Help!!! (Switching advice needed...)

With that budget you should probably get a Macbook, I think that it would do good for what you want, If you are in college don't forget to use your education discount.

 

With $1,800, You're choice is either a Black MacBook with 2GB RAM or a White 2.0GHz MacBook with 2GB RAM & a 120GB HD. The BlackBook is $50 more.

 

I would recommend a 15" MacBook Pro, with the edu discount it's $1,799. It's a bit faster, with a bigger screen, which is nice if it's your primary computer. If you don't need the bigger portable screen or GPU, I'd recommend doing something like getting a refurb MacBook (around $1000) and buying a nice big 24" Dell monitor (refurbs are in the $600's) to use it with when you're at home. Then, just unplug it and use it in class and whatnot on its own!

That last one's the setup I have now, and it's really fantastic. With any money left over, I'd recommend you up the RAM, though, as it'll struggle with the big display on shared RAM.

 

If your not going to be a hardcore user, I would just grab a MacBook. Intensive use of video editing, graphics, and media will probably make you go for a MacBook Pro. If you can throw in a few more hundred, get yourself a MBP.. if not the MB will do you just fine as well. Good luck!