Any good Nikon for about 500-600 bucks?

I found 3 good options at Adorama. 1. D5000 with 18-55 VR refurbished by Nikon $519. 2. D3000 with 18-55 VR new $542. 3. D3000 refurbished $300 and 18-105 VR refurbished $260. Refurbished means that it goes to the Nikon factory and is restored to like new condition. They usually carry a 90 day Nikon warranty. I think it's a very good way to save money.

My first choice would be option #3 because I'd go for the better lens. My second choice would be option #1.

Just in support of Mark's post, I've purchased many refurb products and never had a problem with them. I'm looking at getting two refurb D300s bodies soon.

The first two replies are probably the best ideas. However, there's nothing wrong with getting a used pro body with some good but cheap primes (not necessarily Nikons; there are some great bargains out there). However, you'd have to be very enthusiastic about your photography to want to do that. Other (cheap) bodies which I think are good: D50, D40, D40X.

My experience with refurbs from Nikon is good also.

The D5000 may be a good camera for her, if she doesn't mind the lack of a screwdrive lens. If she's not a long-time SLR shooter, and doesn't know what that even means, then I'd just get the D5000.

the budget would be around $500-600.

She didn't say anything about DSLR, did she? I just read a few minutes ago that a guy wants to sell his DSLR gear to go P&S because he figures out (NOW!) that it's too expensive for him. You could get some DSLR and lens at the lowest end for that budget but soon you will feel that it's not good enough. There is always something else to upgrade to, but it's going to cost you

I've purchased many refurb products and never had a problem with them

I've purchased so many used cameras and never had a problem with them. Digital cameras of 10+ years ago or film cameras of up to 70 years ago. The few cameras with problems I knew that before buying but liked it so much and couldn't resist. But that doesn't mean you won't have any problems if you buy used cameras. Also, it happens all the time that some cameras I had used a lot and worked very well but after given to someone else he destroyed it in a day or two

Refurbished means that it goes to the Nikon factory and is restored to like new condition. They usually carry a 90 day Nikon warranty

I don't have a problem about refurbished items but I wonder why the manufacturers give ONLY 90 days warranty instead of a whole year for the new items. THINK about it

Did she say she wanted a dslr specifically? All (non photog) girls I know hate carrying a dslr in my experience...

Sorry for haven't been clearer. Yes, she would like to buy a DSLR and I agree with John about the 90 days warranty. I think that could be an important matter. After all a new D5000 costs around 690 bucks and the initial budget was around 500-600 bucks. I think she can go a little further and add other 100 bucks to buy the D5000.
The thing is I don't know anything about the D5000. If I'm right the D3000 isn't that bad but you don't have the live view on that camera while it should be available on the the D5000.

I am puzzled why people are recommending the D5000. Of course the D3100 is not yet available, but at least based on the specifications, it is clearly the "D5000 killer" as we discussed in this thread: http://photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00X6PA?start=0

The D3100 is supposed to be availabe this month (September 2010). I would wait a bit for that and make sure everything checks out ok. It'll be around $700 initially (including the 18-55 kit lens), a bit beyond the OP's budget but still fairly close.

Thanks Shun, the plan is buy the camera within September so it seems the D3100 should arrives in time, but even waiting a little bit more would not be a problem if the new camera would worth it. I'm gonna read more info about it, thanks for the heads up.