Computing Devices and Peripherals

Identifying Hardware Components and Peripherals

What is a computer component?

• A physical part needed for computer functioning, also called “hardware”.
• Each component performs a specific task.
• Components can be internal or external.
• External components connect via ports and connectors.
• Without a given component, such as a CPU, a computer system cannot function as desired.

Common internal components

A part inside a computing device:

• RAM
• Hard Drive
• CPU

Peripherals

• Connect to the computer to transfer data.
• External devices easily removed and connected to a computer.
• Connections vary
• Examples: Mouse, Printer, and a Keyboard etc.

Categories of peripherals

• Input – send commands to the computer
• Output – receive commands from the computer
• Storage – save files indefinitely

Connectors for Components

• A connector is the unique end of a plug, jack, or the edge of a card that connects to a port.
• For example, all desktop computer expansion cards have an internal connector that allows them to connect to a slot on the motherboard.
• A Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector at the end of a cable is an example of an external connector.

Ports

• A connector plugs into an opening on a computer called a port.
• A port is the jack or receptacle for a peripheral device to plug into.
• Ports are standardized for each purpose.
• Common ports include USB ports and HDMI ports.

Input and Pointing Devices

Input Devices

• Keyboards
• Mouse
• Camera
• Joystick
• Trackball

Pointing Devices

• The stylus (Pen)
  • Input tool
  • Moves the cursor and sends commands
  • Generally used on tablets
  • Uses capacitive technology
  • Detects heat and pressure

Hard Drives

Hard drives:

• are a repository for images, video, audio, and text.
• RAM
• ROM
• HDD/SSD/NVMe

Hard drive performance

Measurement benchmarks

• Spin speed: how fast the platter spins.
• Access time: how fast the data is retrieved.
• Transfer/media rate: how fast the data is written to the drive.

Connecting an internal hard drive

• Back up data
• transfer the enclosure
• Secure with screws
• prevent movement
• attach to motherboard via SATA/PATA cables
• plug into power supply
• finally, it can be configured in the disk management utility of windows

Optical Drives and External Storage

Optical drives

Reading and writing data

• Laser pressing or “burning”
• Burning pits on lands

• Reflective disk surface

  Storage disks

• Single-sided
• Double-side

Types of optical drive

Several types

• CD-ROM
• CD-RW
• DVD-ROM
• DVD-RW
• Blu-ray

Solid state drives

Solid state drive → (SSD)

• Integrated circuit assemblies store data
• Flash memory
• Permanent, secondary storage
• AKA “solid state drive” or “solid state disk”
• No moving parts
  • Unlike hard disk drives and floppy drives

External hard drive

• File backup and transfer
• Capacity: 250 GB to 20 TB
  • Several file types
  • USB or eSATA connection
    • eSATA – signal, not power

Expansion devices

• Additional file storage
• Usually, USB
• Frees hard drive space
• Automatically recognized
• Known as a “Thumb drive”
• Holds up to 2 TB of data

Flash Drives

• Combines a USB interface and Flash memory
• Highly portable
• Weighs less than an ounce
• Storage has risen as prices have dropped
• Available capacity up to 2 TB

Memory card

• Uses Flash memory to store data
• Found in portable devices such as portable media players and smartphones
• Contained inside a device
  • Unlike USB drives
• Available in both Secure Digital (SD) and Micro Secure Digital (MSD) formats

Display Devices

Defining display devices:

• Hardware component for the output of information in visual form
• Tactile monitors present information in a fingertip-readable format
• Often seen as television sets and computer monitors

Cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors

• Create an image by directing electrons beams over phosphor dots
• Used in monitors throughout the mid to late 1990s
• By 1990, they boasted 800 × 600 pixel resolution

Flat-screen monitors

• Also known as liquid crystal display (LCD)/ Think film transistor (TFT)
• Digital signal drives color value of each picture element (Pixel)
• Replaced CRT monitors

Touchscreens

• Use a touch panel on an electronic display
• Capacitive technology measures heat and pressure
• Often found on smartphones, laptops, and tablets

Projectors

• Take images from a computer and display them
• the surface projected onto is large, flat, and lightly colored
• Projected images can be still or animated

Printers and Scanners

Output devices

“Hardware that shows data in readable form.”

That data can take many forms:

• Scanner and speech synthesizer
• Unnecessary (though highly useful) for computer function

Printers

• Laser/LED
• Inkjet
• Thermal

Shared printers

• IP-based
• Web-based

Scanners

• Converts images from analog to digital
• Flatbed (stand alone) or multifunction device

Faxes and multifunction devices

• Facsimile (fax) machines send documents using landlines
• Multifunction devices often include fax capabilities

Audio Visual Devices

Defining audio devices

• Digital data is converted into an audible format
• Components are used to reproduce, record, or process sound
• Examples include microphones, CD players amplifiers, mixing consoles, effects units, and speakers

Defining visual devices

• Present images electronically on-screen
• Typically, greater than 4” diagonally
• Examples include smartphones, monitors, and laptop computers