The Hottest-Selling Hardware

A guide to the desktops, at prices from $99 to five figures

Choosing a computer, like selecting a spouse, can be a daunting undertaking. Hundreds of nearly identical models are out there, the packaging can be misleading, and once you make a choice, you are stuck with the family it comes with. The machines listed here, bestsellers in their price ranges, have attracted the largest communities of users, dealers, suppliers, programmers, publishers and writers. In most cases, the manufacturer's list price buys just the computer; a complete system can cost two or three times as much.

Under $1,000

Timex Sinclair 1000 ($99). This tiny toy is good for dipping one's toes into the micro revolution and not much more. It will play video games with boxy, black-and-white graphics and speaks only one language: BASIC. A buttonless "membrane" keyboard is well designed for learning the fundamentals of computer programming, but for written work it is a step down from the old typewriter. With 600,000 sold in 1982 alone, there is sure to be more software on the shelves soon. A more powerful model that speaks child-oriented Logo is expected out this spring.

Commodore VIC-20 ($299). Skillful packaging and aggressive marketing helped make this machine the surprise bestseller of 1982: between 600,000 and 1 million sold. The VIC has the only cut-rate keyboard suitable for touch typing, and when hooked up to a $110 telephone modem, it becomes an inexpensive electronic mail terminal. There have been software shortages, but more programs are being written to meet the new demand. The Commodore 64, a $595 version that packs the memory capacity of some machines three times its price, arrived late in 1982 and could be a big seller in 1983.

Atari 400 and 800 ($299 and $899). With 256 colors, four separate sound generators and built-in "missile graphics," the Ataris are the machines of choice for game players and game writers. The 800 has a keyboard suitable for touch typing, but writers would do well to look elsewhere for a first-rate word processor. Nearly 200,000 Atari 800s were shipped in 1982 and some 400,000 model 400s.

Texas Instruments 99/4A ($450). The sleeper of the year. In 1978, when it retailed for $1,100, it was a market failure of historic proportions. The company upgraded the keyboard, hired Bill Cosby to do its commercials and drastically cut prices. Sales exploded. T.I. shipped 530,000 in 1982, and at year's end was selling nearly 150,000 a month. Software has been slow to come, but now there is a generous supply of high-quality educational programs, and, for $380 extra, owners can get a spritely version of Logo. More will follow. With sales spurting, program writers say they are giving the machine a second look.

Epson HX-20 ($795). Although this book-size portable computer arrived late in the year, it is probably the hottest new machine in its class, shipping 7,500 copies in its first month on the market. It packs into one handy 4-lb. package a full-size keyboard, a screen that displays four lines of text, a cash-register-type printer, a microcassette tape drive and more built-in memory than any comparably priced machine. Its Japanese manufacturers say their intention was to "stand America on its ear." U.S. experts say they may have done just that.