Best Laptop under $400 for my son?

[NYBo]

Every brand will have its fans and its detractors. I have several dead HPs in my basement from several years ago, for example. They had a run of bad motherboards back then, evidently. But I bought my stepdaughter an HP, and one for my wife when her Lenovo bit the dust. My mother-in-law has a Toshiba.My current Toshiba has been great for 6 years. Longevity has a lot to do with how you handle the computer. Be gentle, keep the vents clean (heat is a killer!), and a laptop can last a long time. My top criteria for selecting my Toshiba were keyboard feel and screen (I went with a 17" to help my aging eyeballs).

Another vote for the free version of AVG, with occasional full scans with the free version of Malwarebytes.