Computers that are small and low cost are referred to as ?

Computers are grouped into size and cost categories such as supercomputers, mainframes, minicomputers, and microcomputers, ranked roughly from largest and most expensive to smallest and cheapest.

A microcomputer is the smallest and least expensive category, built around a single microprocessor chip. This category includes the desktop and laptop computers most people use daily, which are physically compact and affordable compared to larger institutional computers.

The other options do not correctly name this category. Minicomputers are a step above microcomputers in size, power, and cost, historically used by medium-sized organisations for tasks larger than what one desktop machine could handle. "Small computers" and "tablet computers" are not the standard classification terms used in computer studies for this size and cost category; tablets are simply one physical form that microcomputers can take, not the name of the classification itself.

When a question links "small" and "low cost" together as defining features of a computer category, the correct technical term is microcomputer, not the informal phrase "small computer".