TYPES OF COMPUTER

WORKSTATION
DESKTOP COMPUTER
SINGLE UNIT COMPUTERS
NETTOP ULTRA MOBILE PC
LAPTOP HOME THEATER PC
NETBOOK TABLET PC
POCKET PC
WORKSTATION
• A HIGH-END PERSONAL COMPUTER
DESIGNED FOR TECHNICAL OR
SCIENTIFIC APPLICATIONS.
• INTENDED PRIMARILY TO BE USED BY
ONE PERSON AT A TIME, THEY ARE
COMMONLY CONNECTED TO A LOCAL
AREA NETWORK AND RUN MULTI-USER
OPERATING SYSTEMS.
DESKTOP COMPUTER
• COME IN A VARIETY OF STYLES RANGING FROM
LARGE VERTICAL TOWER CASES TO SMALL FORM
FACTOR MODELS THAT CAN BE TUCKED BEHIND
AN LCD MONITOR.

• THE TERM 'DESKTOP' REFERS SPECIFICALLY TO A

HORIZONTALLY-ORIENTED CASE, USUALLY
INTENDED TO HAVE THE DISPLAY SCREEN PLACED
ON TOP TO SAVE SPACE ON THE DESK TOP.

• MOST MODERN DESKTOP COMPUTERS HAVE

SEPARATE SCREENS AND KEYBOARDS.
SINGLE UNIT PC
•(ALSO KNOWN AS ALL-IN-ONE
PCS) ARE A SUBTYPE OF
DESKTOP COMPUTERS, WHICH
COMBINE THE MONITOR AND
CASE OF THE COMPUTER WITHIN
A SINGLE UNIT
NETTOP
•A SUBTYPE OF DESKTOPS,
CALLED NETTOPS, WAS
INTRODUCED BY INTEL IN
FEBRUARY 2008 TO DESCRIBE
LOW-COST, LEAN-FUNCTION,
DESKTOP COMPUTERS.
LAPTOP

•ALSO CALLED A NOTEBOOK

COMPUTER OR SOMETIMES A
NOTEBOOK, IS A SMALL
PERSONAL COMPUTER DESIGNED
FOR PORTABILITY.
NETBOOK
• ALSO CALLED MINI NOTEBOOKS OR
SUBNOTEBOOKS) ARE A RAPIDLY EVOLVING
CATEGORY OF SMALL, LIGHT AND
INEXPENSIVE LAPTOP COMPUTERS SUITED
FOR GENERAL COMPUTING AND
ACCESSING WEB-BASED APPLICATIONS;
THEY ARE OFTEN MARKETED AS
"COMPANION DEVICES," THAT IS, TO
AUGMENT A USER'S OTHER COMPUTER
ACCESS.
 TABLET PC
• IS A NOTEBOOK OR SLATE-SHAPED MOBILE
COMPUTER, FIRST INTRODUCED BY PEN
COMPUTING IN THE EARLY 90S WITH THEIR
PENGO TABLET COMPUTER AND
POPULARIZED BY MICROSOFT. ITS
TOUCHSCREEN OR GRAPHICS
TABLET/SCREEN HYBRID TECHNOLOGY
ALLOWS THE USER TO OPERATE THE
COMPUTER WITH A STYLUS OR DIGITAL PEN,
OR A FINGERTIP, INSTEAD OF A KEYBOARD
OR MOUSE.
 ULTRA MOBILE PC
• (UMPC) IS A SPECIFICATION FOR A
SMALL FORM FACTOR OF TABLET PCS.
• IT WAS DEVELOPED AS A JOINT
DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE BY MICROSOFT,
INTEL, AND SAMSUNG, AMONG OTHERS.
CURRENT UMPCS TYPICALLY FEATURE
THE WINDOWS XP, WINDOWS VISTA,
WINDOWS 7, OR LINUX OPERATING
SYSTEM AND LOW-VOLTAGE INTEL ATOM
OR VIA C7-M PROCESSORS.
 HOME THEATER PC
• (HTPC) IS A CONVERGENCE DEVICE
THAT COMBINES THE FUNCTIONS OF A
PERSONAL COMPUTER AND A DIGITAL
VIDEO RECORDER.

