presentation on basics of laptops

8/7/2019 Presentation on Basics of Laptops

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Introduction

What is a laptop?A personal computer designed for mobileuse small enough to sit on one's lap. A laptopincludes most of the typical components of atypical desktop computer, including a display,

a keyboard, a pointing device as well as a battery,into a single small and light unit.

Who designed the first laptop? a "personal, portable information manipulator"was imagined by Alan Kay at Xerox PARC in1968 and described in his 1972 paper as the

"Dynabook".

The I.B.M. SCAMP project (Special Computer

APL Machine Portable), was demonstrated in1973. This prototype was based on the PALM

processor (Put All Logic In Microcode).

The I.B.M. 5100, the first commercially availableportable computer, appeared in September 1975,

and was based on the SCAMP prototype.


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Classification of laptops

Standard Laptop balances portabilityand features, 13-15" screen.

Subnotebook emphasizes portability,has less features, 13" or smallerscreen.

Budget a reasonable, lower-performance standard-sized laptop

Tablet PC Has a touch-screeninterface, may or may not have akeyboard

Netbook A cheaper, smaller versionof a subnotebook suited to Internetsurfing and basic office applications.

Rugged Engineered to operate intough conditions (strong vibrations,extreme temperatures, wet and dustyenvironments).


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Components

Motherboard

Central processing unit (CPU)

Memory (RAM)

Expansion cards Video display controller

Visual display unit/ VDU

Removable media drives

Hard disks Docking Stations

Input Devices e.g touchpad, keyboard


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Motherboard

A motherboard is the

central printed circuit

board (PCB) in some complex

electronic systems, such as

modern personal computers.The motherboard is sometimes

alternatively known as

the mainboard, system

board, or,

on Apple computers, the logic

board. It is also sometimescasually shortened to mobo.


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CPU/ Central Processing Unit

A central processing unit (CPU)is an electronic circuit that canexecute computer programs. Thisbroad definition can easily beapplied to many early computersthat existed long before the term

"CPU" ever came into widespreadusage. The term itself and itsinitialism have been in use in thecomputer industry at least sincethe early 1960s (Weik 1961). Theform, design and implementationof CPUs have changeddramatically since the earliest

examples, but their fundamentaloperation has remained much thesame.


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RAM/ Random Access Memory

Random-accessmemory (usually known byits acronym, RAM) is a formof computer data storage.Today it takes the form

of integrated circuits thatallows the stored data to beaccessed in any order (i.e.,at random). Theword random thus refers to thefact that any piece of data can

be returned in a constant time,regardless of its physicallocation and whether or not it isrelated to the previous piece ofdata.


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Expansion Cards

An expansioncard (also expansionboard, adaptercardoraccessory card)in computing is a printed circuit

board that can be inserted intoan expansion slot ofa computer motherboard toadd additional functionality to acomputer system. One edge ofthe expansion card holds thecontacts (the edge connector)

that fit exactly into the slot.They establish the electricalcontact between theelectronics (mostly integratedcircuits) on the card and on themotherboard.


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Video Display Unit/ Controller

Video Display ControllerorVDC isan integrated circuit which is the maincomponent in a video signal generator,a device responsible for the productionof a TV video signal in a computing orgame system. Some VDCs alsogenerate a sound signal, but in that

case it's not their main function. A visual display unit, often called

simply a monitorordisplay, is apiece of electrical equipment whichdisplays images generated fromthevideo output of devices suchas computers, without producing apermanent record. Most newer

monitors typically consist of a TFTLCD, with older monitors basedaround a cathode ray tube (CRT).


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Hard Disk Drives

A hard disk drive (HDD),commonly referred to as a harddrive, hard disk, orfixed diskdrive, is a non-volatilestorage device which storesdigitally encoded data on rapidly

rotating platters with magnetic surfaces. Strictly speaking, "drive"refers to a device distinct from itsmedium, such as a tape drive andits tape, or a floppy disk drive andits floppy disk. Early HDDs hadremovable media; however, anHDD today is typically a sealed

unit (except for a filtered vent holeto equalize air pressure) with fixedmedia.


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Docking Station

Docking stations and portreplicators provide asimplified way of "plugging-in"a portable laptop computer tocommon computer peripherals.

The use of a docking stationquickly enables a laptopcomputer to become asubstitute for a desktopcomputer, without sacrificingthe mobile

computing functionality of themachine.


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Input Devices

Touchpad (also trackpad) isa pointing device consisting ofspecialized surface that can translatethe motion and position of a user'sfingers to a relative position on screen.They are a common feature of laptopcomputers and also used as a

substitute for a computermouse where desk space is less.Touchpads vary in size but are rarelymade larger than 40square centimeters (about 6square inches). They can also befound on personal digitalassistants (PDAs) and some portablemedia players.

A keyboard is an input device,partially modeled after the typewriterkeyboard, which uses an arrangementof buttons or keys, which act aselectronic switches. A keyboardtypically hascharacters engraved or printed on thekeys and each press of a key typically

corresponds to a single written symbol


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Advantages of Laptops

Portability is usually the first feature mentioned in any comparison of laptops versus desktopPCs[. Portability means that a laptop can be used in many placesnot only at home and at theoffice, but also during commuting and flights, in coffee shops, in lecture halls and libraries, atclients' location or at a meeting room, etc

Immediacy Carrying a laptop means having instant access to various information, personal andwork files. Immediacy allows better collaboration between coworkers or students, as a laptop canbe flipped open to present a problem or a solution anytime, anywhere.

Up-to-date information If a person has more than one desktop PC, a problem ofsynchronization arises: changes made on one computer are not automatically propagated to theothers. There are ways to resolve this problem, including physical transfer of updated files (usinga USB stick or CDs) or using synchronization software over the Internet. However, using a singlelaptop at both locations avoids the problem entirely, as the files exist in a single location and arealways up-to-date.

Connectivity A proliferation ofWi-Fi wireless networks and cellular broadband data services(HSDPA, EVDO and others) combined with a near-ubiquitous support by laptops means that alaptop can have easy Internet and local network connectivity while remaining mobile. Wi-Finetworks and laptop programs are especially widespread at university campuses.

ize laptops are smaller than standard PCs. This is beneficial when space is at a premium, forexample in small apartments and student dorms. When not in use, a laptop can be closed and putaway.

Low power consumption laptops are several times more power-efficient than desktops. Atypical laptop uses 20-90 W, compared to 100-800 W for desktops.

Battery a charged laptop can run several hours in case of a power outage and is not affected byshort power interruptions and brownouts. A desktop PC needs a UPS to handle shortinterruptions, brownouts and spikes; achieving on-battery time of more than 20-30 minutes for adesktop PC requires a large and expensive UPS.


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LAN & WAN

A local area network (LAN) is a computer network covering a smallphysical area, like a home, office, or small group of buildings, suchas a school, or an airport. The defining characteristics of LANs, incontrast to wide-area networks (WANs), include their usually higherdata-transfer rates, smaller geographic range, and lack of a need

for leased telecommunication lines. Wide Area Network (WAN) is a computer network that covers abroad area (i.e., any network whose communications links crossmetropolitan, regional, or national boundaries). Contrastwith personal area networks (PANs), local areanetworks (LANs), campus area networks (CANs), or metropolitanarea networks (MANs) which are usually limited to a room, building,

campus or specific metropolitan area (e.g., a city) respectively. Thelargest and most well-known example of a WAN is the Internet.

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