I am in need of your laptop buying skills!

I figured it would of been better to post in another thread alike mine that's already in existance. But most posters to post after mine tend to stray from my needs and end up giving advice to the thread owner. So, here's one exclusively about my needs.

Currently I've somehow managed to find my back into college and in need of a 4-year "everlasting machine"/notebook.

Budget: $3,000 from student loan.

Now, I don't know enough about computers to judge them, but I know fairly enough to work them and mess around with them. I'm looking for places where I can browse new laptops with 3.0+ ghz processor, 256MB vid card, 1-2GB memory, 40+gb HD, and 15-17" normal/widescreen display.

Basically, it's got to be as good as whatever $3,000 can buy, from a recognizable vendor, and going to last me for college + Gaming-crave.

I've already tried various vendor's websites, like Dell, HP, Gateway, and also have tried Ebay. Ebay seems somewhat promising as they've got that nifty search nav. And I've found a possibly good find on a HP machine. But I could definately use some more help.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Ehh, I've changed my mind, desktop replacement it is. I'll learn to cope with the short battery life. Plus, there are outlet jacks everywhere at school. Lay it on me hard with nifty finds. Thanks!

How ya doing, buddy?

About the Pentium M chips, vendors like Dell display that they run at 2-2.26ghz. And they do not have any customizable selections that allow you to choose dual core.

And thanks for the input as well everyone. I still don't know if I can get anything worthwhile for 3,000 dollars, but I'm still looking.

Edit: There's something else I'd like to know more about regarding Video cards/graphics. When someone says it has 256MB, does that mean 256 dedicated? or 128 dedicated and 128 shared? What's the difference between dedicated and shared?

How ya doing, buddy?