For that price range you actually have a fair amount of choice when it comes to laptops these days. For carrying around uni though i've always thought the 12.1" laptops were the most appropriate, simply because they're small, light, and easily slip into a backpack so no one knows you are carrying a laptop as you walk through town.
The sony one you had there looks reasonable, but you may also want to consider the HP Presario BT1959TU, which is $1800.
PROCESSOR : Intel Core Duo processor T2250 (1.73GHz); 2MB L2 cache
MEM : 1024MB DDR2 533Mhz(2 Dimm)
STORAGE : 120GB HDD
OPTICAL STORAGE : Super Multi 8X DVDRW with Double Layer Support
DISPLAY: 12.1" High-Definition BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
GRAPHICS CARD : ATI Radeon Xpress 200M
NETWORKING: High Speed 56K modem, integrated 10/100 Lan
WIRELESS 802.11a/b/g WLAN, Integrated Bluetooth
EXTERNAL CARD EXPANSION : ExpressCard/54 slot(supp both 34 & 54 form factor
I/O PORTS : VGA, 3 USB 2.0 ports, 1394a, RJ-11, RJ-45, Headphone out(stereo
Microphone input(stereo), S-Video output,
SPDIF (supported via adapter connected through headphone out),
AC adapter, Kensington lock slot
DIMENSION : 287 x 223.8 x 28-34mm
* Windows Vista Business
I suppose the biggest issue with this one is Vista. Is there anything in particular that drew you away from Vista?
HP also has the model down from that, the B1916TU (
here), which has XP Pro, but it is also lower spec'd and the same price.
Hopefully it gives you a bit more to think about. Unfortunately Sony laptops are always rather overpriced for what they actually are.
Chris.