Hey guys,
I'm looking into buying a laptop for uni this year, preferably something towards the high end, but not exceeding $2000 ish, less cost is better obviously.
I was originally looking at getting a cheap laptop with simple word processing capabilities etc.. but then I recently made the decision to move to on campus living, saving me from commuting 1 and a half hours each way every day. After all the study, I am going to have some downtime to fill so i figured why not get something that can also play games fairly well. There's also a high chance I'm going to be doing a fair bit of CAD.

So does anyone have any recommendations between the laptops I have mentioned, or the laptops I have not yet discovered? I also understand that the G74 has many models within the model, whereas the XPS is kind of a build your own laptop style purchase, but I don't quite understand the differences in the models of the G74 and which is the right option for me. I love the sound of being able to play BF3 on ultra, even if it is at 25fps.

Cheers,
Sneeky.

Avoid Dell. Asus make fantastic Laptops and have a really high build quality stick with them.

Ok, within the G74, which sub model should I be looking for. As in, what specs?
Also, what kind of battery life can I expect from one of these things. Obviously I don't expect it to be much, but enough to sit through a lecture or two before needing a recharge?

The one that pushes your price range. But you wont need more than 8GB ram so forget that gimmick

There's a lot on ebay for quite cheap, is there a reason they are so cheap when places like harvey norman stock the equivalent for 2,500?
Any ideas on battery life?

most gaming laptops have poor battery life as they use much more powerful parts but in power save mode you should get three maybe 4 hours tops

The ebay ones are more than likely refurbs.

About 3 hours tops with everything turned down and wifi etc off. Its a 17" laptops it aint going to last long.
Avoid EBAY as Terror said most likely refurbs

3 Hours really isn't much, is the G53 very good of a laptop? Or am I going to run into too many snags with the battery life of these things? Should I instead be turning my focus to ultrabooks, if so, what capabilities do they have?

You have to weigh up your options and choose portability+battery life or power.

Ultrabooks and CAD are a no go generally

Edited once, 4/2/12 - 9:53pm.

cryptic is right. Ultra books are purely for office only and will not suffice for cad or gaming of any sort

how would a macbook pro handle itself for these kind of things?

Yes but no. Avoid MAC terribly overpriced and closed off to most things they are just a fashion accessory these days(may be a bit overboard but I work in sales and have for quiet a while and the average customer that comes in asking for a mac only does so because their friend has one)

hmm.. would a 15" laptop get a bit more battery life without sacrificing too much power? thanks for all the help by the way.

how hard would it be to carry an extra battery/keep them charged?