I find Kharjo to be pretty good, he's not up your a$$ like all other companions, he's REALLY quiet and hardly ever talks(which I like) and it seems that his combat skills are rather good.
http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Kharjo#Combat_Behavior_and_Skills I play on console so I don't know what his Lv. cap is or what his perks are like but from experience he's a tank in my books.

J'zargo is awesome. And that voice...

Marcurio is a dike, and that's one of the reasons why he is expendable.

Are the quotes supposed to be evidence of Marcurio's sixuality? The only one I would consider to be not sixually ambiguous, if not asixual, would be the remark made about the amulet of Mara.

He is quite the follower in any case!

Marcurio is the best because he usually sounds like bacon frying.

Marcurio is the only one who survived the pitfall of Mercer's basemant.

Marcurio is good.

He says good things and does'nt walk in front of your attacks.

Unfortunately for some time during my first tries and part of my first proper playthrough I confused him with Mercer Frey of the idiotic thieves guild. And avoided him.
I also thought The Real Barenziah was a boring old history series about a male mage, to a point, lol. Then I read it and realized it's got some serious wtfs in it, lol.

I liked him en till I sacrifice him for ebony mail but it is true he's a good wizard and a good distraction.

Pffft, Eola could mop the floor with him any day.

Unlikely.

It's like I said in my other post, they are both among the top three best followers IMO, we should make them fight in game to see who comes out on top.

We should. But Eola has an atronarch, and when her magicka runs out she csn hit with a sword or bow. Marcurio has nothing. Somehow I think giving a cannibal a knuckle sandwich could backfire

Sandwich is the main word there. *yumyum*

I think Marcurio and Eola are different types of fighters. If looking for a follower that can do many things, Eola might be the best, if needing someone who specializes in magic, Marcurio is great, although Aranea and J'zargo beat him as mages. Still, he's pretty good for a hireable follower. Eola does beat him in being an awesome, powerful bomb in combat, though.

You are talking out of your ass without any information given.
He is BY FAR the best magefollower and yes I have tried all except for Aranea because I didn't chose her path. How is he a terrible mage? At least I have given some reasoning while you talk without providing any facts,You say he has high skill in Armor as if it was a bad thing lol? Yes, he has 96 in heavy (at lvl50) while Marurio also has heavy armor but only a pity 20 at max level. SO whats your point?
His stats are better. Marcurio has a higher manapool at lvl40 and thats pretty much it.H
Lets see Jzargo got ,100 1h, 100 destruction, 60 restro, 100 illu, 458h (717hp maxlvl), 295mp (450mp maxlvl) while Marcurio got 20 1h / 0 2H, 100 dest, 100 rest,425 hp 410mp.

And I dont know what you mean about his AI being terrible I have him as a follower and he doesn't spam sparks he actually uses all kind of spells depending on the situation like frostbolt/fireball/Steadfast ward etc.

Again, take whatever follower you like but don't make false statements. NUMBERWISE J'zargo is the BEST Magefollower ingame. By far. Period. I have provided enough numbers. If you don't like him fine. But don't claim things without any numbers.

Why have a level 81 'Mage' follower who's DPS is terribly poor? Not even the player can be a truly viable mage at 81, never mind J'zargo who either uses Sparks or Firebolt and both, at level 81, won't do squat.

As for stats.. 100 destruction is irrelevant, he usually uses Novice/Apprentice spells. 1handed is also kinda useless because he sit's back using Sparks rather than running in with a sword. 60 restro when his strongest healing spell is Steadfast ward, again, useless. 100 Illusion? What Illusion spells does he use? 450 magicka at level 81, Marcurio nearly hits that at level 40.

I take Marcurio along with my Warrior and he is awesome. I do wish the followers didn't have to use the same snotty line every single time I ask to put things into their inventory. Other than that I like the things Marcurio says. He has some unique comments although after a full play through with him they do start to get a bit repetative. I wouldn't hesitate to take him along with another character. He stays out of the way and does a lot of nice ranged damage.

You should try Erik the Slayer. He has the same line over and over, but at least he's always chirping about how happy he is to help, unlike some other companions I could name.

Ahem. More on topic...I've thought about hiring Marcurio on for a bit, or one of the other mage followers. (Specifically Marcurio, because his snarky commentary amuses the heck out of me.) I've been really spoiled by having Erik around as a distracting damage sponge, though. Not sure I could give him up.

I always thought it was funny going through a quest to make Erik's father buy him armour when he couldn't afford it, and then when I hired Erik I'd simply give him Dwarven/Orcish/Ebony anyway.

Well it's kind of useless to argue further so I just drop some links
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aly8njaU3H1adGJYTlJaUnRxRUN2RnM5MkxPaU1mQkE#gid=0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82-1f7J_nPk

Even funnier: he's geared towards light armor anyway. The stuff he gets by default after that quest is heavy armor.

If you want a level 81 follower get a dual-wielding DBI... J'Zargo svcks. End of argument as far as I'm concerned.

I couldn't stand his attitude. I prefer Belrand, who has both mage and melee, and the orc followers.

I provided plenty of facts. Marcurio has a larger mana pool and almost as much health, and that's when he is 10 levels lower than J'Zargo. He has an amazing set of perks for an NPC and a good arsenal of spells. J'Zargo casts sparks all the time. I used him for about 30 hours until I realized how badly he svcks. I never once saw him cast anything except sparks, and that was up to level 40 or so.

I don't care what his stats are at level 57348975349857938475. A follower is useless at level 50 anyway. I have absolutely no idea how you can look at those numbers (which, again, is only part of the story) and say that he is better, much less FAR SUPERIOR.

You can believe what you want, but to try and say that he is objectively better is [censored].

Yup, the DB initiate is the best follower. I have the chick at lvl 62, and she has 638 health and destroys people by dual-wielding swords.

I've never seen the appeal in Lydia. In fact, I mock people who fell for her because they clearly went directly to Riverwood and were railroaded into the Main Quest at level 3, went to Whiterun and immediately had her spoon-fed to them.

Not me. I'm an individualist. I went to Falkreath and Markarth first. Vorstag's a far less annoying fighter to have in your party!

Anyone wondering about J'Zargo's effectiveness should watch pms' guide. I linked to it at the pertinent point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL122FAEC715912527&feature=player_detailpage&v=RtJ65314eKw#t=121s