Don't use acronyms on someone who is new to the whole thing, they probably won't understand. Besides, chances are he doesn't even own the N3DS yet and is wanting advice to decide if he should buy one.
When you buy it, I would recommend getting a Class 10 32 GB microSD from Amazon. They're about $25 and have fast read/write speeds.It would be for a brand new New 3Ds XL I haven't bought yet
Sorry to double post but if he buys it from a shop new and it isn't a special one they typically are not on latest.Then that would probably be the latest N3DS Firmware... Not sure about the hacking options though
I would buy the black new 3ds XL from amazon maybe that would have lower firmware?