Thin and light laptop for university

[HVD]

I'm looking for a new thin, light Windows laptop to take to university. I'm thinking around 13-14". Mostly I'll be using it for web browsing, email and writing essays.

The main priorities for me are that it's easily portable, has great battery life (since I may not always be near a power source) and that it's able to playback HD movies without stuttering. Other than that, I've got a pretty open mind as far as hardware/screen/etc goes. Gaming isn't a big deal, mostly I'll be running old 2D games and possibly N64/PSX emulation, nothing more intensive than that.

As far as budget, I'd like to keep it between £500 and £700, but I can go higher if necessary.

After doing a bit of research, the Asus UL80Vt looks pretty good, but the build quality seems pretty poor, and the trackpad is meant to be dire. Is there anything similar that is a bit more sturdy with a better trackpad?

If not, are there any other suggestions?