Best laptop for a student?

I just graduated high school and am looking to buy a laptop, or possibly a tablet. I will obviously need it for college and would like for it to be fairly user-friendly. I've never had anything other than E-Machines and HP's, so I'm asking for some insight on some of the other brands out there. I also am big with downloading music, so the more memory the better, but I don't need anything outrageous. I'm also into graphic design a bit, mainly picture manipulation (it's not my major, just a hobby). Any help and some insight on what to look for in a laptop would be awesome!