Laptop for gaming/college/backup PC

1_What is your budget?
$1200ish

2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
Doesn't matter

3_What screen resolution do you want?
Not bothered

4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Would like it to be portable, however I won't be walking around with it much, only need to walk from my car to the classroom. It's kind of a backup for my desktop PC as well.

5_How much battery life do you need?
Will most likely be plugged into power outlet so it doesn't matter

6_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)?
Would like to play on high of course. Though I won't always be playing the latest games on it so it doesn't matter too much. I play CS Source a lot. Would like to be able to play Source engine games and CoD4 at high.

7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing, surfing the web, playing music, watching movies, Etc.)
Nothing intensive, just programming, office apps, browsing the web.

8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?
=> 160GB

9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post the links to them.
N/A no idea where to buy from lol

10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?
As long as possible?

11_If you would like to mention some other things about purchasing your ideal laptop, post them.
This will mainly be for college but will also need to be a backup for my gaming PC.

12_Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
Not sure about brands, I'd like some recommendations.

13_What country do you live in?
USA