They are just software. The great part is that they don’t “integrate” hardware markup into their process. The downside is that they don’t know what hardware you’re running and any specific fixes that might help (bios upgrades, etc).
The trial is very mildly crippled (or was when I got a copy a year or more ago). Only a couple of features didn’t work. I emailed and asked why and they sent me a key (tied to a ficticious company, but allowed me to test it more thoroughly). Overall, the support I got was very good.
I would suggest that you buy new computer systems, not used stuff with an unknown history. For this particular application (use, not software), I would suggest something like a Dell computer or other major name brand. You can hodge-podge a network together, but a home-brew can cost a lot more in the end due to the kludge factor. If you’re a computer geek, then you can hodge podge at will.
