Gaming desktop that will play anything in existence on the highest settings at 1680x1050: $630. Low-end, 5 pound, 14.1in. Lenovo laptop: $500 (ish). Total cost: around $1100. Checking out Dell and Lenovo's website, the cheapest I could find a comparable laptop for was $1700, and I bought my desktop three or four months ago. $600 in savings is pretty significant, especially considering all the other benefits of a desktop.

As far as awkwardness, my desktop sits under my desk, and the flatscreen monitor (which was included in the 630 price I paid) sits on top. I've lived in some tiny dorm rooms during my college years, but I've never had trouble fitting either one.

Anyway. Gaming laptops are good, I suppose, if you really do a ton of travelling, and are a hardcore gamer. For the most part though, if you get something powerful enough to play games decently, you're talking some serious bulk. The $1700 laptop I found weighed 12 pounds, and had a 17 inch screen. To me, carrying something like that to class every day would be WAY more awkward than giving up a little under-desk footspace. Why do you think a desktop is too awkward for ya?