In the past, I would've recommended a Mac laptop, hands down. Even now, it still is a sound recommendation. But, I've seen many graphics shops here that are using pc's with Windows only. So for many , a pc laptop would suffice, especially lower-priced ones with similar specs to a Mac Book Pro.

Now between a MBP and a Vaio laptop.......I'd probably go with the MBP although the lack of a built-in flash memory card reader would be an inconvenience. Just about every new pc laptop has a card reader of some sort built-in. So I can't see why Apple have chosen not to include one as well.