You will spend a great deal of time looking at the screen. You are advised to get the best screen you can afford. The video card makes the monitor work. Monitor performance is important. SVGA is a normal requirement.
Software See earlier advice .
You may want to increase this, but do look at the cost. When discussing a purchase with a vendor, make sure that the price quoted includes delivery and any other charges. You may end up losing all copies of all of your work . There is no 'Industry Standard' for PC backup devices. All of our new machines have been fitted with a 250MB Zip drive.