My wife has a nice Core2Duo Lappy with the 6MB cache cpu, SSD drive, 4GB DDR2 and a 8400M GS in it. She wanted a "super thin" one, and that was the best GPU we could find at the time in a "super thin" type laptop. It does usual Win7 stuff / web/ office great, Photoshop "good", and AutoCAD "OK", and that would be subjective comparisons to my desktop rig.
I use hers at least once a week for something, and with that fresh in my mind, I would definitely be looking to get the best GPU you can get your hands on in what ever form factor of laptop you're looking at, because if you're going to have it for 3+ years, the first thing that will feel "slow" or outdated to you, or hold you back from running future programs, is the graphics card.
Best of luck, please keep showing us the choices you've narrowed it down to!