Before my wife moved to the UK I bought her a Samsung Notebook. Inexpensive, compact and did the job. She was really happy with that.
Also, if it has to be a tablet device, I looked at the Nexus 7" tablet the other day and at £150 -£200 looks a good budget tablet. I nearly bought one for myself as I prefer the size. Personally, I find the iPad too big for lugging around all day and the iPhone too small for my fat fingers.
http://filipinaroses.com/showthread....ighlight=Nexus