Dell gave me a decent break a few years back when I bought two upper end PCs for our kids. Gateway didn't want to hear a thing about a break. They lost my business...
I don't know of any deals other than student discounts with several manufacturers but as far as an Office Suite goes you might want to give OpenOffice a try. It's free and I've read some good things about it.
At Wal-Mart you can buy a complete new pc for $500 - monitor - Windows XP - CD read & write - modem - speakers - etc the stuff like harddrive
I would think Windows XP has everything you need, and since its loaded with recent software I see no reason it can't be used after "...three and four years from now"
Guess I'am missing the big picture here.
Also, when you purchase a loaded pc you'r cost of the actual hardware is hidden along with the software.
Go to a local pc shop and you might be able to buy a fully built pc hardware wise with no loaded software, and then add the software yourself on the cheap using bought used software that have low mileage on those ones and zeros :o)
Also as tc mentioned.
Posted by: tc In reply to: jetcityrandy ... might want to give OpenOffice a try. It's free and I've read some good things about it. http://www.openoffice.org/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - OpenOffice.org 1.1 Features Introduction OpenOffice.org 1.1 - word processor, spreadsheet application, presentation tool and more OpenOffice.org 1.1 is an open, feature-rich multi-platform office productivity suite. The user interface and the functionality is very similar to other products in the market like Microsoft Office or Lotus SmartSuite, but compared to these commercial products OpenOffice.org is absolutely free. A full description of the application can be found on the product pages at: