Monitor
Yup, that's the most important of all output devices, the good ol' tube. Without it, how are you going to see anything?

The monitor comes in various sizes, with 14/15", 17" and 20/21" being the more common ones. Be careful though. There are many brands out there and they all have different features. First, there are monochrome monitors (you don't want those, trust me). Then there are CGA, EGA (I like to think these are extinct, for the good of humanity), VGA, SVGA, etc. All these standards decide the number of colours you are going to get on your screen, but wait, there's more. For example, an SVGA monitor ain't gonna do you any good if you have an EGA video card 'cos the latter will limit the number of colours you get to only 16.

And when you've decided how many colours you want (and the size of the screen, of course), you get to decide whether you want them to be energy-saving, non-interlaced, MPRII supportive, etc...

Pretty confusing, isn't it? Well, it could be, but consider the following points, and it'll help clear the mist.

• Video card. If you have a good video card that supports high resolution of say, 1280×1024, and 16.8 million colours, you don't want a VGA monitor 'cos it supports a lower resolution and only 256 colours. The rule of thumb is, when in doubt, get MultiSync.
• Size. Before going out to grab a 14" monitor (don't even think of a smaller screen), consider whether your budget allows you to get better. If it does, go for the best, man. Many folks get a tiny screen to save a couple of bucks, thinking that they need no bigger, but regret it later.
• Energy-saving. Think no more. Get energy-saving. It'll save you on the cost of electricity, and best of all, it's environment-friendly.
• Interlace. Get non-interlaced or you will need more than a cinema screen to see anything in future. Whether the monitor is interlaced depends on the method applied to change the screen image, but you don't have to know all this trash. Novicehood has its privileges.
• MPRII. It's just a standard that decides the amount of magnetic field emissions, or something. Better to get a monitor that follows MPRII guidelines.
• Dot pitch. That's the size of the little cells on your screen. Can you see it? What? You can?!!? (Faint) Get 0.28mm dot pitch (or smaller) for that crisp image. You don't want blocky pictures now, do you?
• Refresh rate. It shows how fast the screen flickers. If it's too low, you can see the screen blinking like the idiot next door. 75Hz is about sufficient in most cases.

You may also like to get an anti-glare screen if you are really into the full-protection stuff. Most of the stuff, with the exception of the size, are irrelevant if you are buying a high-end monitor. Go to the shop and see the different monitors yourself before deciding.

Printer
The printer prints, that's all a novice needs to know. And we want good quality printing, at least to meet the requirements of our tasks.

Inkjets are really hot at the moment. Inkjets work by spraying ink through tiny nozzles. And the way the result comes out depends on even more sophisticated technology (that we, as novices, are not required to know. Whew!).

Besides inkjets, there are the diminishing dot matrix printers. These use ribbons instead of ink cartridges. These things were the first printers. DO NOT GET ONE! I'm sorry for yelling, but they are slower than anything.

Laser printers are also around for a long time, but it's not until recently that they become more affordable. They use toners instead of ribbons or ink and the toner is fused on the paper, like in photocopying machines. In fact, the two are quite similar. Laser printing is fast and excellent for large-scale printing. Although still mostly employed in offices and places where network sharing of printing facilities is involved, laser printers may become commonplace in our homes in future. Besides, the cost of printing is cheaper than that of an inkjet.

Speakers
Do you own a good sound card? 16-bit with the works? Does your sound card support wavetable synthesis? If your answer is yes, yes, yes, then dump those tiny, ridiculous speakers! Do your sound card some justice, man! Get the meanest thing you can find (else, what would you want from such a good sound card?). Make sure they're shielded to protect your monitor and disks.

On the other hand, if you are using a normal 16-bit (or 8-bit) sound card and don't really need good quality sound, then get a pair of reasonable, powered  speakers and pray that you don't get any noise.