Most half-decent hotels in Taiwan start at 2000 NTD, generally only the worst places would be 600-1000 NTD.
Thanks for all the feedback. I haven’t come up with exact figures yet, and of course anything I do decide on will be subject to debate. Oh well.
Just to make a few points clear: basic daily expenses are just that, and do not include alcohol or gifts or car rental.
As Alexw points out, budget travellers expect that LP will provide them with the means of getting around as cheaply as possible, whether that is the most convenient way or not (almost always not). Hell, for the China guide we still have to include hard seat ticket prices even when it is a 14 hour ride. Some people really do travel like that.
ichbinjenny, I want to write for you! 
[quote=“Mucha Man”]Hell, for the China guide we still have to include hard seat ticket prices even when it is a 14 hour ride. Some people really do travel like that.
[/quote]
Arg, don’t mention hard seats. I just endured 16 hour overnight hard seat trip. With very annoying neighbors. It was sheer torture. 20 minutes in, I was already checking my watch and counting down. But it was either that, or wait for three days… (although next time I think I’ll wait)
Anyway, it seems like accomodation is the biggest variable. Since many people will use the recommendations in the book, why don’t you just average the cheapest or second cheapest hotel in the book for the most popular places as the low estimate, and use maybe 2000/night as a middle estimate?
As someone who has used many Lonely Planet guides in many different countries, I have to admit that I have never paid any attention to (or really even looked at) the estimated daily expenses. I mean, you can look where you’re going and see how much hotels and transport cost, it’s not that hard to figure out. Plus only you know how ‘budget’ you travel.
But if people do rely on it, it seems like it’d be better to be a little high than too low, so people don’t run out of money or end up over budget. Unless a higher estimate will scare more people away 
And most of the decent budget hostels run between 300 and 500NT for the budget traveler.