Computer Hardware Click on each object for further information

Motherboard A motherboard, also known as a mainboard, logic board, or system board, and sometimes abbreviated as mobo, is the central or primary circuit board making up a complex electronic system, such as a computer. A typical computer is built with the microprocessor, main memory, and other basic components on the motherboard. Other components of the computer such as external storage, control circuits for video display and sound, and peripheral devices are typically attached to the motherboard via ribbon cables, other cables, and power connectors. Back

Mouse A mouse is a handheld pointing device for computers, being a small object fitted with one or more buttons and shaped to sit naturally under the hand. The underside of the mouse houses a device that detects the mouse's motion relative to the flat surface on which it moves. The mouse's 2D motion is typically translated into the motion of a pointer on the display. It is called a mouse primarily because the cord on early models resembled the rodent's tail, and also because the motion of the pointer on the screen can be mouse-like. Back

Keyboard A computer keyboard is a peripheral modeled after the typewriter keyboard. Keyboards are designed for the input of text and characters, and also to control the operation of the computer. Physically, computer keyboards are an arrangement of rectangular or near-rectangular buttons, or "keys". Keyboards typically have characters engraved or printed on the keys; in most cases, each press of a key corresponds to a single written symbol. However, to produce some symbols requires pressing and holding several keys simultaneously, or in sequence; other keys do not produce any symbol, but instead affect the operation of the computer, or the keyboard itself. See input method editor. A 102-key PC US English QWERTY keyboard layout Roughly 50% of all keyboard keys produce letters, numbers or signs (characters). Other keys can produce actions when pressed, and other actions are available by simultaneously pressing more than one action key. Back

Computer Speakers Computer speakers, or multimedia speakers, are external speakers and are usually equipped with a male- end phone plug for computer sound cards; however, there are some that have female RCA (phono) plug ports, and some people link computer sound cards to nearby stereo systems. Computer speakers are usually a simplified stereo system without a radio or other media sources built in. Typically, the simplest computer speakers come with computers. There are advanced forms of computer speakers that have graphic equalization features (bass, treble, etc.) for dynamic audio flexibility. Back

CD-ROM/Hard Drive A drive is a peripheral device attached to a computer to access the information stored on a mass storage medium. In some types of drive, the storage medium is permanently sealed inside the device. In others, the medium can be replaced with varying levels of difficulty. Also, some drives with permanently attached media are designed to be portable as a whole. Mass storage devices are characterized by: Transfer speed Seek time Cost Capacity Back

Floppy Drive and Disk A floppy disk is a data storage device that is composed of a ring of thin, flexible (i.e. "floppy") magnetic storage medium encased in a square or rectangular plastic wallet. Floppy disks are read and written by a floppy disk drive or FDD, the latter initialism not to be confused with "fixed disk drive", which is an old IBM term for a hard disk drive. Back