Recommendations for a good mobile laptop under $1500

Hey guys. I need a good recommendation on a mobile laptop with these requirements:

Should be mobile and lightweight- no more than 15.4" screen.

Will be used for going to my Computer Science/Programming classes and to take notes, etc.

Screen resolution doesn't really matter, because I already have a desktop for gaming. Just going for mobility's sake.

GPU shouldn't matter right now per se, but I plan on programming into the near future. So, if there are any programmers out there that can enlighten me on the GPU necessity for a laptop and programming, I'd really appreciate it

Processor I'd like to be a dual core processor, and right now it's a toss-up between AMD and Intel. I have a C2Q in my desktop, but I haven't been paying attention to mobile CPU's, so again- any help would be greatly appreciated.

Storage is important, although at this point I can honestly say I won't be using it for anything more than basic file creating, programming, and maybe WoW for mobile use. That's it. So, probably something in the 120-250 range, or an External.

Brands I've looked at and consider: Mac. They have all sorts of great programming capabilities... so I've heard. Again, I'm sort of a greenhorn at the whole C++, Java, etc. side so if I'm mistaken, please let me know. Dell, because I grew up on Dell pc's/laptops at school and at home, and while not always the best quality, lots of times they get the job done at a great price.

Anything else I'm open to suggestion for. Thanks so much, and if you need to know more just let me know!