$1200 is an absolute max...but would like to spend quite a bit less.

>= 15" screen
>= 8GB memory
? SSD (would like one with both SSD and HDD, not sure how small of SSD is required...)
1TB HDD

No idea on graphics card, for my purposes, do I need a dedicated one? Don't really game anymore...

Brands to avoid? Owned a dell a long time ago, Asus 5-10 years ago, and Acer most recently...liked the Asus best, not sure how things have gone recently and which brands to avoid and those best to go with.

Would like to get fairly soon, sometime in the next month preferably, but could wait for certain sales...imagine theres some type of going back to school sales coming up soon, best to wait?

If you don't game or do photo/video editing/CAD, etc, then no you don't need a dedicated GPU.
As for dual storage drives, I think you'd be better off buying a cheapo i5 with 8gb ram from best buy/costco/amazon, then just buying a 1tb SSD for $200 and swapping that in.
Dell is usually the best IMO, but as long as you don't physically abuse your laptop, it should last a few years.

Otherwise you can peruse through this: https://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100006740%20601296059%20601296065%20601296066%20600004720%20601296061%20600004344%20600004804%20600136700%20600165638%20600337010%20601183480%20601286800%20601310336&LeftPriceRange=0%201200

I would recommend the Asus Vivobook series.
You will get some features you won't see on a lot of other budget laptops. Like fingerprint reader and thin bezels.
Fits all your search criteria for under 700 bucks.

https://www.amazon.com/VivoBook-Lightweight-WideView-i5-8250U-Fingerprint/dp/B0795W86N3/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1532391221&sr=1-6&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=laptop&dpPl=1&dpID=41ep9XKCNHL&ref=plSrch&th=1&psc=1

This actually looks like an amazing deal, I'd go with that TBH!