Professional/College Laptop Reccomendation?

Hello,

So my HP mini has served me for a decent amount of time. After 3 almost 4 years, I've decided it's time to let go of my loyal friend and hand him and the new battery down to my little sister. I'm in college now, and although I wish I had that amount of free time I used to have in HS...I don't have as much time for gaming as I used to. I'm a International Affairs (Politics) major, but I also do art commission and covers of music once in a while for projects or spending money. I'm not that tech savvy, but after spending a few months searching forums like this, Wiki, Google in general, and interviewing/harassing my computer programming major friends...I'm not that much of n00b. I did retain some stuff. I swear! >.<

So yes, without further ado, these are my somewhat vague specification:

Thank you~!

1. What is your budget?

$300 - $500 is my ideal range

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

Preference: 11’’ – 14’’ *Not a deal breaker

3. What screen resolution do you want?

1.6 is the lowest I’ve been advised to go.

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

Portable please!

5. How much battery life do you need?

No less than 2 hrs. Preferably over 4 hrs though. I don’t have it dying on me in mid-class/conference…It’s horrible. ;-;

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)?

Able to would be nice. MMOs such as FLYFF, WL(both rpg) and LOL (pvp) plus the odd OTOME (Japanese Visual Novel RPG) are all I’ve ever played. Buy like mentioned *Not a deal breaker/important

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)

Surfing, MSOffice, Webcam conferences (good cam+mic), Photoshop (digital art so art tablet friendly), GuitarPro, Audacity, stream good quality HULU videos, no reputable difficulties with adding external hard drives

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?

I rely on extended HDs as hinted, so “250” is fine.

9. How long do you want to keep your laptop?

3+ years~

10. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?

CD/DVD Writer

11. 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.

I’ve never gone outside HP and COMPAQ although I’ve heard they’re not the best?

I’d like to look into ASUS, SONY, or IBM. I’ve heard good reviews for ASUS from my friends who own them. SONY has been a reliable PSP manufacturer and I like their VAIO models. IBM I’ve heard is easiest to customize along with TOSHIBA.

Not going anywhere near a MAC. Love the IPOD. It’s just the user interface is so different from what I’m used to. Bad experiences in HS with them. Besides, I’m not willing to spend so much on a mere laptop either. And as for desktops…building them over buying pre-made is simply much more rewarding.

12. What country do you live in?

US

13. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

Stylish? Light-weight? I like black and silver! That’s all I have :3