ok let me first of all tell you that this may seem a very appropriate place for the 'out of focus' topic. or not..

i have a complicated situation to deal with and only have until monday afternoon to solve.

monday will be the last school day that me and some others who are close will see our favourite teacher again.
she is moving to new york in a few days we are guessing but for a fact we know it won't be long before she is out of here.
She means a lot to some of us and was the one that ever got me into photography and is just a great person.. not that words can do any justice.

We (the 8 of us) have planned to pitch in money to get her a nice gift. This is a Yamaha APX500ii Acoustic/electric guitar as she is a guitar enthusiast.

As i was talking to others who knew her well, i came across someone who also plays guitar and told me perhaps what i wished to never hear.. that she recently bought a Maton Mini (i don't knwo much about guitars) and it's worth around about $1000 and is pretty much the same. although the yamaha does have an inbuilt tuner other than the pickup sensors alone.

So.. the question is, what alternatives are there? now of course this would widely vary since i'm sure most of you don't know her personality as such. she is into film/music/theatre/guitars.. kinda a tomboy! and that's what makes her unique.

i have come up with ideas to go ahead and still give the guitar which is that it would have a lot of personal value over the other one. but as a friend put it this way: say you buy a D800 and someone who means a lot to you gives you a D3200.. how would you feel?

So i'm lost in alternatives and that's the reason why i'm posting here. if any one could suggest something that would last other than the usual giftcards/adventures etc.. what other things could we get? (budget would be $400)

Much appreciated if you could help.

Thanks

Andrew