How Does a Laptop Battery Work?
There is little difference in how a laptop battery works and how other device batteries work, except that a laptop battery is more intelligent. An electronic circuit works with the laptop hardware to manage the power that flows into the battery while recharging and the power that flows out of each cell of the battery while discharging. More ...
The RS-232 Serial Port
The RS-232 serial port was used to connect a mouse, modem, and/or printer. The RS-232 serial port is now totally obsolete. I would be very surprised if you ever run into a PC with an RS-232 serial port except possibly in a third-world country. However, I'll briefly describe the it in this article because you may run into a question about it in the CompTIA A+ Certification Exam. More ...
Intel Chipsets
The original 4.77 Mhz 8088-based IBM PC released in 1981 was built with over 100 discrete logic chips. To lower the cost of manufacturing, the logic was integrated into a couple of chips that were used together as a set. They became referred to as a chipset. More ...
Motherboard Basics
A motherboard, also known as a main board, is the primary circuit board inside of a computer, and is where the central processing unit (CPU), memory, expansion slots, drives, and other peripheral devices are connected. More ...
The PC (PCMCIA) Card
The PC card, technically called the PCMCIA Card is a form factor of a peripheral interface designed for laptop computers. It was originally designed for computer memory expansion. More ...
External Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (eSATA)
Initially all SATA (and PATA) interfaces were for internal hard disks. With the introduction of eSATA, the SATA interface can be used with external storage media. This puts eSATA in competition with Universal Serial Bus (USB) and Firewire. Especially since, like USB and Firewire, eSATA allows hot swapping. More ...
Five Types of HDMI Cables
There are different types of HDMI cables, some are technologically more enhanced and some are designed for specific PCs and TVs, so it's important that you get to know about the various types. More ...
Understanding Your PC's CPU Clock Speed and Front Side Bus
The CPU or Central Processing Unit is the brains of any computer and the two major manufacturers are Intel and AMD or Advanced Micro Devices. For many years Intel CPUs were found in nearly all PCs. And now the Intel is found in most systems but the newer Athlon class CPU from AMD have taken a large chunk of the CPU market. More ...
A Guide to Basic PC Cooling
Desktop PCs and Notebook PCs generate heat that can reduce the performance, cause intermittent errors, and be damaging to its components. Here are some tips that will help lengthen the life of your precious personal computer. More ...
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Chipsets
Although most people think the microprocessor is the most important part on a computer's motherboard, the 'chipset' is equally important. With the introduction of the Athlon processor, AMD gained the technilogical lead. AMD processors and chipsets have always held the advantage in value. More ...
The Computers Back Connector Panel
So although the computer's back panel appears to be a complicated mess, each connector has a specific shape, number and pins, and polarity key that allows only the proper cable to be plugged in. If you get a nice comfortable feeling like your not smashing pins when you plug a cable in, then you can feel secure that nothing will blow up. More ...
Installing an Optical Drive
Optical drives read (and may write) CDs; DVDs, HD DVDs; and BluRays. Virtually every modern PC contains an optical drive (either internally or externally), used as a media player, for installing new software, or as large capacity storage medium for computers. Installing your optical drives is an easy process that requires a bit of attention to detail. Here?s an easy-to-follow-installation guide. More ...
All About Your Computer's BIOS
Are you confused by the computer BIOS? The BIOS is a fundamental component of any PC and if you really want to get into the guys of a computer, it?s good through understanding what BIOS Is all about. More ...
Understanding Graphic Cards
Dedicated graphics cards, which we will be discussing in this article, are needed if you want to do 3D gaming or watch high definition movies. The GPU (Graphic Processing Unit) is the most determinant feature of every graphics card when it comes to the overall performance and speed. More ...
