Need input - which laptop?

I'll be heading off to college next year and I need to buy a laptop since I own a desktop PC. Obviously I can't take the desktop with me so I want to prepare beforehand.

The laptop will mainly be used for college work, which consists of very heavily 3D-influenced work. Basically 3D models, enviornments, animation, use of a Wacom tablet, 2D/vector designs, video editing, and so on. Anything and everything video game related. Then there's the usual regular college essays, projects, and personal media/entertainment.

Now I'm not rich as I'm still young and barely going off to college, so I'd like to keep the budget below or around $2,000. Even though I'm not swimming in money I know that I'll be needing a powerhouse that won't slow down on me (so I'm guessing 2GBs of RAM is a must) since I plan on using this laptop for years to come. It'll be put through a lot of vigorous graphic-intense situations so I'm willing to pay a little more if it means getting the best output.

So now I'm down to two decisions -

Sony Vaio AR series

HP Pavillion dv9500t series

So to anyone out there who has experience with Vaio/HP laptops (I've owned 2 HP PCs in the past) please feel free to give your input. To everyone else please give your opinion as well.

I'm open to other laptop options as well. =)

 

If you really need performance then go for HP Pavillion. My friend is using this series laptop since 9-10 months and he is very happy with performance..

He is a designer and always working with Pinnacle studio and Photoshop, Swish max and having no problem at all with performance of Laptop.

Don't have Idea about Sony

 

Sony is not that great. I'll go with the HP

 

dude go with Dell inspiron series or an XPS they really good. sturdy stuff

 

If your serious about a quality laptop, go with a Lenovo (IBM) laptop. I have the T61 model and love it. These things are Tanks and built to last. You can probably get a decent deal on Ebay.

The T41 can be had for about $450 or a newer model T60p for about $1,200 (But with a $2000 budget I would go with T61p)

Just type in "Lenovo Laptop" and have fun.

 

I vote for Sony Vaio

 

can't go wrong with a Mac powerbook. i'll never buy a PC again.

 

Sonys Laptops look great but they are simply inferior spec for the price, go HP

 

http://www.delluniversity.com/

Dell gives big discounts to students and their computers are the best

I bought my Compaq Presario for $2000 two years ago. It's an AMD 64 processor and has run exceptionally well for me, despite alot of people saying the Presario ones suck. It's cheaper now, about $1200 at Best Buy for similiar versions.