New Laptop, Whats best?

I am looking to get a laptop for my wife and one for myself. She is in college and wants something she can use between classes but doesn't something else to make her already heavy bag any heavier. Me I am in the military and gearing up for another deployment. In the Air force it is nice that we typically have wifi where ever we are so having a laptop helps keep me in touch with my family and also helps to pass the down time. Though down time is not very abundant. I have built many PCs and stay pretty current on desktop terminology but the Laptop/Notebook scene is something I don't know much about.


What is your budget?

Looking at around 1000 for hers, 1500 for his

What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

Hers not specified, his min 14in display

Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

I would like for both to be capable of being a desktop replacement, I would think this way I am not trying to do this every year.

How much battery life do you need?

Both need to be Max battery life

Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low, Medium or High)?

Hers (plays games like bejeweled) His (I play COD, WOW, and pretty much anything that comes along) However playing games while deployed though it would be nice is not the driving force for a laptop purchase

What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing, surfing the web, playing music, watching movies, Etc.)

Both need to be capable of doing jack of all trades; she will primarily school associated work (Online Courses, Microsoft Office work) His will primarily used for web and movie watching.

How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?

Hers does not need to be capable of mass storage, His needs to have room for mass storage. When soldiers deploy we usually exchange many movie/videos/pics

How long do you want to keep your laptop?

Minimum 2yrs expected. Gaming is expected to fade off before that.

What country do you live in?

We live in the United States, but I obviously travel to many countries



Hopefully someone can give some suggestions to help narrow down my choices. Thank you anyone that reads this and offers an opinion.



Thanks
Mike

Nice selections. I prefer 10" netbooks over 9" ones, but that's personal preferences.