[TheStickman]

If it was my son and I could afford it I would get him a Macbook Pro for the following reasons:

A) Unless he sits on it or drops it into water it’s going to last 5+ years at least.
B) It will do everything he will ever need, whether its writing papers, creating artwork, playing games, listening to music, research via internet & email.
C) It is a more secure system and less likely to come down with a virus. The hardware is superior to most Windows laptops. It just works!
D) Refer back to A)

Good luck to your son!

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

Unless he sits on it or drops it into water it’s going to last 5+ years at least

I disagree. It may "last" 5 years, but it won't be a top of the line computer in 5 years. It will be far below a basic computer in 5 years.

I tell my people to view computers as 2 year rentals. If you can keep going after 2 years with it, great! If not, you haven't rented the machine for too much money.

[blu]

BTW, it is possible to spill water (but only water) on my MBP and have it survive. You just have to scream a lot, take the battery out, get the girly hairdryer out, scream some more, and blow it dry! Then, pray for 2 hours, call the Mac store and ask them if I did the right thing (they said yes, and I was very lucky it was only water), scream and pray some more (I mean, this thing is my baby!) and then put battery in, and smile real big when that happy "ding" sounded!

*kids, don't try this at home or on mom or dad's laptop...you might not get so lucky. And don't drink water out of those tacky plastic bottles! A glass is much harder to knock over.