The newer machines have significantly less problems than the old, and i only ever have had one problem with mine that required it to be sent in and i've owned my system since december '06, not too bad. Most people i've known that have had xbox's as long as I have had to send it in twice max, usually once or none.
You might get a blueray but i'd rather pay $5 a month for a decent connection online than a shoddy, laggy setup like playstation
- Personally I don't believe as a 16 year old a laptop or netbook is needed, because you really don't need it for school if you have a desktop at home, and in 2 years when ur going off to college you'll need one, and by then the technology will probably be significantly further along and you won't have to mess with buying a new one halfway through school (as long as you keep it away from the beer)