First off, congrats on getting into VTech.
OK, there are a ton of laptop manufacturers out there. I will be one of the first to steer you away from anything made by Dell. Do not buy anything made by them unless you like migraine headaches. I say this from experience. The three main companies I personally would recommend and that you can still get Windows XP Pro are: Micron Computers, Gateway, and Xtreme Gear/Cyber Power. All three have US-based tech support. In my personal opinion, Xtreme Gear has better pricing on their laptops and you get more bang for your buck as far as hardware goes. I have two of their laptops and they run flawlessly. I have their XG Action 9000 which has:
Intel DuoCore 2 CPU 2.19 GHz CPU
4 GB RAM
120 GB SATA 7200 HDD
Windows XP Pro
NVidia GeForce 8600m-GT video card with 512MB RAM
Gigabit Ethernet
Intel Internal wifi
1.3 MP webcam
DVDRW/CDRW drive
17" Screen with full keyboard
Built-in blue tooth
1 GB flash drive came free with laptop
Carrying case was included
With all this I paid just a bit over $1500. This is one of their more expensive models but they have many well under the $1500 range with the specs you need for around $800 or so. They offer both Intel and AMD laptops. I think the biggest plus with XG is they do not put any trial freebie software on their machines so when you fire the thing up your computer isn't cluttered with 90-day trial software. My niece's Compaq was full of it and it took me a couple hours to get it all off of, not to mention HP/Compaq does not give you any recovery discs--they make you make your own and you can only do it one time.
I bought Office 2007 Professional from Academic Superstore for $170 because it was cheaper than getting it from XG.
I am an IT student at University of Phoenix and from all of the troubles my classmates have had with Vista I would say steer clear of it. In my SQL class no one with Vista could get MS SQL Server to work on their desktops or laptops. If you do go VIsta, go with the Ultimate version that way you have all of the features and you won't have to pay for them if you have the other versions. I would stay with XP, but that is my personal choice until Vista has the kinks worked out of it. That and a lot of companies are no longer offering XP but the three I mentioned still offer it as a choice. Check them all out.
www.buyxg.com
http://www.mpccorp.com/
http://www.gateway.com/
Good luck and again congrats!