So, I'm going back to school in the Fall as a computer science student. I'll be doing alot of programing and would also like to use my laptop as a media center. I intend on hooking it up to a 32" 1080p TV when at home, so I'll need a half way decent card for it, I don't do much gaming so it doesn't have to be insane. What I don't follow at all are mobile CPU's. Is the difference between the 8300 and the 9300 worth the price difference? Would I manage with something from the 7000 or 5000 series?

It's about a 7% difference in performance, at 150 $, I don't think it's worth it. For me, the sweet spot are T8100 and T8300. But if you aren't going to do any media edition/conversion, you don't need a powerfull CPU, a good card would do the job.