1.0 Hardware

1.10 Install, configure and optimize laptop components and features

• Expansion devices
  
  
  • PCMCIA cards

    Acronym for and developed by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association, designed as expansion devices for laptop computers. A PCMCIA card is correctly referred to as a PC Card (16 bit) or CardBus (32 bit), though the PC Card is now considered legacy. The most common form factors include types I, II, and III and are now used as interfaces for several expansion options, including hard drives, networking, USB devices and more.

    • Type I - 16-bit, 3.3 mm thick
    • Type II - 16-bit or 32-bit, 5.0 mm thick
      
    • Type III - 16-bit or 32-bit, 10.5 mm thick
      

    PCMCIA Tutorial

  
  
  • PCI Express cards

    A high-speed, plug and play serial bus, designed to replace the older PCI, PCI-X, and AGP bus standards. The ExpressCard standard specifies two form factors, ExpressCard/34 (34 mm wide) and ExpressCard/54 (54 mm wide, in an L-shape), but the connector is the same on both (34 mm wide). The 34 mm slot accepts only 34 mm cards, while the 54 mm slot will accept both 34 mm and 54 mm cards.

  
  
  • Docking station

    Integrated ports permit use of external peripherals, monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc.

  
  


• Communication connections
  
  
  • Bluetooth
    PAN (Personal Area Network), short distance (20-30 ft.) wireless communication
    
    
  • Infrared

    Infrared is a wireless technology that uses pulses of infrared light to transmit signals between devices. It works by direct line of site and cannot pass through obstructions or around corners. The connection speeds range from 9600bps to 4Mbps and it's maximum range is from 10 to 20 feet. Common uses are wireless mice, keyboards, and printers.

  
  
  • Cellular WAN
    Mobile broadband communication, also used for mifi devices
    
    
  • Ethernet

    Ethernet connections can be either wired or wireless. Wired connections may use a variety of cables depending on the technology. Options include shielded twisted-pair cable (STP), unshielded twisted pair (UTP), or fiber optic cable. Wireless technologies include Wi-Fi, WiMAX, Cellular WAN, Bluetooth, and 802.11a/b/g/n.

  
  
  • Modem

    Acronym for modulator-demodulator. Provides analog phone line communication between the computer and a telephone network. Interface is provided through an RJ-11 connection with 56Kb/s maximum transmission speed.

  
  


• Power and electrical input devices

  Acronym for modulator-demodulator. Provides analog phone line communication between the computer and a telephone network. Interface is provided through an RJ-11 connection with 56Kb/s maximum transmission speed.

  
  
  
  • Auto-switching
    Automatically switches between 110V and 220V
    
    
  • Fixed input power supplies
    Power switching is done manually
    
    
  • Batteries
    Nickle-Cadmium (Ni-Cd)
    Nickle Metal Hydride (NiMH)
    Lithium Ion (LI-Ion)
    Smart Batteries
    
    


• Input devices
  
  
  • Stylus / digitizer

    A stylus is a drawing device shaped like a pen, used with a digitizing tablet or touch screen. The stylus point is made of a non-abrasive plastic specifically designed for writing on the device screen.

  
  
  • Function keys

    Due the limited space available on a laptop, several keys of the keyboard have been designed with dual functions. These keys are non-standardized and may vary with different laptops. On some laptops, one particular key may toggle the screen view between the built-in LCD and an external monitor, while other keys may perform additional tasks. The Fn key is used to activate the secondary functions keys.

  
  
  • Point devices
    Touch pad, point stick / track point