RAM needs

1GB bare minimum. Personally I would get 2GB if possible since vista is a memory hog.

are you going to plug in on the road trips? if you are than you should go for a mid range gfx card, like a 1400 or go 7400 to 1600 to go 7600. if your going for long battery life then go for something integrated like gma 950 or a 6150. the 6150 has the best performance out of the integrated. of course, 1gb bare min 2gb is what you should get if your gonna use vista or plan on upgrading to vista. intels are slightly ahead on battery life compared to a turion x2. a core duo is slightly better than a core 2 duo on battery life but you don't lose much on life to get a core 2 that is a better performing processor. good luck choosing! make sure you look at some reviews when you narrow it down and tell us what you find. don't focus just on components, its worth another 50 dollars for a superior build quality.