I have a Cyclops Magnetic trainer and it works well. I know people who have raved about the Nashbar one and I think it goes on sale a lot. My mountain bike is loud and vibrates on the trainer but the road bike is fine. My trainer broke and Cyclops replaced it without any issue. Never tried a fluid one because it was out of my price range.

If he is going to be stuck on it I would definitely switch out the tires. Mine folds so it is easy to store if he would rather put it in front of the tv. It is annoying setting it up but I would think being in the garage might be boring. Hope his recovery goes quickly.