No clue. I am mainly studying to become a cameraman, but I think I might want to learn other film things on the side. You know, maybe I should research the different film programs at the colleges I am considering and see what computers they require us to own. I don't plan to work on CG or anything fancy like that; I'm mainly interested in creating movies with some camerawork and something that will edit.
Also, other slight problem. The laptop you showed me isn't available from any local Best Buy stores, and Newegg doesn't seem to have the same model.

A buddy of mine got a nice Pavilion dv5 enterainment laptop with a kickass Blu-ray drive, 9800 M graphics, 4 gigs of RAM, Vista Home Premium, and a damned awesome dual core. Price? A little under $1500 in your US dollars. And throw in a 15-inch screen for good measure.
I say don't get a gaming laptop, get an overall powerful system rather than those Gateway FX laptops. You don't want top of the line in everything, you just want something that works well.

This may seem rather obvious to point out, but gaming/entertainment laptops are very, very heavy. Add a few extra kilograms for your textbooks and you're having to lug some serious weight around all day long. Not fun. Unless you actually need access to your own computer on campus as part of a class you really should just do without, using library or computer lab systems on campus and a desktop at home. If you really do need a laptop on the grounds you might find it works out better to get a cheap laptop or netbook for classes (with the focus being on weight, not performance or features) and a proper gaming-level desktop at home.

I've seen many a student make this mistake, after the honeymoon period with their new gaming laptop is over, they're often very quick to leave the thing at home. I would bare this in mind for definite, as I've found my budget Netbook exceptionally useful because of its portability rather than its function.
Seriously, how many time are you really going to need to play Prototype on the bus?
... Actually that's pretty cool if you could. But still, Arkose has a stellar point there.

That actually sounds really smart! I think I'll hold off a little to afford something like that.
I'm not an expert with weight, but is 8.7 pounds heavy? The PC Magazine review makes the HP sound lighter than the average gaming laptop.

Blu-Ray....why bother?
Do you know for sure that the school you want to go to is filming to BluRay standards,etc.
Anyways, I'm not a movie guy, so DVD quality is fine for me.
But the laptop Michael mentioned has the same specs as the ASUS, just a Blu-Ray added on.
I say only get Blu-Ray laptop if you plan on hooking it up to your TV, otherwise watching movies with that tech on your laptop alone is pointless.
My ASUS weighs less than my old MacBook Pro that my uni gave me, I sold that PoS for 900$ and it was beaten up a little bit, dead battery and 2 years old.
But hey that goes to show you that people are f*cking stupid when they see an Apple logo, even YOU can rip them off, let alone Steve Jobs doing it.

Do you know where I can find the ASUS, besides Best Buy? I checked store availability, and it's nowhere near me. Amazon has models that are different and more expensive.

8.7 lbs is very heavy. If you're a pretty average sized person (not like the skinny gamer the media likes to sensationalize), you should be able to carry it, charger and all, easy though.
Yeah, and you should hold off to buy that sort of system. I checked with my friend and he says it's only around 5 or 6 pounds with a battery.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220489
That is essentially the one I got, but this one has bigger hard drive and screen, and faster proc.
its only $1k

I'm a swimmer, so I can lift something like that with ease.
As for holding off, I think that's a great idea, especially since I've heard rumors that Nvidia is planning to unveil its' newest "game-changing" line of video cards very soon. I might get it before Windows 7 is released, though.

Very nice, but I will wait a bit until Nvidia unveils the newest product line, then see where I go from there.

Yeah, at the very least if you can, wait until HP and those big companies offer the free Windows exchange coupons so you even get Windows 7 free as an upgrade. Windows 7 is coming out around August/September or so, and if it's for school you can make it.

I can more than make it; this is my senior high school year, so college is a year away!

Then it's definitely in your best interest to hold off. And who knows, the HP dv5 might even get cheaper and with better specs.

Other Laptops from ASUS, some are refurbs, but me thinks refurbs will be ok as long as the warranty is standard ASUS coverage.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4475101&CatId=3444
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4623267&CatId=1891
Not too sure about these GPU down here, but I believe they are decent too
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220520
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220517

Check this out for a good overview of what you can expect in terms of playability for different laptop graphics cards.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Computer-Games-on-Laptop-Graphic-Cards.13849.0.html
None can play Crysis: Warhead fluently on Ultra settings. And the tops models are only found in models ranging $2250 and up.