There is a variety of peripheral tools that are really a good idea, depending on the user...
Webcams & mics are good for anyone who likes to talk in IMs. My last 2 laptops came with them, but I like my Logitech better, while many still are avoiding the 21st century in that area. I set up my daughter's computer with one for the German student who is stay with us for a year, but he brought his own laptop with such.
Headsets are good for Skype calls, especially when traveling out of country.
Card readers are great for anyone who owns a camera, which is almost everyone. Cameras come with cables, but then computer problems happens like this one. My laptop came with one, but I am a little leery of getting a card stuck in there; I wonder if that ever happens really? The $1.50 card reader I can demolish if needed, but they are so open anyway.
Every computer owner needs an External Hard Drive! I use mine only for backing-up, but then you have to discipline yourself to do so often. A dive buddy friend on FB just had a laptop die and hadn't backed up lately. The computer shop can recover the files, but they may all be in one mixed folder. :shocked2: I've seen that happen.
Oh, I reduce all pics before final storage, once I totally finish editing and am totally sure I don't want any high res copies for printing. For XP, Microsoft has a Power Toy name Image Sizer I think that does a nice job. A 2 to 10 Mb pic resized to 100-200 Kb still looks great on screen, emails easily, stores easily, etc. For Vista & Win-7, I found a clone resizer that includes 1920 x 1080 option, but you can select any size you want. Larger pics won't upload to FB and many other host sites either.
Flash Drives & spare SDHC cards are always nice to have.
As often as my ATT DSL fails here in this hick town, I am getting a dial-up Usb modem. Slow but better than nothing.