Playing online again after 2 yr hiatus, need advice/opinions

[Arcy]

First like to say first time poster long time lurker, with that out of the way thank you to all regular posters as I have made it a habit to absorb this forum like a sponge.

I apologize ahead of time if the post is long, would rather those who contribute know my situation/mindset upfront.

I have been playing poker for about 12 yrs (nothing serious, just friendly cash games amongst friends) so I have a pretty good grasp of the basics. I played a bit online before the poker boom and enjoyed the easy bonus whoring and fishiness of the times. My wife convinced me to stop playing online when all the sites I played cashed me out when the laws in the U.S. changed. I decided to start playing online again for a few reasons:

1. Recently disabled at a fairly young age (36) so I have time to kill.
2. I love the game, I enjoy knowing I played something right...win or lose.
3. Financially my home life is secure and monthly/yearly expenses are not an issue for me so playing will not affect my finances other than my bankroll.
4. My friendly home games do not satisfy me (poker wise) as I have long looked at it as a social event and not serious poker.

Anyway on to the meat and potatoes now that you have a brief background.

I made a deposit in to PS last Monday to start grinding the bonus there as I knew cashing out in the U.S. wouldn't be an issue. Tuesday I entered a $3.30+R NL 25k Guaranteed tourney and placed first for just shy of 6k. I pulled 3k out (to spend on the wife as 6k is unreasonable sized br for the limits I am playing) and left the balance at PS with the intentions of depositing the max for bonus/rakeback at FTP.

My main focus and the questions that I have:

I want to continue to improve, learn and fix leaks in my game so I have decided to spend a significant amount on books I don't already own as well as some software and a subscription to one of the video/coaching sites. I know a lot of what I will ask is opinion based but I still want to hear your views and pro's cons of each.

Software:
I had my choices narrowed down to Poker Office and Poker Tracker but then saw Holdem Manager. Any pro's cons that you could list for each would be appreciated. They all seem solid and again it may come down to preference but I would still love to hear it.
In addition to some form of tracking program above are there any other "must haves" software wise out there? I know that office has a HUD built in, any thoughts other than some form of HUD and if you use a HUD which do you use?

Subscription sites:
Narrowed it down to the following: PokerXFactor, Stox and Cardrunners. I plan on playing tournies/sngs till i feel I am ready to take the next step. Stox is in the lead ATM due to the current deal they have running. Any thoughts ?

I plan on posting hands here regularly as well as reading as much as I can. I don't about "making money" as much as I care about improving my game....don't get me wrong money is nice but not my reasoning for playing poker.

Thank you in advance and would love any and all input as well as anything i may have missed (which I am sure I did) that any of you feel is vital to growing as a player.

Rob (Arcy)