Many of the good points have already been stated, but there has been one thing that has been slightly overlooked (though some have brushed against it).
The usability in lectures depends on the faculty. If she is going into an Arts or Business program, a laptop would be very useful as there are lots of notes to take during those classes, even with the current availability of text books and course notes. If she is going into Mathematics or Engineering or even sciences, there are lots of formulas and different notation to right down. Now searching through MS Office's little symbol thing can be tedious, and in the middle of a fast paced lecture, it's much easier to just use the old pen and paper method to worry about trying to use a laptop for it.
Both ideas have their ups and downs, but I would suggest a desktop computer with an LCD screen. I'm in University and have both, and found that I use my desktop much much more. If I ever take my laptop to class, I always find myself doing something else on it, rather than paying attention to the class, no matter how much I actually should be paying attention. Plus there's the infamous 'cone of death' which usually forms behind the person with the laptop in the lectures halls, as all of the people behind usually get bored, so they want to see what you're doing. This is from experience too, as I find myself looking at people's laptops to see what they are doing.
And then there's also the security issue. Laptops are getting smaller and lighter than ever, and much too easy to steal. Sure there is the cable lock, but the lock is only as smart as the person using it. I've heard from many students on campus about them having their laptops stolen the first time they neglected to put the lock on. During one week, 4 students in my faculty (a faculty of only 100 students), had their laptops stolen from their rooms.
And well desktops are getting cheaper. Also if you suggest that she back up all of her notes on her desktop (assuming she would take a laptop to class to copy down the notes if she had one), then she would have a paper copy from class, and then a digital copy. So if one thing goes missing, she's not missing all of her information.
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Everyone on the Universal Serial Bus!
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