Check out Auto Lab at labguides.com Its a great lab for testing. I have been using it on a HP DM1z laptop. I have a Dual Core AMD 1.6 gHz cpu and 8GB of ram. Its a little slow but it works when I am on the road.
Also, if you dont want to buy a lab check out baremetalcloud.com. You rent physical boxes and its probably cheaper than buying a lab and you pay by the hour. Also, autolab has images out on baremetalcloud so you can have an entire environment up ina couple hours max.
Good luck on your studies.