Looking for a new laptop

Ok, I've got a gateway m520 laptop (p4/ht, 1g ram, windows xp, etc.) and I'm looking to upgrade to something less dated. Preferrably with win7, 4-8g ram, 500g hd, 15-17in screen, battery life beyond the 50mins i get barely doing anything on this beast of a heavy laptop (weighs like 14lbs). Also if it runs cool and has a decent graphics card I'd be happy

Usage:
play videogames (obviously)[If it can run Spore, MS, and emulators I'd be happy]
watch movies (dvds and streaming)
I want to get back into programming (java and C++)

Price:
I think I'd max out at about $2,000 but if its just some change beyond its not a deal breaker

still looking for input on this

You don't need that much ram for what you described there.

If. You want to play ms on windows 7 make sure the vid card is NOT nvidea.

the reason for the high amount of ram is that i don't want to have to upgrade it (ever/the next 4-5yrs) plus i like to multitask, multi-log maple, and be able to handle your usual antivirus/malware protection etc. without any troubles

If something is suggested with less ram that's alright as long as its not anywhere near the lol1gig i have currently as i find myself running low quite often