Gene,
He probably has limited info about the conditions that he can expect - the largest being will he generally be offline, or will he have coverage of some sort pretty regularly.
The easiest question to answer is to go SSD. Seriously.
Before you go the laptop route, I suggest considering an
ASUS Transformer or similar. Using the attached keyboard(and extra battery) with trackpad you have a SS device that can do most things very well that is both durable, lightweight, and more easily replaceable.
Another option that costs even less, but is not touch based (unless you pay quite a bit more) is the $250
Chromebook chromebook - pair this with in-country cell, and you have a light-weight 12" screen that gives you all the tools for seeing the world and family, but it's offline capabilities are more limited.
Either one would be a superior choice to a laptop until he knows more about his new accommodations.
