I have a Sony Vaio F-series (VPCF2290X, specifically) and love the shit out of it.

F-series is Sony's multimedia/gaming series, but I've been using it for school also. The particular model I have is a bit of a diesel, it's got a 16.4 inch screen, it's pretty beastly-feeling and is about the farthest thing from a little Macbook. I personally really like that about it, but if you want something light don't get this model. Sony has other Vaios that are lighter, and I've never met anyone that didn't pick up one that didn't love it. Just my recommendation.
These were my order details, came out to around $1400ish. This model also can also come with Sony's 3D package for games, if that's something you're interested. But it's a bit extra. And you can get a bluray player/burner, I just got CD instead to keep my price down.
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Norton Internet Security™ 2012 (30 day trial)
6GB (4GB x1 + 2GB x1) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
High capacity battery
No engraving
Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter
No Fresh Start
500GB (7200rpm) hard drive
Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM quad-core processor (2.0GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 2.90GHz
CD/DVD player / burner
Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
16.4" 2D Full HD LCD display (1920x1080) with LED backlight
Silver
Adobe Bundle (Free - $448 value)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M (1GB) dedicated graphics
As far as games though, probably the most strenuous thing I ran on here was Skyrim and it was reccomended to run on either high or very high graphics, I don't remember which, but either way pretty good for a laptop IMO.