Are there any tricks to getting the minimum of an OS and Office (full not the pseudo suite Dell gives with cheap computers) when you purchase a computer without spending an extra couple hundred bucks?

I thought Dell allowed you to take away certain things that would lessen the price as you customized. I know when I "built my own" on their website that it gave me the option to either get something better or something one step down. I wonder if they have changed? You may want to ask them on the phone and specify what you want to see if it is possible.

I have never seen a computer come with the full Office program suite without you paying for it. A lot of other programs can be bundled with the new computer but I don't think you'll find Office. Try to negotiate an extra good price instead so you can afford to buy Office. Then you'll own the disk and never have to worry about it again. Either that or get OpenOffice which has the same stuff as Office but doesn't cost anything.

It will definitely cost you if you want office (and you don't want Open Office, which is freeware and will do the same things roughly). But as for extra software, if you are ordering for a place like Dell, just call them, you get better service and you can tell them what you do and don't want.