Nowadays, people use a lot of terms to define a computer, which for the most part imply the purpose or performance and the size of a computer. The term computer can be applied to almost any device with a microprocessor in it. However, a computer is considered by most people a device to which you send information using a mouse or a keyboard, which afterwards somehow processes the data received and displays them on a monitor, on a screen.
Although that is one of the raw definitions of a computer, there are a lot of types of computers available today.
The first of the many types of computers is the personal computer (or as it is mostly known, the PC). Its name denotes a computer that is designed for the use of a single person, serving general purposes. Even though people mostly relate the term PC with systems that run using the Windows operating system, a Mac is also a PC. PCs were first introduced as microcomputers as they were a complete computer but smaller than the huge systems that were used in the past by most businesses.
A desktop computer is a non-portable PC. Desktop systems set the computer up in a permanent location and most of them provide the user with more power, storage and adaptability for less money than their portable siblings. Desktops have been in general the most employed types of computers.
Laptops or, as they are also known, notebooks are one of the types of computers that are portable. Laptops have the display, pointing device or trackball, keyboard, memory and hard drive, processor all integrated in a package that works on a battery and somewhat larger than a regular hardcover book.
Netbooks are considered ultra-portable computers and are even smaller than the standard laptops. The cost of netbooks varies between $300 and $500 which makes them cheaper than any new laptop you will ever find at retail outlets. However, the internal components of a netbook are not as powerful as those found in a typical laptop.
Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) are integrated computers that do not usually use a hard drive for storage; they use instead a flash memory. These computers rely on touchscreen technology as they do not usually have keyboards. They are smaller than a paperback novel, do not weigh too much and feature a satisfactory battery life. The handheld computer is a somewhat larger and heavier model of the PDA.
A workstation is another type of computer. This is just a desktop computer with a more powerful processor, extra memory and improved capabilities for carrying out special tasks, such as developing game or 3D Graphics.