get Dell or Acer. no to Compaq, HP (heating issues) & at least Mac (Job sucks

)
as your budget, try get a laptop having these:
Core i3 or Athlon II X2 (maybe Turnion M200/M500).
3Gb DDR3 or more.
HDD you know.
Blueray not possible. settle for DVD writer.
if possible get a discrete graphics like HD4650 (rest are all bakwaas, specially GT310, HD5450, etc) or HD5650 (not possible in your budget). also 1Gb or 512Mb memory tells nothing about graphics power.
14" screen.
6 cel battery.
done. go through Acer & Dell's laptop range. u may get one resembling the config.