wascal's criticisms of some of my points were excellent, as usual.
in this particulaqr woman's case, given her extremely limited budget and very specific needs, she obviously is in the position of being forced to take a chance on one of a very limited amount of options, and hope for the best.
what i tried to (probably unclearly) state at the beginning of my discussion was that IN GENERAL i don't recommend all-in-one design units, and proceeded to explain why. This was more aimed at the "general public" reading the thread, rather than the woman buying the P.A. Sorry if that wasn't clear.
my advice is also colored on years of personal experience showing up on gigs where the female vocalist was "providing" the P.A. - usually one of these types under discussion. Leaving aside for the moment that most of them sounded like "ass", invariably one or more features (like the reverb, or one side of the power amp, etc.) were broken or otherwise unusable, and it was not unusual to find out that the unit had already been returned, repaired, or exchanged a number of times for various flaws.
finally, wascal, i also agree with you on home stereo receivers. I've never bought a seperate tuner in my life. But it's apples and oranges. Most people set up their home stereo receivers in one spot, and leave it there for years. The wear and tear is negligeable, so you can more easily get away with cheaply made components. On the other hand, a piece of road gear has to withstand much more bumps and bruises, vibrations of riding in trunks or vans for miles, extreme variations of temperature and hunidity, and other variables (cigarette smoke?) that quickly expose (and decompose!) shoddy design or manufacturing.
It's kind of like buying a car for $300. You know it's gonna break down - you just hope you can get some use out of it before it happens.
I don't know about all the features on Tex's recommended JBL system. More than one mic pre? Any fx?
But if it will fit her needs, I'd definitely look in that direction if you can find one for the price. The eons at least sound decent and are road-worthy.