DVD Burner: Samsung 20X DVD+/-R model SG-S202J, Black
Price: $22.99 (with free shipping, a true-blue $22.99)

My opinion: Samsung = Good brand, good deal.

19-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor: Acer AL1916WAbd
Price: $169.99 (with free shipping)

My opinion: Acer = Decent brand (not perfect but decent), awesome price point, 1440×900 which is proper for this size, 5ms and you can’t go wrong for this price. Has massively good reviews across the board. It is rare to see a monitor with that many positive reviews on it. And it’s cheap.

Computer keyboard: Lite-On SK-1788
Price: $6.99 + $7.00 shipping (yes, I know, ridiculous)

My opinion: One of the cheapest keyboards with low-profile keys on it (a plus). Also has laser-printed keycaps. What does this mean? It means the lettering won’t wear off as quick as others (another plus). In addition it has no branding on it and it’s low-noise (no CLICK-CLICK-CLACK-CLICK). For those that hate any sort of brand-label on their ‘boards, this is for you. Drawback: PS/2 and not USB. But nothing a converter can’t fix.

UPS: APC BE350R
Price: $43.99 + $15.47 shipping

My opinion: UPS + power outlets in brick form = convenient. Saves your box from going dead when the power goes out plus isn’t as inconvenient as a big-box UPS (but not as good either). For the price this is inexpensive. And yes I know this isn’t an upgrade per se but if you don’t have a UPS, get one.

Additional note to the above: I’m going to reinforce the point by saying this lil’ UPS is definitely not as good as the bigger brother versions. However it does get the job done in a minimal sense (i.e. if the power clicks off for a few minutes then comes back on, this will do the job – but for any outage longer than that, no).