Good heavens. Cloth diapering has come along way in the last 10-15yrs. Your friend couldn't get a cheaper set-up than to order a bunch of QUALITY cotton prefolds (NOT Gerber) and some diaper covers. These are generally made out of PUL (poly-urethane laminate). For about $100 she could have all the dipes needed from NB to potty training.
Also, there is a huge market out there selling used diapering supplies. She should totally check out Mothering.com and start reading about all of the cloth diapering options available these days. They also have an area where folks buy and sell stuff.
I cloth diapered my two girls (4 and 6yr)
Some of my favorite dipes were the FuzziBunz, it was a pocket that I just stuffed with a folded microfiber towel that I bought in a big pack from Costco....