R Profitt told a story once about Sony support telling him that their laptops were only meant to be used for a couple hours at a time, and needed a rest.
I think that exemplified Sony for me. Beautiful and Fully-featured, but fragile. Also their support has been sub-standard.
That having been said, yes, the keyboard on the 700m is wierd. I don't like it. You might instead consider a Latitude. At work we have a D400 and I really like it. The keyboard is usable for me. The d610 is a good choice however it's missing a widescreen, so if that was a selling point, you should consider another option.
The Latitude x1 is really fantastic looking but unlike the 700m, it does not have an optical drive built-in. At first I thought this would be a pain in the neck but then I realized . . . I never use my optical drive except when I'm at home anyway.
For a widescreen, ultraportable option with a better keyboard and built-in optical drive, consider the HP DV1000. It's a nice machine, though I dont' know if they've updated it to the latest Centrino technology.