Laptop Advice

Hi,
I'm going to university this year and wanted to take a laptop with me. It'll be my first laptop and I'm unsure about the specs I need for my requirements. All I really require is for general things like watching movies etc and to play WoWarcraft smoothly. The main problems I'm having is intel vs amd, what speed I need, memory needed and video card advice. Any spec advice would be amazing! and any specific models that match my spec requirements would be brilliant. I am new to laptops so I am also unsure which brands are reliable. Are there any good sites to find a laptop at the best prices?
Thanks

let me first say I basically agree with Lost... but it all depends on budget.

7200 vs 5400 RPM, if your spending $1500 US or more definately the 7200 drive, otherwise it depends on how much the upgrade is. On a Dell it's usually about $100 for the same size drive and that's not worth it, but if you can get it for $50 (same size) it starts to look a lot better.

8600 GT for anything over $1000-1100.

AMD 2.0GHz/Intel 1.5GHz for less than $1k, then Intel 1.8-2.0GHz. CPU is the highest cost upgrade, so 2 or higher if you can afford it. Make sure it's a Core 2 Duo (models: T5xxx or T7xxx) not the Core Duo at the same speeds