go to your local paintball shop or field and ask about tippmann packages. they should be happy to help you and often include bonus items for supporting them (we include a season pass to our field which equals pretty big savings if you play a lot) and you'll have local service. no matter how much you pay for your marker it will break eventually, and having people close by or even at the field you play at that will support you is worth it (and you might even make some new friends). our packages run the same cost wise as all of the big paintball sites but the benefits far outweigh anything you can get online.
and yeah, if he gets into it the cost can be rather crazy, my setup cost about 1500 bucks at cost after it was all said and done, but i do love it so.
we use tippmann ultralights as our field guns, and some of them have been going for 10 years now. workhorse markers, altho not as flashy as the spyders. however they are a lot harder to break.