to the notebook.

I have not heard of any notebook whatsoever that has internal MIDI capabilities. I believe that you would have to rely on some external equipment. But since she is a musician she may choose to opt for more professional gear from manufacturers such as Roland and M-Audio anyway. The sound recording and playback abilities on notebooks is pathetic even compared to the standard desktop Audigy cards. Besides I assume you have some nice studio monitors, so the notebook would only be needed to do software processing and sequencing, right?

That is always an option. Nonetheless, it is very nice indeed to have a laptop that sounds quite good all by itself without having to lug around external speakers everywhere.

HP/Compaq x1000.... beautifully built, great screen, low price.

I would really not bother about the laptops specs when it comes to work with sound/music. You can buy mediocre hardware for that, within reason, and then use the Creative Extigy USB soundsystem which costs around $150 or so. Since when youre really working with sound, you will hardly be traveling.