Computer Components

By Matt Partridge And

Shaun Klus

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USB Memory

StickThis is a portable memory device. It can hold from around 32Mb up to 256GB. These are sometimes called ‘Flash Drives’ and they are universal, re-writable and removable. They are lighter, easier and cheaper than CD-ROMS and Floppy Disks now. To get it working Simply plug your flash

drive into a USB port. The USB port will appear on the back of a desktop computer’s PC tower or on the side of a laptop.

USB KeyboardIn computer terms, a keyboard is a typewriter- style

device which uses a arrangement of buttons or keys to act as either mechanical levers or electronic switches.

It is one of the main inputs for any computer. A keyboard normally has characters engraved or printed on to each individual key, however to produce some symbols you will need to hold and press several keys

simultaneously or in sequence.

USB MouseIn computing terms, a mouse is a pointing device that functions by detecting two dimensional motion on the bottom of the mouse. The mouse consists of an object held under the users hands with one or more buttons. Sometimes it has other elements such as ‘wheels’ which allow the user to perform operations such as scrolling, or extra buttons or features that can add more control or dimensional input

RAM

RAM stands for Random Access Memory. It is a for of computer storage device and allows data to be accessed in very nearly the same amount of time for any storage location so It can be accessed quickly and in any random order. The opposite of this is things such as hard disks, CDs, DVDs and Magnetic tapes. This writes data in a predetermined order where as the time to access a given data location varies depending on its physical location.

Power Supply

This power supply is a device that supplies electric power to an electrical load. This is the term most commonly applied to the electric power converters that convert one form of electrical energy to another. It controls the output voltage or current to a specific value. It also converts AC line voltage to DC

CD-ROM Disk Drive

Disk drives are the way of inserting a CD-ROM into the computer, it can then be read and data can be transferred from the disc to the computer. It is a general category for all the storage mechanisms in which data are digitally recorded by either electronic, magnetic, optical or mechanical methods. This is done on a surface layer deposited of one or more planar, round and rotating disks.

Graphics Card (Video Card)

A graphics card is an expansion card which generates a feed of output images to display. Most video cards offer functions such as rendering 2D and 3D graphics on a monitor or even multiple monitors. This type of video hardware can be integrated into the motherboard. This is called on-board memory. Unlike text files, graphics images are much larger files consisting of great amounts of data must be processed by the graphics card.

Printer

In computing, printers are a peripheral, this is an extra computing device that improves a computers ability. It produces a representation of an electric document shown on screen. Many printers are local and nearby but network printers can be accessed from around the local network. Some printers can print documents on memory cards or straight from a digital camera or scanner. Multifunctional printers can include a scanner can copy paper or even send a fax. These are called all in ones. (AIO)

A monitor is a electronic visual display for computers. It comprises the display device . The display device in modern monitors is usually very thin film transistor liquid crystal display , whilst older monitors use a cathode ray tube about as deep as the screen size. They use to be for data processing while television receivers were used for entertainment.

Computer Monitor

Speakers

Speakers are external to a computer, they disable the lower quality built in speakers and replace them with a high quality speaker. They usually have a low power internal amplifier. The standard connection to put these in is a 3.5mm headphone jack often coloured green. It can sometimes even be plugged into your computer directly by USB meaning no external power will be needed to power theses. E.G