Well i dont know if yall have had the AMD v. Intel discussion on these boards (and i dont feel like doing a search for it). But everyone v. Dell is the same fight.
My Dell Inspiron 600m is amazing. I absolutely love it. People will hate on it because it has a Tn + Film display, meaning it isnt visable at all angles, but the refresh rate is quite high. The VAIO has an PVA (or MVA i dont remember which, but they have similar qualities) display and it is visable from almost every angle, but there is a ghosting effect if you have high movement videos.
Those are the differences in monitors, now processors.
The Pentium M is your best bet for battery life (something that would be high on my list if i was on a boat), Pentium 4M is your best bet for performance, and AMD Athlon 64 is best for gaming (but you can only get it on high end computers like Alienware, FalconNW and Voodoo).
Alienware Falcon and Voodoo are at the top of the list when it comes to quality of product, no doubt about it.
It is then followed by VAIO. I must admit i do like the computer and they have amazing technical support.
After VAIO id go with Dell for technical support and reliablity of the product. I have had 2 dell laptops and a Dell PC and i have had no problems with the company.
IBM would be next on my list, but they are quite pricey.
As the others said though...id invest in life insurance, not a laptop.