1. Portable Computing Devices
CIT 1100
Chapter4

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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