My girlfriend has never owned a computer besides her Surface RT I got her last year and I want to get her one for Christmas. After building my computer my budget is pretty low right now, preferable in the 300-500 dollar range but if I can't get anything good in that price range I can just get her a late Christmas gift.

So I need some laptop recommendations, it needs to have more then 4 hours of battery life, preferable with a CD drive (though not required) and something that won't die on her within the year.

Help!