I program other things, like PLCs, Smart Servos, HMIs, Vision Systems, and robot controllers, etc..
And one thing looking BEYOND "FIRST" you may consider is having a laptop with a serial port. I have only found a few laptops right now that can be purchased with a serial port, but even so more a problem is a laptop with a decent OS like Windows XP. I did find one recently that I just bought. Has Windows XP Pro and a Serial Port. I am pretty happy with it so far. I don't like the d-pad mouse buttons, but I run an external mouse always with a laptop anyways.
http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/pdet.to?poid=464436
I would also recommend the Dell Precision series. Like an M4300 or so. The problem with those now are they too as well are starting to be preloaded with Windows 7 which doesn't normally play nice when trying to write code in ladder logic DOS software or some other compilers like even IFI loader. Windows XP seems to play nice with all the development software packages I have played with.
Dell Outlet has some great deals on some Dell Precision laptops that still have Windows XP loaded.
http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineS...=28&l=en&s=dfb
You may not find a serial port on these machines anymore, but for what you want to program now, you won't need it. But if your a hard core junky like me that plays with all different types of hardware, having a native serial port is a blessing.