These early computers were touted to be suited for all sorts of purposes that were not really practical in those days, leading to a lot of difficulties making the purchase of a computer not very attractive. For instance, most home users were naturally not tech savvy, did not know how to write computer programs, nor were knowledgeable in the use of office automation software. Then, there was the added problems of keeping the machines on, consuming power for long hours, providing cooling and the need for training in the use of computers.

Today, however, the line of distinction between business and home computers is very thin indeed if not non-existant completely. Both have practically the same or very similar hardware, operating systems, peripheral devices and software applications and are even available from the same sales outlets.

When purchasing home computers, it is very pertinent to keep a few points handily in mind or you may end up spending much more than is necessarily required. First and foremost, you need to determine what use you are going to put the computer to. This will determine the kind of processing power you will need, the type of visual display device required and the storage requirements. If you just need a basic machine for simple text based (DOS) word processing activities, then you will need home computers that have a low-end and hence low-cost processor like a 386 or 486 with a few Megabytes of RAM but if you wanted to use the same word processor program in the Windows operating system, then you would need more processing power, RAM capacity and more disk storage as well.

This logic can be extended to uses that require more graphics like presentations, image or video editing, audio editing and illustration and design, but the bottom line is to buy only as much as you need for the present and a bit more to allow for upgrading your home computers when it happens.