NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The three-year PC upgrade cycle is history, according to research firm Gartner. Finished. Finito. That's it. In other words, you computer buyers out there are holding on to computers much longer, which means you're buying new ones much less often. And when you actually do buy, you're going for cheap second or even third machines for the home.

It used to be there were just a few computer makers out there who catered to the sub-$1,000 market. Many of them were buy-at-your-own-risk types who, fortunately, no longer exist. But with things in the PC business so bleak, everyone is fighting for a piece of that discount pie. And that means great deals on high-powered PCs that cost less than at any time in the short history of industry. Now I'm not one to take advantage of another's trouble, but I feel it's my duty to encourage you to take advantage of the PC industry's pain. Just look at some of these deals.

It's hard to argue with a machine that comes with a 1.8GHz Celeron processor, 128MB of DDR RAM, a 40GB hard drive and CD-RW and DVD-ROM drives, all for $499. On top of that the T1840 even has 6 high-speed USB2 ports for peripherals, a built-in Ethernet connection and 2 available PCI slots in the event you want to upgrade the system's components.

eMachines has taken a beating over customer service in the past, and with good reason. But the company aggressively attacked that problem and now offers buyers free telephone support for a year and an end-user replacement parts program. So if anything breaks on your computer, a part, complete with easy-to-use instructions, will be sent right away. The monitor isn't included in the aforementioned price, but eMachines offers a 17-inch model on their site for $149 after rebate. That brings the total cost to $638. Not bad. Not bad at all.

I started with a machine priced at $499, selected a 1.67GHz Athlon processor from AMD, 128MB of RAM, and a very fast, 7200rpm 40GB hard drive. That speed is important when it comes to multimedia applications like video. And speaking of multimedia, the Pavilion comes with terrific Polk speakers. Sounds good to me. I added CD-RW and DVD-ROM drives and a 17-inch monitor and when I was finished, I had a machine that came to a price of $799.

Like the eMachines PC, this Pavilion is Ethernet ready, so you can surf at high speed or network it with other machines around your home. All in all, this is a great deal from the world's largest PC vendor.

Even Dell has managed to come in well under $1,000 with its 2350 line. This baby is loaded with a 1.8GHz Pentium 4 processor. If you're not making movies or trying to save the world from the alien invaders of planet Zipitup, 1.8GHz is more speed than you will ever need.

Add to that 256MB of DDR-SDRAM, a 60GB 7200rpm hard drive, 17-inch monitor, CD-RW/DVD Combo drive and Dell's legendary reputation for customer service, and you've got yet another winner out of Round Rock. And it comes in at $938, still well under $1,000.

Truly, it is a good time to buy a computer.