i'm fairly new to embroidery by machine (white 3300 i got for $120). i just bought Machine Embroider with Confidence by Nancy Zieman. i got it from the library and didn't want to return it. then i found it at jo-anns and finally got to use a 50% coupon on it. it has most everything you need to know.
special bobbin thread (i use coats and clark), not really special embroidery thread (i've used gutterman, coats and clark, and sulky) as long as it's rayon or polyester. get your stabilizers when jo-anns has 50% off their notions wall (if you have a jo-anns or hancock fabrics).
by a chip, he may mean a card. my white (made by brother) takes a card for designs other than what are in the machine. i had to get a card writer to be able to save embroidery designs from the internet to the card to put into my embroidery machine. if i continue to be as interested in it as i am today, i hope to get a machine with UBS port and larger embroidery field.
when you know what machine it is, google embroidery designs and start looking for the many free downloads that are available (and some also really cheap).
a few of my favorite sites are
http://www.emblibrary.com/EL/default.aspx
http://www.embroiderydesigns.com/
and
http://www.oregonpatchworks.com/
this one has a nice message board (with tough restrictions on posting embroidery designs)
http://www.embroidables.com/
no special fabric. i've been using my quilting fabric. made some potholders and towels for Christmas gifts (the towels are tricky if they have the loops, but you can use water soluble stabilizer on the top).
can't wait to see which machine you're getting!