Also, will a 266 mHz SONY VAIO PC run Microsoft Train Simulator satisfactorily? The box says it will as long as I have 8MB video RAM, but is 266 mHz so minimal that the game won't be fun?

Yes.

Details: Numerous add-ons (my favorite being the simming, screaming F40 albeit with the wrong road number) at http://www.train-sim.com/ which is an outgrowth of that other kind of transportation simulator. People have Florida routes on there, along with ways to run a whole load of other trains. If you can't log in, stop trying on saturday afternoon and try it at 3 in the morning.
I'm not sure about the NYC lines, but I'm definitely interested and will help if asked in creating the Water Level Route, at least in my area of expertise (ROC-SYR). It's not the most scenic around, but it should be fun on a sim because of the curves and bazillions of crossings, not to mention heavy traffic.

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F40PH #757099-8
March 29, 1976-August 17, 2001
Requisecat in pacis

Can you recommend a graphics card with more video RAM than the one the SONY VAIO PCV-220 comes with? Also, someone told me SONY motherboards are very tricky. You can't just upgrade parts of the CPU without disturbing the whole machine and SONY makes installing drivers a headache.

The PC is a gift. I have an Apple.

Dave