Two camera to look at are the Fujifilm FinePix S4500 and Olympus SP-720UZ Digital Ultra Zoom Camera
both 14 megapixel cameras and the Fuji has a 30x zoom the Olympus 26x
What I like about the fuji is it still has a viewfinder as well as the LCd screen so when you take a photo
you bring it up to your eye and frame the shot, with the Olympus although a good camera you will be holding the camera out 12-18" to look through the LCD
to take the photo and thats not a steady way of taking a photo. You could do with getting your girlfriend to hold some cameras in the local camera shop near you
to see if they feel comfortable in her hands. If you where buying a SLR camera you would need a lot of lenses to cover what these do.
Also think about what type of photos she be taking will she need a steady grip if she want to take some close ups of flowers or children running.
These are in your price range and if you buy them with the memory card, battery and charger, and bag the price just go over your budget
hope this is some help.