Computers for University studies

I'm looking for a laptop to use for university studies.  I will most likely major in some form of Engineering.  Minimum specs for my university are:

2.0GHz CPU
512MB RAM
Newest Microsoft Office
Windows OS - Vista preferred, XP accepted.

I don't know everything about computers, but I know enough to think that those specs will not last for more than a year at that level of study.  Which computers would be best suited to last 3 years (I doubt that's possible but it would be nice) for an Engineering major? If it's possible a computer on the less expensive (<$1200 before any warranties) side would be nice.

Oh, an ad hominem attack towards someone asking a question.  You're just a happy little person, aren't you?

"University" means "university", not "community college."  If I wanted to know the minimum specs for a CC computer, then I would really need to rethink my life.

Here's a direct copy from the university's website:

    *  2 Gigahertz P4 CPU with 512 Megabytes of RAM  (or of similar performance), 40 Gigabyte Hard Drive
    * CDRW
    * USB port(s)
    * 10/100 Ethernet Adapter for Broadband and/or 56K Data Modem for dialup network connection
    * WiFi 802.11 b or g. Wireless network adapter (Laptops only)
    * Sound card, and speakers or headphones
    * 1024 by 768 resolution monitor
    * Printer
    *  Windows XP or Windows Vista, including the latest updates
    * Internet Explorer 6.0 or greater, Netscape 7.0, or Mozilla 1.6, or a higher version of any of these browsers, depending on the operating system
    * Sun Java 1.5  (Java 1.6 is NOT supported in E-Learning)
    * CISCO VPN Client provided by university (use Beta client, found on the UF Software CD, for Windows Vista)
    * McAfee Antivirus 8.5i (set to auto update) provided by UF
    * Microsoft Office 2003 or 2007 (include 2003 compatability patch)
    * E-mail software -- Microsoft Outlook, Thunderbird, Windows Mail or other IMAP email software may be useful for reading your GatorLink mailbox, but WebMail is also available
    * Networking utilities -- alternate e-mail clients, clients for ftp, chat, news and other internet services, file readers and other utilities