I suppose the inspiron 9300 will be just nice for you if you are not going for gaming. The specs are good and suitable for video and digital editing.
I need a computer to replace my 5 year old Dell desktop. I was looking for something in the low to mid $2000 price range. If i go with the powerbook it would be the 15 inch.
I'm mainly getting a new computer in order to do some video and digital picture editing. I play some computer games but not very much. And the rest of the time it would be used for word processing, email and surfing the web.

Chowhound
Comic Vine
GameFAQs
GameSpot
Giant Bomb
TechRepublic