Portable Computing Devices CIT 1100 Chapter4

Portable Computing Devices In this chapter you will learn how to: Describe portable computing devices Describe expansion slots available on portable computers Maintain and clean portable computers

Portable Computers Portable computers are made to be mobile, and are therefore smaller and lighter than desktop systems Portables are usually called laptop computers or notebooks A netbook is a smaller, cheaper portable computer with limited capabilities designed specifically for browsing the Internet Laptops range in size from tiny netbooks with displays anywhere from 4 to 11 inches across and weighing only a few pounds, to large desktop replacement systems with displays of 17 inches or more You'll also hear some laptop computer models described as notebook or subnotebook comput­ers, but these are marketing terms

Handheld Computing Devices Manu­facturers produce multifunction and single-function handheld computing devices the most popular example of a handheld device is the smartphone Smartphones are not just mobile phones they're tiny computers that help you stay connected by enabling access the Internet on the go

Handheld Computing Devices There are several different smartphone operating systems: Apple iPhone OS Google Android Microsoft Windows Mobile RIM BlackBerry, Symbian Palm webOS

I/O Handheld devices have a small built-in display screen that can also act as a data input device Modern devices often have touchscreens with virtual keyboards Some devices use handwriting recognition software, enter text by writing on the screen with a stylus Some use small integrated hardware keyboards

Single-Purpose Handheld Devices Single-Purpose handheld computing devices enable you to perform tasks that once required extensive or bulky equipment Electronic book (e-book) reader allows you carry around and read the equivalent of a small library Portable digital music/media players such as the Apple iPod, put a full-blown stereo system in the palm of your hand

Power Management In early Portable Computers components drew power continuously, whether it was in use or not The hard drive would continue to spin whether or not it was being accessed The screen would continue to display, even while the system was idle Modern systems use specialized hardware, the BIOS, and the OS to enable power management

Power Management Open Windows 7 Control Panel Configure power through Windows 7 power management settings Select “Choose Power Plan” Enter “Power” in the search option power

Power Management Select the Power Saver radio button Select Change plan settings Select the Power Saver radio button

Power Management From the Change setting menu you can determine how long the monitor will display with no user interaction Set the Sleep mode timer Sleep mode, takes everything in RAM and stores it on the hard drive just before the system powers down

Upgrading Portable Computers Expansion cards provides a way to easily upgrade a laptop's capabilities There are two main types of expansion cards available, Parallel and ExpressCard One type of parallel card is the PCMCIA card which are generically called PC Cards PC Cards come in 2 types, 16-bit and CardBus, each comes in 3 different physical sizes, called Type I, Type II, and Type III

Upgrading Portable Computers ExpressCard is the high-performance serial version of the PC Card Replaced PC Card slots on newer laptop PCs Offers significant performance benefits but it is completely incompatible with PC Card Comes in 2 widths: 54 mm and 34 mm ExpressCards connect to either the Hi-Speed USB 2.0 bus or a PCI Express (PCle) bus PCIe bus is considerably faster than USB2

Software Support for PC Cards The PCMCIA standard defines 2 levels of software drivers to support PC Cards The lower level is known as socket services which are device drivers sup­porting the PC Card socket, allowing the system to detect when a PC Card has been in­serted/removed and the necessary input/output to the device The higher level is known as card services, which recognizes the function of a particular PC Card and provides the specialized drivers necessary to make the card work

Maintaining Portables Most portable maintenance involves taking care of batteries, extending battery life through proper power man­agement, keeping machine clean, avoid excessive heat, and be careful about physical damage Everything you normally do to maintain a PC applies to portable PCs: Keep current Windows Patches and Service Packs Use stable, recent drivers Run an error-checking utility with some frequency Defragment the hard drive

Cleaning Most portable PCs take substantially more abuse than a corresponding desktop model, constant handling, travel, coffee spilled into the keyboard One of the most important things you should do is clean the laptop regularly Use an appropriate screen cleaner or damp, lint-free cloth (not a glass cleaner!) to remove fingerprints and dust from the fragile LCD panel