Need advice on new laptop specs

Budget:
Around $1700. Cheaper is better though.

Expectations:
I expect it to run well and hopefully not cause me much grief. I bought a laptop that turned out to be a complete lemon and I need to replace it.

Usage:
So. I want to be able to use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator with my Wacom intuos4 tablet, watch movies, surf the web, listen to music, and be able to play the Sims 3 with all the expansion packs and Diablo 3. Not all at the same time, but in general. Using Photoshop, Illustrator and my tablet at the same time would be really nice.

Special Needs:
Portability, I go to college so homework and classes make it pretty necessary for me to be able to move my computer.

I don't have a saved ticket yet because I'm not really sure what's best or what the functional difference in say a processor with a maximum of 3.4 GHz compared to 3.6 GHz. I get that it is faster, but what that means for my system is where I struggle. So if anyone could help me out, it would be very much appreciated. I think the 15" models would be best because mine right now is 14" and I really like that size.

Thanks in advanced!

Can't believe I hadn't seen this yet.

Like Alex said, the x15e level 1 seems to suit your needs.

If you are planning on doing a lot more gaming in the future you might want to consider the gtx 675mx for $99 more. You'll still be under budget and have some more headroom in the future.

There's not a huge difference between the 3.4 and 3.6 GHz processors. Especially in today's games and programs they'll both perform equally. The only difference you would see would be when the CPU usage is at or close to 100%, which doesn't happen in games.

If you have any other questions about DS laptops I could help you out.

Good luck!

BTW Alex, on the x15E and x17 config pages the 670mx and 675mx options still say "ETA end of October."