Look around the computer store or ask friends for recommendations before purchasing. The best thing to do is put them through the acid test and fired up a word processing program to see what you re getting into. Prices for printers have come way down. Even the dirt cheap ones that generally come bundled with the systems are adequate. Both laser printer and ink jet models work quite well.
Software always comes bundled with the machine.
Microsoft Office and Word, Corel Office and WordPerfect, and Microsoft Works will all be more than adequate. If you can get an antivirus software along with the purchase it s probably a good idea. There are scads of educational and reference programs however the software that comes bundled with your machine may not match your children's grade level. That alone might tip the scale as to what kind of machine to buy. The Celestra however, comes only with Windows 98 software.