Features

1 1988: Sinclair Z88 The Z88 costs £199.95 plus VAT and postage, weighs less than 2lb and is smaller than an A4 sheet of paper. With its rubber keys, a Zilog Z80 processor, 32K of memory, mono LCD display, built-in word processor, spreadsheet, calculator, calendar, clock and diary, it foreshadows all future PDAs. Sinclair boasts there is "no tape to break, no delicate disk to damage". It uses a solid state EPROM cartridge. It's brilliant, but it's also the beginning of the end of the wonderful Sinclair era.

2 1990: Macintosh Classic The Classic is the back-to-basics landmark from Apple, designed to rival the cheap PC compatibles hitting the market. It is a low-cost version of the SE model, still using the 8MHz 68000 processor, 1MB of memory, 9in screen and 40MB hard disk. The basic Classic has an empty space to mount an internal SCSI hard disk, is delivered with the 6.0.7 OS and sells for $999 (around £495) in the US and whatever they can get away with in the UK.

3 1992: Atari Falcon This historic £299 flop is based on a Motorola 32-bit 68030 processor and has many powerful features including a fully bit-mapped colour user interface. However, performance suffers because the data bus is only 16-bit. The technical justification for this is to maintain compatibility with the popular Atari ST. It's a marketing mistake, especially as the planned 'micro-style' casing never leaves the drawing board. Atari ceases all desktop production the following year to concentrate on video games consoles.

4 1993: Siemens Nixdorf PCD This is the first green computer. It is imported into the UK network-ready and costs a hefty £1,988. The machine is based around the Intel 80486SL processor and works with exceptionally low power consumption. The casing is made from two types of plastic, with each type claiming to bear clear identification marks for recycling. The computer conforms to the Energy Star green PC standard outlined by the US Administration, not yet adopted in the UK.

5 1996: Nokia Communicator 9000 The Communicator costs between £189 and £250, weighs 397g and is known affectionately as The Brick. Despite its bulk, fiddly keyboard and the slow and expensive data connectivity, it becomes an instant cult among the smart set. Sales staff can send and receive faxes, the self-employed have an office computer in their pocket at last, and posers can yell into it in public places while trying not to get the antenna stuck up their cocaine-dusted noses.

6 1997: Dell Dimension XPS The US giant becomes the largest supplier of computers to the UK government. In 1997, Dell pioneers direct-selling via its UK website. The Dimension XPS with a 233MHz Pentium II processor has a starting price of £1,299 plus VAT. It has 32MB of memory, internal 512KB cache, 3.2GB hard disk, STB Nitro 3D GX graphics card, a 15in monitor, 24-speed CD ROM, integrated 16-bit sound, Microsoft Windows 95 and Office 97.

7 1998: IBM Thinkpad 600 The ThinkPad range comes in at less than £1,000 each as IBM ships its first Pentium II laptops into the UK. The 600s have a choice of 12.1in or 13.3in screens, they all have CD-ROM drives, and the top-end models have a high-capacity 8.1GB hard disk option. The machine is amazingly thin and light, and aimed at the corporate market. It's a strategy that works, as IBM takes a lead over all other laptop makers with 47 per cent of the market share.

8 1999: Apple iBook At a launch price of £1,099 including VAT, this could be the most luxurious plastic lunch box ever. In a range of eye-popping colours, the tough case has a built-in carrying handle, and there are no vulnerable latches or covers for the USB, Ethernet or modem ports. What makes the iBook special is the fact that it's the first portable to have internal wireless networking as well as an optical drive. It can be used as a toilet seat, too.

9 2001: Blackberry 950 Launched two years earlier in the US, it's dubbed the 'crack-berry' because users become addicted so fast. When it's launched in the UK by MM02 (formerly BT Cellnet), it is available only to businesses, and it costs at least £400 a handset. Even so, there is an immediate waiting list of hopefuls. No logging in, no phone line, no web terminal - just a little black box in your pocket that provides instant email anywhere, any time. It is revolutionary.

10 2003: HP IPAQ Pocket PC h5450 This is the ultimate executive toy for £649 including VAT. It is a genuine milestone in portable computing, with a 400MHz processor and a TFT screen that is amazingly bright and clear. It includes Bluetooth, infrared and WiFi, as well as SD and CompactFlash card slots to augment the 64MB of onboard memory. The 128-bit security and fingerprint recognition attest to the current atmosphere of paranoia. The simplest delight, and best feature of all, is a user-replaceable battery.

11 2005: Sony Vaio TX This astonishing machine redefines the laptop. The Vaio TX is built from carbon fibre that's twice as strong, a third lighter and four times more rigid than normal plastics. It contains the most advanced technology ever to appear in a feather-weight ultra-portable. The XBrite display is stunning and the machine packs WiFi or wireless networking alongside a full entertainment suite into its anorexic profile. It's priced at £1,498 plus VAT, and it is worth every penny.

12 2007: Apple iMac This all-new iMac is a slender thing of beauty, crafted from aluminium and glass. It houses processor, widescreen monitor, video camera, audio and total connectivity inside a single unit. Costing from £799 to £1,459 including VAT, it sets the benchmark for style and is the best-performing Apple yet, thanks to its Intel Core 2 processor. All those other computers, lurking under desks and getting all hot and bothered in their gloomy coffins, seem very old-fashioned indeed.