VAIO BX760 - experience and opinions?

Hi -
I need to purchase a laptop for work and would like to get some input from people with more experience than I.

Firstly, it needs to have XP (not Vista) for software compatibility. So that narrows it down quite a bit! It needs a 15" screen (preferably widescreen).

I've been looking around and have narrowed it down to either:
Sony VAIO BX760
Lenovo T61

Similarly spec'ed, I've found them for about the same price (approx $1300). The T61 gets lots of great reviews (and is a bit thinner/lighter), but the VAIO definitely wins on style --- which I hate to admit, but it keeps edging me toward the Sony and away from the T61.

I had a VAIO several years ago and was happy with the build quality, etc. But I just can't find much info on the BX series beyond standard descriptions and specifications. Not many opinions or actual reviews! Within the BX760 series, there are two configurations of interest (and within budget) -- They are within $25 of being the same price and these are the only differences I could distinguish:
BX760P3 - T7300 2.0 GHz, 1GB RAM PC2-5300 DDR2, AIT Mobility Radeon HD2300 128MB dedicated video

BX760PS6 - T7500 2.2 GHz, 2GB DDR2 667 RAM, Intel x3100 integrated video (up to 251 MB)

Sometimes the spec charts aren't exactly apples-to-apples when it comes to details, so I have two questions:
1. Memory - is there an actual difference between PC2-5300 DDR2 and DDR2-667, or is it just a semantic difference in the way the spec chart was filled out? If different, is one substantially better than the other?
2. Video - obviously, a dedicated video card is preferable, but this will not be a gaming or video editing machine. However, it will be used for Photoshop-type work and GIS mapping applications. Is it worth sacrificing some RAM for a dedicated video card? I guess these days I could buy another 1GB RAM pretty cheap....

Sorry so long and rambling and thanks for your help!

James

 

1. No
2. No

If you like the looks of the VAIO, I think the BX would be an excellent choice for you.

 

I currently use a BX760PS3 for my work and I'm loving it. It's definitely improved in the build quality from the original BX560's of two years ago, and overall has held up quite nicely. Very worth your time to pick one up.

 

Thanks odin -
Just to clarify point #2 - In your opinion, for my applications (not gaming or video editing, etc) it would be better for me to get the faster processor with more RAM than a dedicated video card? That's the way I'm leaning, I just wanted to make sure that I hadn't overlooked something or that dedicated video RAM was really a big plus on a laptop.
Thanks!

 

Dedicated video ram is only a plus if you're going to use it. Do you do a lot of high defenition video play back? Do you game a lot? Do you use advanced 3d rendering/animating programs? If not, you don't need a dedicated video card, as system RAM will be cheaper, cooler, and faster for normal applications. A T7300/T7500 with 2GB of RAM will be fine for you.