what in blazes is 2.8 megs?
well.. for starters.. just get a simple
p4 --> any kind
512 ram --> right about this one
good video card--> any gforce FX series (but there is also ATI although im not familiar with it)
40 or 60 gigs at least.. so lots of future use
naturally.. dvd-rom/cd-burner is a little cheap nowadays you may consider this OR dvd-burner (which is more expensive)
thats about the simple things you should worry about for a laptop..the brands i guess makes no difference for me since i use desktop PC.
other things to consider:
-built-in wireless network (so you can connect without any hassles of wires
- firewire
- USB 2.0
those will really help you.