College Laptop

Hello DSO staff and forum users,

I am looking for a little assistance on a configuration for my college laptop.

Budget: Somewhere around $1200 would be ideal, but there is a little leeway. I would not need any accessories.

Expectations:
- I would like to be able to mid-level game. ex. Guild Wars 2 at good settings
- Something reliable that will last me a few years w/o major issues
- 15.6" or 15.3" screen preferable to a 17"
- 2nd or 3rd gen i7
- Decent graphics card
- at least 500 GB of hard-drive (7200 rpm preferable)
- As much ram as possible in my price range
- Glossy screen
- Ability to remain cool and quiet when in class/on a desk in my dorm playing games

Usage: Guild Wars 2, WoW, Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, etc. Also general web surfing, video watching, and Microsoft Office usage (excel, word, powerpoint). I wouldn't be doing any design or rendering.

Special Needs: Reliability, something that will last me all four years of college even if I must slowly switch to lower settings on newer games. Also, heat has always been an issue on old laptops.

Thanks you very much for any help! It is greatly appreciated. (here is a config I whipped up earlier: 682854)