Laptop for college

Looking for a laptop for mainly college coursework,

1. What is your budget?
- $700

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
- Nothing below a 15" screen

3. What screen resolution do you want?
- Any

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

5. How much battery life do you need?
- Any

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)?
- No

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
- Main use will be using Microsoft Office Suite (already own), and the usual tasks (internet, music, watch movies).

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
- 320 GB HDD (500 GB preferred but not needed)

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
- None in mind (Already have accounts on Newegg, Tiger Direct, and Micro Center though)

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
- 2-5 years

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

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.
- Prefer Acer and Asus, have had very few problems with their products in the past.
- Tend to avoid Gateway and Dell, had many poor experiences with products and support.
- Unbiased on anything else

13. What country do you live in?
- U.S.

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
- I really like the Metallic Finish especially on the palm rest, to resist the fading typically seen on laptop palm rests using plastic.