Personal computers keep getting faster and cheaper.
Our discussion will be restricted to PC-compatible computers, by which we mean computers that run the same software as the IBM PC, XT, and AT, and which are based on the hardware standards set by those machines. The 8088 and 8086 are too slow by today's standards, and the 80486 is too expensive. These prices also include a monochrome graphics adapter and a monitor. The point we would like to make is simply that fast, cheap computers are available. The exact configuration given here might not be appropriate for your application, but this is a starting point for determining what you actually need.