If I was you i'd get a macbook pro 15 inch i7 2.8ghz processor with 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm.
Reason - good processor , good size for portability, can run osx, windows and linux which all have their advantages plus you get educational discount from apple and a better machine in terms of security.
Also, Apple have better programs for creativity and as someone who does web design in my spare time I prefer OSX massively to any other OS.
You can then get an external hardrive and install linux and windows on them so you have a lot of storage for each OS.
This is what im doing for uni anyway but with a lower spec macbook due to costs.
For that machine with Applecare for 3 years it would cost you
£1,758.98
Plus you also have the security of a osx whereas Windows is extremely vulnerable. osx does have viruses but nowhere near as much as windows.