Well, back in the day....
When I was in middle school and early high school, my favorite character was a C/N, Elven Magic-User/Thief. He was my pride and joy and man he was a back-stabbing, magic missile slinging terror.
In more recent times, I find that I'm much more drawn to playing Fighters, and Human Fighters at that. Rangers do get a nice HP boost at first level, and it can even extend to second or third if they're lucky. But generally by 4th level a Fighter is on par with a Ranger, and surely by 5th or 6th, the d10 hit die of the Fighter proves to be superior.