Floppy Drive:  This 3½ inch media is not used much anymore.  CDs, DVDs, Zip drives and memory chips are faster, store more and require less maintenance.   Yet you may have lots of floppies that you want to be able to read, or want have a quick way to store files and small images.

Network card:   You might have more that one computer in you house/office and want to "network" them together for file transfers, backups or whatever (intranet).

CD-RW/DVD drive:   There are many varieties of these devices and they are constantly changing.  One that Reads CD's and DVD's and either writes to DVD's and/or CD's should do you well.   They are quick and store tons of data on each media disc.

Printer:     You probably want the option to hardcopy information so you will want to get an inkjet or other type of printing device for your system.

Other devices depend on your needs and requirements, i.e. you might think you need a Zip® backup drive, or something similar, to safely store important files, but if you have a writeable CD or DVD drive you can put whole directories onto one rewriteable media, and then use it over again when the files change.  A floppy drive can also store smaller amounts of files and if you use the internal MS Backup Utility you can write across floppies.

You might think you need a FAX machine, but did you know that MS Windows comes with SW FAX support?   You can use it to Send and Receive faxes from and to your PC.  You cannot Send a paper fax, but you can Print out a fax after receiving it.

You might think you need your system to be Wireless, but if your intent is too just connect a couple systems then your Network card and a cable can do that for you at a lot less expense and hassle (you may need a Hub device for several computers).  If it's to give you more mobility around the house with your laptop, I suggest you consider a long phone line instead and print later.

External Memory chips are quite popular now as you can store a lot of data, e.g. photos on it and then pop it out of your system and take it to another system or your local store photo machine or Dept. and create customized photos.  They are small (some are even used as key chains), comparatively cheap and do store allot.   There are multiple formats for them now, but hopefully some standards will ensue and make using them easier.  You need an External Memory Media Reader that accepts the format you will be using to take advantage of this.

You don't need a Modem  if you are going to be dedicated to DSL.

MS Windows comes with basic sound HW and SW support and most systems have a "system speaker" in da box, that provides very basic sound.  So if you are interested in quality music and sound from your computer you will need to get a Sound card and set of External Speakers.   Check and make sure your system does not already have either a Sound card or an onboard (built into the system board) one already  (Sometimes speakers are built-in to either the Keyboard or the Monitor).

You probably will need some USB ports for all the current devices that use them, e.g. game controllers, digital cameras, GPS devices, printers, scanners, faxes, PC cameras, etc..   So I suggest 3+.

  Other Stuff

Other potential devices you might want are:  Gamer Controller or Joystick (U a gamer?), Printer (e.g. inkjet), Scanner, Sound card and Speakers, and also SW is a consideration, i.e. besides the OS SW you would want a basic Office Suit of SW that includes Word Processing, Filing/Records Management capability, and Forms creation.  Other applications would be as needed (e.g. money management, photograph/graphics editting, Internet Browser(s), Web Creation tool and FTP utility -- if you are going to create websites (MS Windows and most Browsers provide versions of this),  etc.)

keoni@isp.com