Quote Originally Posted by ApatheticNoMore View Post
using computers without ergonomic peripherals - low level nerve damage or whatever.
It certainly can happen. I trained myself to mouse and use my trackpad with my left hand rather than let my right hand carry the entire burden. That might be a solution for the OP, too, to kind of share the load of the repetitive motions.

Quote Originally Posted by ApatheticNoMore View Post
As for transferring the Office [...] A download, I don't know, I would much prefer a hard CD than a download (likely available at ANY office supply store - Staples, Office Depot, etc.).
CDs started to be eclipsed by data DVDs some years ago because even they could not hold all the files for an operating system or larger application. Now DVDs are going the way of the floppy. Several of the smaller new notebook computers don't even have DVD/CD drives, saving weight and battery drain on something people rarely use. I can't recall the last time I bought software on a CD/DVD. In fact, the last software I had on a DVD was killed by a bad DVD drive. When I upgraded the hard disk in my MacBook a couple of months ago, everything I installed was a download, sometimes even from the publisher's site; all I had to do was get it, install, and apply the license key I kept safely. It'll work fine. And if you really need to have a DVD, you can make your own. Though even they have issues with long-term reliability.