Basic use, cheap laptop?

Hi, I'm basically looking for a laptop that will be used for surfing the web and word processing. It's for a friend that would be using it as her main computer but she doesn't game, so pretty much just enough power to meet basic word processing/internet surfing requirements along with maybe watching the occasional movie/listening to music. I'm trying to keep the price under $500. I'm wondering what retailers I should be looking at as I have no experience with laptops. Other points to consider is it should be relatively light weight(carried around classes) probably at least a 30/40gb HD at least 256mb ram, included wifi adapter, and a plus would be a dvd burner. I looked at the cheapest Dell laptop which is just under $500. I'm wondering if I should be looking on Ebay for refurbished/used items or a completely different retailer?