Hey would she want a laptop for free? I have a 2007 macbook with lubuntu that works great. I used to use it for trips and it's a total workhorse.
The computer architecture is funky so it makes installing some distros a pain in the butt.
It was something like a 64-bit EFI bootloader for a 32-bit OS. The combo just doesn't work without compiling your own kernel. It's pretty uncommon. No biggie for someone that does C++ or embedded systems though.
Anyway, I'll shoot you an email with some pics and you can let me know what you think.