Jim,
I would buy from the hardware vendor of your choice (HP, Dell, Lenovo) and get machines with the W8Pro license so that you (or they) can upgrade them to Windows 7 Pro. Many vendors have experiences such hate for W8 that they are shipping new machines already upgraded to Windows 7.
I can point you to the Dell/HP/Lenovo Scratch & Dent outlets, if that is your thing.
AC doesn't support touch/multi-touch so that would be a waste of your time/$$$ if AC is their primary use.
As Jim[mie] has pointed out elsewhere, another portable and cost-effective solution is ChromeBooks or ChromeBoxes.