• IT IS CONNECTED TO A TELEVISION OR A
TELEVISION-SIZED COMPUTER DISPLAY
AND IS OFTEN USED AS A DIGITAL
PHOTO, MUSIC, VIDEO PLAYER, TV
RECEIVER AND DIGITAL VIDEO
RECORDER.
 POCKET PC
• IS A HARDWARE SPECIFICATION FOR
A HANDHELD-SIZED COMPUTER
(PERSONAL DIGITAL ASSISTANT) THAT
RUNS THE MICROSOFT WINDOWS
MOBILE OPERATING SYSTEM.
• IT MAY HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO RUN
AN ALTERNATIVE OPERATING SYSTEM
LIKE NETBSD OR LINUX. IT HAS MANY
OF THE CAPABILITIES OF MODERN
DESKTOP PCS.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE
THE ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES OF EACH
TYPE OF COMPUTER?
PARTS OF COMPUTER
• COMPUTER CASE OTHER COMPONENTS
• MOTHERBOARD • MASS STORAGE
• MAIN MEMORY • COMPUTER
COMMUNICATIONS
• HARD DISK • COMMON
• VIDEO CARD PERIPHERALS AND
ADAPTER CARDS
• VISUAL DISPLAY UNIT
• KEYBOARD
• MOUSE
COMPUTER CASE
• THE ENCLOSURE THAT CONTAINS THE
MAIN COMPONENTS OF A COMPUTER.

• CASES ARE USUALLY CONSTRUCTED

FROM STEEL OR ALUMINIUM,
ALTHOUGH OTHER MATERIALS SUCH AS
WOOD AND PLASTIC HAVE BEEN USED.

• CASES CAN COME IN MANY

DIFFERENT SIZES, OR FORM FACTORS.
CENTRAL PROCESSING
UNIT (CPU)
• PART OF A COMPUTER WHICH EXECUTES
SOFTWARE PROGRAM INSTRUCTIONS.

• IN OLDER COMPUTERS THIS CIRCUITRY WAS

FORMERLY ON SEVERAL PRINTED CIRCUIT
BOARDS, BUT IN PCS IS A SINGLE
INTEGRATED CIRCUIT.

• NEARLY ALL PCS CONTAIN A TYPE OF

CPU KNOWN AS A MICROPROCESSOR.
WITH A FAN ATTACHED VIA HEAT SINK.
MOTHERBOARD
•REFERRED TO AS SYSTEM
BOARD OR MAINBOARD, IS
THE PRIMARY CIRCUIT BOARD
WITHIN A PERSONAL
COMPUTER.
MAIN MEMORY
(RAM)
• A PC'S MAIN MEMORY IS FAST
STORAGE THAT IS DIRECTLY
ACCESSIBLE BY THE CPU, AND
IS USED TO STORE THE
CURRENTLY EXECUTING
PROGRAM AND IMMEDIATELY
NEEDED DATA.
HARD DISK
• MASS STORAGE DEVICES STORE
PROGRAMS AND DATA EVEN WHEN
THE POWER IS OFF; THEY DO REQUIRE
POWER TO PERFORM READ AND WRITE
FUNCTIONS DURING USAGE.

• ALTHOUGH FLASH MEMORY HAS

DROPPED IN COST, THE PREVAILING
FORM OF MASS STORAGE IN
PERSONAL COMPUTERS IS STILL THE
HARD DISK.
 VIDEO CARD
• OTHERWISE CALLED A GRAPHICS
CARD, GRAPHICS ADAPTER OR
VIDEO ADAPTER - PROCESSES AND
RENDERS THE GRAPHICS OUTPUT
FROM THE COMPUTER TO THE
COMPUTER DISPLAY, AND IS AN
ESSENTIAL PART OF THE MODERN
COMPUTER.
POWER SUPPLY UNIT(PSU)
• A POWER SUPPLY IS A HARDWARE
COMPONENT OF A COMPUTER THAT
SUPPLIES ALL COMPONENTS IN
A COMPUTER WITH POWER.

