Thank you everyone who replied.
So from what I gather, right now, there's no reason to get over 3GB of ram, since I probably won't be running a 64 bit OS.
Here are two reasonable deals I see online now - I probably won't buy either this week, but both seem pretty good:
Gateway M-152XL:
http://www.gateway.com/systems/produ....php#techspecs (in short, T8300 / 3GB RAM / 160GB 7200RPM HDD / ATI Moblity Radeon HD2600 w/ 512MB GDDR3 / 15.4" WXGA 1280x800 screen for $1050).
Or, XPS M1530:
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...=DYDWHE2&s=dhs (Same specs as above, other than a 256MB 8600GT and a 1440x900 LED LCD for $1325, or $200 less without the LED LCD).
Does anyone have any experience with LED LCDs? Any idea which of the graphics cards is better, or if it even matters? Any thoughts about either deal? (Cory, thank you very much for that extensive review of the XPS M1530)
EDIT: Looking around for more deals, I ran into two on the costco site:
Toshiba A305: http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11280108&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eC at=BC|84|56670|29722&N=4017753&Mo=9&pos=7&No=4&Nr= P_CatalogName:BC&cat=29722&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDes c1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC10590-Cat56670&topnav=
Asus F8SN-C1:
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11281360&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eC at=BC|84|56670|62881&N=4018582&Mo=7&pos=6&No=2&Nr= P_CatalogName:BC&cat=62881&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDes c1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC10590-Cat56670&topnav=
Both seem pretty reasonable to me, and I'm still weighing my options. Any thoughts about either of them? Anyone with experience buying a laptop from Costco?