Usually, there are no serious problems with the newest distributions, except the traditional ones. The most common problem is related to the interface of the special HOT KEYS that need sonypi module. I have 3 years old VAIO and still there is no single distribution that recognizes automatically the buttons for the volume, screen brightness etc. Wireless and WAP2 are the other common problems but that one is slowly improving. I don't know what is the situation with the new dual core CPU but I don't think there is any problem right now.
If you have NVidia driver you might not be able to standby or hibernate - this is a long story. Otherwise usually one ends up with a quite functional system with most of the basic functions automatically recognized: Video, network, sound, usb, firewire...
Check this address for more: http://www.linux-laptop.net/
Here I have briefly posted my own experience with Linux on GRT-815M.
