Is this a suitable first gaming laptop? Suggestions, advice etc.

Basic gist is this. Mac owner for several years, tired of their less than stellar business practices and wanting to expand into new areas with my first gaming laptop. I had this one in mind and was looking for some feedback.

Dell Notebook 15.6" Windows 8

Specs:

15.6" Screen

3rd Generation Intel Core i5-3210M 2.50GHz CPU

8GB RAM

1TB HDD

DVD Super Multi

AMD Radeon HD 7670M

Wi-Fi and BT

1 x HDMI

3 X USB 3.0

1366 x 768 Resolution

Windows 8

Also, I'm not looking for 'console' experiences on this thing, more of a Civ/Diablo/Sims machine and some Steam games from time to time.

Price range I'm aiming to keep it under $1000 and I'd like to avoid anything too cumbersome as I will also need it for schooling uses and general laptop stuff that doesn't involve gaming.

I apologise for the simple topic but I am completely new to this and would really like some help from what seems like a super cool group of people.

Your input would be greatly appreciated.