[simplechamp]

I agree with BrianG. Always go for something that will hold up to the future. (a) battery technology is advancing fast, and cells will only get higher capacity and faster charging rates (b) the RC bug is very addictive, your friend may not think he'll need to charge larger, higher voltage cells, but before you know it he could have 3 new vehicles that all use 6S 5000mah lipos!

I use the iCharger 106B+ and it works great; plenty of power, accurate balancing, USB connectivity for monitoring and graphing charge stats. There are also other iCharger models that can handle higher wattages. Any charger in the iCharger line-up is a good choice. A-main carries them under their in-house "Pro-Tek" line for close to the same price as HC, and you wouldn't have to pay the international shipping.

Also, make sure the power supply is capable enough. Those AC/DC converters that look like typical laptop chargers usually don't handle more than a few amps.