Easily the best school/home/personal computer from that period was the BBC model B computer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Model_B

It reigned supreme over Apple IIs, Commodore 64s, Orics, Sinclair ZX81/Spectrums, TI-99/4As, Dragons etc.

When Bill Gates was shown the machine and its Econet network capabilities he replied 'Whats a network?'