• IT CONVERTS A 110-115 OR 220-

230 VOLT AC INTO A STEADY LOW-
VOLTAGE DC USABLE BY THE
COMPUTER AND RATED BY THE
NUMBER OF WATTS IT GENERATES.
VISUAL DISPLAY UNIT
• (OR MONITOR) IS A PIECE OF
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT,
USUALLY SEPARATE FROM THE
COMPUTER CASE, WHICH
DISPLAYS VIEWABLE IMAGES
GENERATED BY A COMPUTER
WITHOUT PRODUCING A
PERMANENT RECORD.
KEYBOARD
• IN COMPUTING, A KEYBOARD
IS AN ARRANGEMENT OF
BUTTONS THAT EACH
CORRESPOND TO A FUNCTION,
LETTER, OR NUMBER. THEY ARE
THE PRIMARY DEVICES OF
INPUTTING TEXT.
 MOUSE
• A MOUSE ON A COMPUTER IS A
SMALL, SLIDABLE DEVICE THAT
USERS HOLD AND SLIDE AROUND
TO POINT AT, CLICK ON, AND
SOMETIMES DRAG OBJECTS ON
SCREEN IN A GRAPHICAL USER
INTERFACE USING A POINTER ON
SCREEN.
 COMPUTER COMMON
COMMUNICATIONS PERIPHERALS AND
(NETWORKING) ADAPTER CARDS

• INTERNAL MODEM CARD • HEADSET

• MODEM • JOYSTICK
• NETWORK ADAPTER • MICROPHONE
CARD • PRINTER
• ROUTER • SCANNER
• SOUND ADAPTER CARD
• SPEAKERS
• WEBCAM
INTERNAL MODEM
• IS A NETWORK DEVICE THAT IS
CONTAINED ON AN
EXPANSION BOARD THAT PLUGS
INTO THE MOTHERBOARD
 MODEM - (MODULATOR-
DEMODULATOR)
• IS A DEVICE THAT ALLOWS A
GIVEN COMPUTER TO SHARE
TRANSMIT DATA OVER THROUGH
TELEPHONE OR CABLE LINES OR
OTHERWISE
• A DEVICE WHICH LETS COMPUTERS
EXCHANGE INFORMATION
LAN CARD
•IS A NETWORK INTERFACE
CARD. THIS IS A COMPUTER
CIRCUIT BOARD OR CARD
THAT IS INSTALLED IN A
COMPUTER SO THAT IT CAN
BE CONNECTED TO A
NETWORK.
ROUTER
• ROUTERS CONNECT A MODEM — LIKE
A FIBER, CABLE, OR DSL MODEM —
TO OTHER DEVICES TO ALLOW
COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THOSE
DEVICES AND THE INTERNET. MOST
ROUTERS, EVEN WIRELESS ROUTERS,
USUALLY FEATURE SEVERAL NETWORK
PORTS TO CONNECT NUMEROUS
DEVICES TO THE INTERNET
SIMULTANEOUSLY.
USB – UNIVERSAL SERIAL
BUS
•A HARDWARE INTERFACE
FOR LOW-SPEED PERIPHERALS
SUCH AS THE KEYBOARD,
MOUSE, JOYSTICK,
SCANNER, PRINTER AND
TELEPHONY DEVICES.
PERIPHERAL DEVICES
• A PERIPHERAL DEVICE IS AN INTERNAL
OR EXTERNAL DEVICE THAT CONNECTS
DIRECTLY TO A COMPUTER BUT DOES
NOT CONTRIBUTE TO THE COMPUTER'S
PRIMARY FUNCTION, SUCH AS
COMPUTING. IT HELPS END USERS
ACCESS AND USE THE FUNCTIONALITIES
OF A COMPUTER.
PRINTER
• IT IS A PIECE OF HARDWARE
THAT PRODUCES A PAPER COPY
(ALSO KNOWN AS
‘HARDCOPY’) OF THE
INFORMATION GENERATED BY
THE COMPUTER.
SCANNER
• IT IS AN INPUT DEVICE THAT
READ TEXT OR ILLUSTRATION
PRINTED ON PAPER, TRANSLATES
THE INFORMATION INTO A
FORM THAT A COMPUTER CAN
USE.
SPEAKER
• A DEVICE THAT CONVERTS
ANALOG AUDIO SIGNALS INTO
THE EQUIVALENT AIR
VIBRATIONS IN ORDER TO MAKE
AUDIBLE SOUND.
WEBCAM
• A DEVICE THAT CONVERTS
ANALOG AUDIO SIGNALS INTO
THE EQUIVALENT AIR
VIBRATIONS IN ORDER TO MAKE
AUDIBLE SOUND.