Understanding PC Hardware

Dear Friend‚ The first personal computers were home-built by electronics hobbyists. When Apple‚ IBM and others began selling ready-made systems to "normal" folk‚ most buyers never considered opening the case‚ even to look‚ much less make changes. That was roughly 25 years ago - one human generation‚ but more than a dozen generations for computers. By the second decade of the personal computer age‚ computer stores were selling hard drives‚ memory upgrades‚ sound and video cards and other components to an increasingly large segment of the home computer market who wanted to make their PC "more" than what the manufacturer sold them. Today‚ such parts can be found in any office supply or general merchandise store - even some supermarkets and drug stores. But even with this wide and easy availability‚ even with prices that continue to drop as capabilities continue to rise‚ many people are convinced you have to be an electronics wizard to open that case. "Understanding PC Hardware" will help dispel that myth‚ explaining in simple language‚ just what each part is‚ what it does and how it can be replaced. Here's a summary of everything you will learn in this easy to read information resource... What's Inside Your Computer

• What is a motherboard?

• What is a CPU?

• RAM

• Power supply

• Floppy drives - do you really need one?

• SCSI

• WiFi

• All those ports

Cables‚ cables and more cables The Five Most Popular PC Upgrades

• Memory

• Video card

• Sound card

• DVD player/burner

• Motherboard

How to Select a Monitor

• What questions to ask - and what the answers mean

• Why LCD monitors are better than CRTs

How to Select a Hard Drive For Your PC

• The different types of drives

• What memory capacity means

• How much memory you need for how you use your computer

• How drive speed affects your use

• External versus internal drives

Choosing a DVD-ROM Drive

• Interface - there are at least half a dozen possibilities

• Speed - how to decipher all those letters and numbers

• Coding‚ decoding‚ compression

• Combo drives with CD and DVD read/write capabilities

The Mouse

• Where once there was no choice‚ today there are hundreds

• Wired versus wireless

• Color and design

• Software

• Optical‚ ball and roller‚ laser

Selecting a Graphics Card

• Do you really need more than your computer motherboard's built-in graphics capability?

• Considering card memory‚ frame rate and speed

• Why bigger is not always better

• The three main things to look for in a graphics card

Selecting a Sound Card

• What is bit rate and why it's important

• Just as you would with a new receiver for your audio/video suite‚ look at the card's connectors

• Consider compatibility with the software you use

Selecting a Printer

• Resolution

• Speed

• Economy

• Maximum paper size and format

Selecting a Scanner

• What is your need?

• What is your budget?

• Resolution

• Size of documents to be scanned

Requirements: This e-book is in the form of a .exe file and can only be read on PCs running Microsoft Windows. The e-book can be printed out from a Windows PC‚ if required.