<p>I’m currently a college freshman and have a part time job at Best Buy Geek Squad. Trust me when I say HP is the worst, stay way from them at all costs. 80% of hardware failures are HPs. Dells are slightly better but not by much. In turns of reliability, macs are the best. If you have the money, buy ur kid a MacBook pro, if not, get either a Samsung, Asus U series, or a high end toshiba. Those are reliable and will have a decent battery life. If you kid likes to game, I would suggest get an alienware Mx11, it is portable and powerful.</p>