Yes they do supply it. I purchase it and then I can expense the device for reimbursement. There is a limit ($1500) that I can expense and once I do it I don't have the option of expensing another one for several years. I don't mind paying a little more out of pocket for a laptop that will last me. Its just been so long since I've used a dedicated Windows maching I'm a little lost.
I've read around in here and tons of other places and I think I'm narrowing it down to either Dell or Lenovo. MY IT department also just said to make sure it had some basic specs regarding processor, memory, and drive space but weren't really specific beyond that.