You will pay a premium for a laptop vs. a desktop. You will pay an expensive premium for portability, which almost no one *really* needs. 99% of laptop owners keep their laptops on their desk...as a very expensive paperweight.

Laptops are over-priced and under achievers when it comes to computing power.

Not a big deal with you, since you are just an undergraduate, but I tell a lot of students to buy what their peers are getting. It's a lot easier to share files, software, etc, with computers that are the same. You might want to wait until you are at school, have settled in, see what is up, see what people are using, before laying down the top dollars for a computer.

I tend to recommend a lot of Dell's. The main reason I use Dell is that I can specifically customize any machine to be built. I know exactly what parts are going in it, etc. I do not have to compromise when shopping for a Dell.

Stuff that is usually optional and not necessarily needed: finger print readers, built in cameras, built in card readers, bluetooth, FireWire, etc.

For you, I'd look at the:

MacBook.
Dell Inspiron
Dell Latitude