This system has not had any good reviews. It is too big for a Netbook and too small for a Laptop. The processor is really lame duck (but that is the case with all the Atoms which are more or less standard for netbooks). The graphics is horrible and in case it has only 512MB of RAM, it is completely insufficient to do anything useful. In addition, those toys come with either XP or Linux, neither one I would recommend.
I would recommend you go with a 14" or 15" laptop that is decently equipped, has at least 2GB of RAM, a 2GHz(+) processor and 250GB of HDD and comes with Vista. That may be a little heavier, but at least she will be able to do something with it.
There is no reason to hate Vista. It is a far superior operating system than XP, at lot more elegant and a lot easier to use. Plus in a little while, XP will be not supported any more, whilst Windows7 is coming out (which is Release2 of Vista in reality).
Here is an example (which has a decent price) of what I am talking about: http://configure.us.dell.com/d.....6-1260291- But that is only an example. I just saw a similar Sony today at Office Depot - and in pink. How does that sound for a girl?

For your budget you will get something real nice. Go down to Home Depot. I am sure the have the nice pink Sony in your neck of the woods too. In the store it came with a rebate (I think it was $150 - not 100% sure though). I was also thinking of your daughter. This will be her only computer where she has to do all her work on. You want it to be something decent. Then also think what the other guys are going to have. You don't want her to be stuck with the antique XP when everybody else has Vista. Hard to get help by your peers too. And you know the peer pressure and joking the kids can be subjected to. My kids are in their 40's, but I see this with my granddaughter. They want to be up-to-date. There have been hardly any XP systems in the stores any more since over 2 years. So take it for what it is worth.

PS: I just saw that you are not in the US - but I am sure Sony is in India too.

Fair enough. Have fun shopping - and my wife just says: "Take your daughter with you".

Keep shopping. This is too much money. Nothing sacred about Sony - I was only mentioning it because the pink system was so cute for a girl and I had seen it this afternoon. My wife liked it a lot. But we have HP, Dell and Gateway. They are all good systems. This system you linked would cost around $500 here. India seems to be expensive - and Sony normally is too. The T3400 at 2.2GHz is OK.

I sent you a mail. One of the mods will forward it to you. But now I will go to bed. It is 2AM in Florida. Talk to you tomorrow.

Happy update. Yesterday, I bought this Toshiba Satellite Pro U400 150 laptop for US$ 1165.28 at Dubai Duty Free.

Core Duo CPU P8400 @ 2.27 GHz 4 GB RAM (in-built) 250 GB HD 32 bit OS

2 kg 13' screen. Has a vibration sensor that moves the HD drive head to a safe position when the LT is moved suddenly (never heard of that one before)

Vista Business OS (downgradable to XP pro - the XP pro original DVD included in the package - so I am pleased).

Usual I/O ports. Finger print reader. 2 year international limited warranty.

LAN/DVD drive/webcam.

Sez Windows Experience Index is 3.8 - whatever that means.

The downside was, there was no pink, only silver but daughter loves it.

Do you guys think it's a worthy buy at US$ 1165.28 ? Should I post any more specs ?

Thx whs for that comparative prices. The ones I checked out in that list (from $ 900 to % 1200) are offering with 2 GB ram and 160 GB HD. So, with 4 GB ram and 250 GB HD, the price I paid wasn't too high, I guess. I bought it in Dubai and it would probably cost much more in India.

How do I find out how much is the video ram in my toshiba ?

What do you think about installing XP and having a dual boot ? Should I do that before I put in any data in HD ? (The seller told me that installing XP would wipe out any data in the HD).

Thx whs.