Laptop for Light gaming/Multitasking Up to $1500

My friends desktop just kicked the bucket on him, so he is looking for a new PC.

1. What is your budget?
$1500, would much prefer a lower price point

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

Doesn't Matter.

3. What screen resolution do you want?

Doesn't Matter.

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

Desktop Replacement

5. How much battery life do you need?

Will be plugged in.

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)?

Light games, nothing serious. Most demanding game would probably be Runescape.

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

Web browsing, Skype, Teamspeak simple stuff.

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

320Gb is the minimum

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

Any reputable site that does online shipping.

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

For at least 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.

Anything except Dell, reason need not be explained.

13. What country do you live in?

U.S.

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

The Budget he's looking at is Around $1500, but that's certainly overkill for what he will be doing with it. The lower the better, without sacrificing the screen size/resolution is best IMO.

Preferably something in performance close to the Gt555m, which my laptop currently has.

Given the specs, 17 inch screen 1920,1080 res, and decent mobile gpu, I'd consider any of these:

I tried to shoot for variety in companies.

MSI, i7 cpu, 12 gb ddr3 750 gb hdd, gtx 570m (Desktop equivalent is in and around a gtx 460?) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6834152293
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6834152293

ASUS i7 cpu, 12 gb ddr3, 500 gb hdd, gtx 560m
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6834230142

The MSI has a much better camera, and an eSATA port. The ASUS is cheaper, and they're both very reputable companies in my eyes, I have products from both companies. ASUS motherboard, and MSI gfx card. (I love the twin frozr coolers)

If you buy the ASUS you could buy a SSD, and maybe a better peripheral camera.

I'd poke around a little more, but I've gotta get to bed, perhaps I can look around some more tomorrow.

HP DV7 Pavilion 17" notebook $800
Core i7-2670QM 2.2GHz CPU, 8GB RAM, 750GB 5400rpm HDD, Blu-Ray ODD, 17.3" 1600x900 resolution w/ Radeon HD 7470 graphics.
Includes 2-year warranty.

Upgrade options:
750GB 7200rpm HDD $20
Bluetooth $15
Radeon HD 7690M graphics card $75
1920x1080 anti-glare LCD $150

~about $1050 will the options

He just told me that screen size/resolution doesn't matter to him at all now.
Currently looking at the Lenovo Y570 with the i7-2670QM and Gt555m for $800.