Kinarion

" @Kinarion: No offense but maybe one step should be to stop visiting Giant Bomb and other gaming sites until you feel you have a better handle on your work schedule. "

" Tell me when you get an answer, as I will go with it, too :P. "

" Get any old thing and install Linux on it. That'll stop you from playing most kinds of games. "

" Fucking stop playing video games you stupid bastard.  Hope I helped. "

Hi, Giantbomb.  I'm a pre-med student finishing up my last couple years of college.  Back in the beginning when I was going in, I knew two things: I needed a laptop, and I loved games.  And while those truths remain, my 17" Alienware has unfortunately proven to be a heavy and ostentatious distraction with barely enough battery life to survive the trip from my dorm to the library.  I've kept my grades up, but my Bio/Chem classes started getting hard this semester and going forward I need to focus like a motherfucker.  That, plus the failure of battery has led me to seek a new laptop.  I want something functional with 6+ hours of battery life.  I was hoping to spend about $500, but I got $250 in Amazon gift cards over the holidays and I was thinking of adding that to my price point. 
 
In summation: 
- $500-ish (or $750 on Amazon) 
- min. 6 hours battery life  
- powerful enough to look at many webpages/flash animations of folding proteins
- serious business 
 
Thanks, Giantbomb and Happy New Year! 
 
edit: Forgot to mention portable! My school is on a hill, and Massachusetts winters are cold.

If you're not able to get through it, there are walk-throughs available online.  Try google.   
 
Also, you may not be cut out for puzzle or adventure games.

"  I figured it was a lock that they'd choose Borderlands.  I personally wouldn't.  Looking at a list of 2009 games, I think the only one on there that I didn't play until this year or get into until this year was Bit.Trip Beat.  So I guess that's my personal choice.  
 
@Kinarion: Angry Birds is an interesting choice.  Another game that really didn't get attention until this year that came out last year was Minecraft.  "

Angry Birds 

I'm calling Penguin.  They need to know about this.