That's a lower-end laptop that might be about right for your purposes. You might investigate extended warranties (especially for the display) if it's for a kid. 512 MB is a little light for Vista, IMHO, but it'll run.
My sis just bought a Satellite, it says it has a 1.8Ghtz processor, 1,980 MB RAM or something like that and about 147 GB harddrive. Its got Vista Home Premium... it was VERY expensive