Post on 29-Mar-2015
Laptop and Portable Devices
Use of Laptops
Small size and design Portable – size and battery What are today’s common uses? ??
Other Portable Devices
PDAs – organizer, apps Smart phones – phone, camera, apps.
Laptop Components
Ports USD S video Sound Network Video Cards – more later Ventilation
Laptop Components
Optical Drive Battery Hard Drive access panel Ram Access Panel Doc Station connection Display
LCD Displays
Matrix – made of columns and rows Passive – the display is created at one time Active Matrix – a single pixel can be changed
Passive matrix
Color super-twist nematic (CSTN) Dual Scan Ferroelectric High-Performance Addressing (HPA) Usually can’t run projectors or LCD panels
from these types of laptops
Active matrix
Metal-insulator-metal (MIM) Plasma-addressed liquid crystal (PALC) Thin-film transistors (TFT)
Display resolutions
XGA – Extended graphics – 1024x768 SXGA+ - Super XGA – 1400x1050
14-15 inch display – typically max resolution for projectors
UXGA – Ultra XGA – 1600x1200 WUXGA – Wide screen 1920x1200
Docking stations
Port Replicator – cheapest – Docking station – difference is network
access Cold docking – laptop is off Warm docking – laptop must be put in
suspend mode Hot docking – a change can be made while
running normal operations.
Batteries
Nickel-cadmium (NiCad) least preferable must be charged every 3-4 hours
Nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) – store up to 50% more power and don’t suffer loss of functionality from partial draining and recharging
Lithium ion (Lion) – Lightweight and long life – more expensive
Fuel cell -
Batteries cont.
Fuel cell – Casio plans to produce a hydrogen fuel cell that will last 20 hours. High price.
Battery Disposal
Don’t put in mutilate Don’t crush, puncture, or incinerate or short
external circuits Don’t short-circuit – can cause burns
PCMCIA Cards
Expansion cards for Type III or Type II or Type I devices Type I – 3.3 mm thick Usually used for
memory Type II – 5.5 mm thick - most common – NICs
Will work with Type 1 Type III – 10.5 mm thick - used for drive – not
common Both Type I, II, III can be used in a III slot
Today new technology called CardBus Mini PCI slot – wireless
32-bit bus Operates at 32MHz 3.3 volts Uses type III, II, I
Most designs have only two Type II slots You can plug in two Type I or type II or One Type III
Ports and Communication Connections
Bluetooth - how mobile phones, computers, and personal digital assistants ( PDA s) can be easily interconnected using a short-range wireless connection
Infrared – line of site - used for short- and medium-range communications and control.
WAN WiFI – wireless network. Cellular -
Pointing and Input Devices
Touchpad's, point sticks, and track points Digitizer – pen Fn – function key -
Power Management
Know how to access – XP – start/control panel/power options
Advanced configuration Power Interface (ACPI) – in ACPI the BIOS provides the OS with necessary methods of controlling the hardware.
Three main state of power management
Hibernate – saves all contents of memory to the hard drive and preserves all data/applications where they are.
Standby – leaves memory active but saves everything to disk.
Suspend – same as hibernate. In XP hibernate is used instead of Suspend.
Battery changing
Know that a battery is hot-swappable but you either need a second battery or be plugged in to change.
Common Laptop Issues
Stylus Issues – Can go bad and be replaced Antenna wires – remove interference Backlight – can go bad and need to be
replaced. Know that the inverter can go bad also and be replaced.
DC power – replace the battery. Set to fully drain if possible
External monitors – usually will see when booting if not use the Fn key
Common Laptop Issues
External Keyboards – replace Pointers – can gain dust – clean or use
external mouse. Unneeded peripherals – disable if possible
they drain the battery Video – incorrect settings – have current
drivers
Maintenance
Cleaning – mild soap and water on a clean, lint-free cloth
Make sure power is off Use a glass cleaner designed for monitors and a
soft cloth. Clean environment Run Disk Defrag, Scandisk, Check Disk, and
Disk cleanup Perform scheduled maintenance to prolong life
Maintenance
Temperature – 45 to 90 degrees Humidity – between 10 to 80 percent
Memory
SODIMM – Small Outline DIMM 72 – 32-bit data bus 144- 64 bits wide New MicroDIMM – smaller no notch –
144-pin 32MBx64
Memory Upgrades
Make sure you refer to the documetation.
Use the internet – research Meomry problems –
Laptop not working at all Beep-code error Soft memory errors Short memory counts in post Locking up in boot