Portable laptop for college and university

[Loka2112]

What is your budget?
£1500

What size notebook would you prefer?
Thin and Light; 13" - 14" screen
Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen


Where will you buying this notebook? You can select the flag of your country as an indicator.
UK

Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
Dislike: Dell

Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed?
No

What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?
Photoshop,Surfing,Word Process, Gaming ( at low or medium setting)

Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both?
Both

Will you be playing games on your notebook? If so, please state which games or types of games?
FIFA , civilization

How many hours of battery life do you need?
5+

Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK?
I can read reviews first

What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista or Windows 7), Mac OS, Linux, etc.
Window, Mac

From the choices below, what screen resolution(s) would you prefer?
High Resolution (1600 x 900)
Max Resolution (1920 x 1080)

Do you want a Glossy/reflective screen or a Matte/non-glossy screen?
Matte

Is the laptops design important to you?
Yes

When are you buying this laptop?
In september or later

How long do you want this laptop to last?
4 years

How much hard drive space do you need; 80GB to 640GB? Do you want a SSD drive?
500gb , SSD is better , i can buy it separately

Do you need an optical drive?
Nope

Extra note:

I have looked at Vizio laptop , Sony S15 and each of them has issues with trackpad and screen respectively and I dont know if i should forget them and get one. My dell studio 1458 is getting overheat everyday and its battery-life is just about 45 mins so I need a laptop which i can bring to college without bringing power brick.

[NewLaw]

What is your budget?
£1500

What size notebook would you prefer?
Thin and Light; 13" - 14" screen
Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen


Where will you buying this notebook? You can select the flag of your country as an indicator.
UK

Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
Dislike: Dell

Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed?
No

What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?
Photoshop,Surfing,Word Process, Gaming ( at low or medium setting)

Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both?
Both

Will you be playing games on your notebook? If so, please state which games or types of games?
FIFA , civilization

How many hours of battery life do you need?
5+

Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK?
I can read reviews first

What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista or Windows 7), Mac OS, Linux, etc.
Window, Mac

From the choices below, what screen resolution(s) would you prefer?
High Resolution (1600 x 900)
Max Resolution (1920 x 1080)

Do you want a Glossy/reflective screen or a Matte/non-glossy screen?
Matte

Is the laptops design important to you?
Yes

When are you buying this laptop?
In september or later

How long do you want this laptop to last?
4 years

How much hard drive space do you need; 80GB to 640GB? Do you want a SSD drive?
500gb , SSD is better , i can buy it separately

Do you need an optical drive?
Nope

Extra note:

I have looked at Vizio laptop , Sony S15 and each of them has issues with trackpad and screen respectively and I dont know if i should forget them and get one. My dell studio 1458 is getting overheat everyday and its battery-life is just about 45 mins so I need a laptop which i can bring to college without bringing power brick.

I'd look again at the VAIO S15. I recently bought one for just about the same purposes and it's awesome. The screen is really a non-issue. There are ways to "fix" it that aren't difficult and really, you'll only see the red/orange problem if you go looking for it. If you plan on carrying this thing every day along with textbooks, weight should be an important factor and the VAIO is by far the lightest notebook out there that's capable of the things you listed. It's practically an ultrabook so you get the best of both worlds. The only thing you listed above that it will have trouble doing is 5+ hours of battery. It's possible on Stamina mode, but you won't be playing Civ. or BF3 for that time. However, if you get the sheet battery it's still lighter than most other full size laptops and you can expect around 10 hours. SSD is easy to install and you'll save a ton of money. Hope this helps!

[Jarhead]

Since youre gaming needs aren't very demanding, why not look at business-class laptops? Better built, matte displays, and much better customer / warranty support than consumer-class laptops like the Sony.

Something like a Thinkpad X or T series, or Dell Latitude? Note that Dell Business is an entirely different beast than Dell Home.