For gaming, these would be better
Assuming you are looking for a 14"
Lenovo
Y400, i7-3630QM + Nvidia GT650M@RM2799, 4GB, 500GB, W8, 120wPSU, swappable ODD
Y480(5934-7549), i7-3630QM + Nvidia GT650M (GDDR5) @RM2599 [JBL], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), backlit keyboard, freeDOS
Y480(5934-1372), i7-3610QM + Nvidia GT650(GDDR5)@RM2699[JBL], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), backlit keyboard, W7HB

The Y400 is pretty new, do check it out

Well, the people here in Mobile Computing talks about Lenovo ALOT lately haha
Mostly because of the relatively cheap, powerful and nice looking notebooks that Lenovo released recently
The Y400 and Y500 are new gaming machines featuring an ultrabay design. Its sort of like a slot which you can put in a 2nd GPU, heatsink, HDD, optical drive etc. - more flexibility

You can refer to this thread for more details yo~ http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/2491914

Not real connections between Full HD and HDMI
HDMI is a port for you to connect to TV so that you can display much higher quality stuffs compared to the conventional VGA port. Almost all notebooks out in the market have a HDMI port, and have no problems handling it, so no worries there~Full HD is the screen resolution of 1920x1080.

Well, my advice to you is similar to that 3 years ago
Don't judge solely by the specs

Having a FullHD screen of definitely sounds very impressive on a 13" screen, but can you handle the level of detail? Especially so when coming from a 1366x768 15.6"..

Design-wise its hard to choose between the XPS and ZenBook.
But in terms of ergonomics (keyboard and touchpad), the XPS is better based on my own experience..

I think the only problem for Asus is the warranty support; whereas for the XPS 13 is the expensive warranty extension price

Unfortunately RM5k cannot get you a Dell Precision
Perhaps you can consider the Lenovo Y580 or Y500 instead.
15.6"
Lenovo
Ideapad Y500, i7-3630QM + Nvidia GT650M + (1920x1080)@RM3799, 4GB, 500GB, W8; GN36 exGPU, 170W AC adapter
Ideapad Y580, i7-3630QM + Nvidia GTX660M + 1920x1080 @RM2999[JBL], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), W7HB/W8, backlit keyboard, 2 yrs warranty

Since the GT650M is more or less similar in terms of performance to the GTX660m, it might be a wiser pick to choose the Y500 even though most softwares (for work) probably don't support SLI. Its good to have the dual GPUs for gaming hehe
Use the remaining money to extend warranty to 3 years, upgrade RAM to 8GB, and upgrade the HDD to SSD (very important )

Since you have a good budget, you can consider these as well:
15.6"
Asus G55VW-S1216H, i7-3610QM +Nvidia GTX660M (2GB) + (1920x1080)@3999[3.78kg], 4GB, 1TB(5400rpm), W8
MSI GE60, i7-3610QM + Nvidia GTX660M + (1920x1080; anti-glare) + Bluray@RM4199, 8GB, 1TB(7200rpm), W7HP, 2 years warranty, gaming mouse & backpack, Free SteelSeries QCK Mass mousepad

Similarly, upgrade warranty, RAM and HDD

The Inspiron 14 and both Lenovo G480 performs the best in terms of CPU.
Whereas the G480 and possibly the Z585 performs best in terms of GPU.
The Lenovo G480 with GT635M seemed the most balanced among all these notebooks, a good choice if you are on a budget but still want something with some decent graphic power~

Thank you sir

Oh... that's sad
Office can online right?

Happy New Year 2013 to you and all the other sifus too

Unless if you are also bringing in good FullHD external monitors, I think its better to go for notebooks with better screens.
If you are planning to just use the notebooks itself, then the Y500 would be the better choice because of the larger workspace provided by the FullHD screen. But you might need to look into color recalibration tools just to make sure that the screens are alright

The Y580 can also be considered as well since they are cheaper... and since designing softwares probably don't support SLI of the Y500

Pretty much those from Asus if you want an ultrabook (slim and light) with an optical drive
Otherwise you are going to have to take a look at standard (slightly heavier) notebooks already

You mean i5-3317U?
Grats on your purchase yo

THe Inspiron 14R SE is one of the most bang-for-buck notebook within the price range of RM2.1k
Personally I think its hideous haha
But you do get a lot from such a budget machine

Pretty much the Lenovo y580
Ideapad Y580, i7-3630QM + Nvidia GTX660M + 1920x1080 @RM2999[JBL], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), W7HB/W8, backlit keyboard, 2 yrs warranty

If you are into gaming, then its pretty much the Y580

15.6"
Lenovo Ideapad Y580, i7-3630QM + Nvidia GTX660M + 1920x1080 @RM2999[JBL], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), W7HB/W8, backlit keyboard, 2 yrs warranty

These two are the best for your budget range
14"

Asus A45VS-VX026H, i5-3210M + Nvidia GT645M@RM2199[2.4kg], 2GB, 500GB, W8
Dell Inspiron 14R (Special Edition), i5-3210M + Nvidia GT640M(28nm Kepler)@RM2049[2.38kg], 4GB, 500GB(7200rpm), W7HP/W8

Not exactly an ultrabook, but is pretty light for the power it offers (normal processor) and comes with optical drive... Doesn't have SSD though
13"
Toshiba
Portégé R930-2019, i3-2370M + Intel HD3000@RM3499[1.4kg], W7P, 4GB, 640GB (7200rpm), Microsoft Office Home & Student 2010; 3 years warranty, color: metallic black
Portégé R930-2001/R/B, i5-3210M + Intel HD4000@RM3099[1.4kg], 4GB, 640GB (7200rpm), W7HP; 3 years warranty, color: metallic black, red, blue

Most ultrabooks do not have optical drive, if you omit that requirement, there will be a lot more options

Seems like your dad prefers the user-friendliness more than the specifications
The MBA is definitely the clear choice in this case (assuming your dad will not experience any software incompatibilities at his work)

The currently lineups of ultrabooks from Toshiba are not really very comfortable to use

The i5-3317U is a ultra low voltage processor whereas the i5-3210M is a normal processor.
An ULV processor consumes less power at the expense of CPU performance.
Still, since your usage doesn't really require a lot of processing power, and since you are into gaming, its better to go for one that has a better GPU... unless if portability is extremely important to you

If you are into hardcore gaming, which I think you are, then can consider the Illegear RS-17
17.3"
Illegear RS-17, i5-3210M + AMD HD7970M + (1920x1080)@RM5599, 8GB, 500(5400rpm), FreeDOS [CPU Options: i5-3210M - i7-3940XM][GPU options: GTX680M]

Its a good pick since you get to customize the specs to your liking
You can use your remaining money to get an OS, extend warranty to 3 years. Not sure whether you have remaining money for CPU/GPU/HDD upgrades or not

And there's a promotion still going on for Illegear units iinm, do check out the website

Yes, all of them comes with DVD-ROM