What 15'' Ultrabook/Laptop would you recommend? [$1000-$2000]

[IAreKyleW00t]

Price Range: $1000 - $2000
Size: Preferably ~15''
Resolution: Avg. Laptop (higher the better)
Battery Life: 5+ hours
Hard Drive: SSD + Min of 120GB
CPU: i5 or i7
RAM: Min of 4GB
OS: 64-bit Win 7 or Win 8 (doesn't matter to me)
Keyboard: Backlit Keyboard, Prefer a Full-size Keyboard
Gaming: Very light gameplay occasionally (High-end Gaming Desktop for that at home)
Prefered sites: Newegg, Amazon, Bestbuy, or directly from the companies website
Prefered Brands: I'm only familiar with ASUS - but any will do.
Weight: Having "some weight" to it would be prefered
Country: USA

Additional Information: This will be used for College (Majoring in Computer Science and Software Engineering). This can either be an Ultrabook or a normal Laptop. I have a dedicated Gaming PC at home so gaming isn't a priority on it. I want a good, solid machine that will last me for years to come throughout college. Dedicated graphics would be nice (since I always prefer it) but it's not required. I already tried the ASUS UX51Vz-DH71, but the fan was INCREDIBLY loud. It also started making a 'whining' noise after a few hours, so it was returned.

Any help/suggestions would be great! I've spent days trying to find a decent laptop, but I can't seem to find anything.

 

[g-unit1111]

None. With an Ultrabook you trade speed for size and that's never a good thing. You can get a better laptop for that kind of budget that doesn't have ultra low power components.

 

[IAreKyleW00t]

None. With an Ultrabook you trade speed for size and that's never a good thing. You can get a better laptop for that kind of budget that doesn't have ultra low power components.

Well yes, that's true - but I'm not looking for the best thing out there. I have been thinking about going with a regular laptop, but I don't want/need some high-end laptop (or gaming laptop). It's simply for college, programming and a few other small tasks.
If you think I should just go with a normal Laptop, then please feel free to point me to one. I'd be more than happy to take a look and an open for suggestions.

EDIT: Updated OP with that information.

 

[g-unit1111]

None. With an Ultrabook you trade speed for size and that's never a good thing. You can get a better laptop for that kind of budget that doesn't have ultra low power components.

Well yes, that's true - but I'm not looking for the best thing out there. I have been thinking about going with a regular laptop, but I don't want/need some high-end laptop (or gaming laptop). It's simply for college, programming and a few other small tasks.
If you think I should just go with a normal Laptop, then please feel free to point me to one. I'd be more than happy to take a look and an open for suggestions.

EDIT: Updated OP with that information.

The biggest problem with Ultrabooks is that there's no graphics cards and the CPUs and GPUs are made for low power requirements. Lenovo or any rebaged Sager laptop (MSI, Origin, etc) would be far better.

 

[IAreKyleW00t]

The biggest problem with Ultrabooks is that there's no graphics cards and the CPUs and GPUs are made for low power requirements. Lenovo or any rebaged Sager laptop (MSI, Origin, etc) would be far better.

I'm planning on heading to BestBuy again later this week - when I go there I'll be sure to keep that in mind. That's the only thing I'm worried about with Ultrabooks - not getting enough power when I need it. Given, the most resource intensive thing I'll be doing on other than compiling code would be to play Minecraft with my younger brother. I'm sure a normal laptop would be great, but I've been warned so much have needing to carry around some "big laptop".

I'll most likely just get a laptop in the end, but I'll leave that option open incase something does happen to come by. Anyways, do you happen to have a recommendation for Laptop then instead of a Ultrabook?

 

[Brett Delia]

As far as a small laptop goes, you cannot go wrong with a Lenovo T430 and T431s. If you really want an Ultrabook then the Lenovo T430U should be considered.

 

[IAreKyleW00t]

As far as a small laptop goes, you cannot go wrong with a Lenovo T430 and T431s. If you really want an Ultrabook then the Lenovo T430U should be considered.

The 431s is an Ultrabook as well - and also keep in mind that I said 15''. I'm not really looking at anything below that size unless I can't find anything.

 

[g-unit1111]

The biggest problem with Ultrabooks is that there's no graphics cards and the CPUs and GPUs are made for low power requirements. Lenovo or any rebaged Sager laptop (MSI, Origin, etc) would be far better.

I'm planning on heading to BestBuy again later this week - when I go there I'll be sure to keep that in mind. That's the only thing I'm worried about with Ultrabooks - not getting enough power when I need it. Given, the most resource intensive thing I'll be doing on other than compiling code would be to play Minecraft with my younger brother. I'm sure a normal laptop would be great, but I've been warned so much have needing to carry around some "big laptop".

I'll most likely just get a laptop in the end, but I'll leave that option open incase something does happen to come by. Anyways, do you happen to have a recommendation for Laptop then instead of a Ultrabook?

What warnings are you getting about carrying around a big laptop?

As far as recommending laptops go, I just bought a Lenovo Y500 last month and love it, and it's 1/2 the size and weight of my old Toshiba.

 

[IAreKyleW00t]

What warnings are you getting about carrying around a big laptop?

As far as recommending laptops go, I just bought a Lenovo Y500 last month and love it, and it's 1/2 the size and weight of my old Toshiba.

Ya'know - typical stuff about people saying "oh you don't want a heavy laptop!" "Get something you can carry around easily." etc, etc. I'm guessing that I really won't need to worry about that, will I?