If you use a desktop computer, you might already know that there isn't any single part called

the "computer." A computer is really a system of many parts working together. The physical
parts, which you can see and touch, are collectively calledhardware. (Software, on the other
hand, refers to the instructions, or programs, that tell the hardware what to do.)

The following illustration shows the most common hardware in a desktop computer system.
Your system might look a little different, but it probably has most of these parts. A laptop
computer has similar parts but combines them into a single, notebook-sized package.

Desktop computer system

Let's take a look at each of these parts.

System unit
The system unit is the core of a computer system. Usually it's a rectangular box placed on or
underneath your desk. Inside this box are many electronic components that process
information. The most important of these components is the central processing unit (CPU),
or microprocessor, which acts as the "brain" of your computer. Another component is random
access memory (RAM), which temporarily stores information that the CPU uses while the
computer is on. The information stored in RAM is erased when the computer is turned off.

Almost every other part of your computer connects to the system unit using cables. The cables
plug into specific ports(openings), typically on the back of the system unit. Hardware that is not
part of the system unit is sometimes called aperipheral device or device.
 System unit

Storage
Your computer has one or more disk drives—devices that store information on a metal or
plastic disk. The disk preserves the information even when your computer is turned off.

Hard disk drive

Your computer's hard disk drive stores information on a hard disk—a rigid platter or stack of
platters with a magnetic surface. Because hard disks can hold massive amounts of information,
they usually serve as your computer's primary means of storage, holding almost all of your
programs and files. The hard disk drive is normally located inside the system unit.

Hard disk drive

CD and DVD drives

Nearly all computers today come equipped with a CD or DVD drive, usually located on the front
of the system unit. CD drives use lasers to read (retrieve) data from a CD; many CD drives can
also write (record) data onto CDs. If you have a recordable disk drive, you can store copies of
your files on blank CDs. You can also use a CD drive to play music CDs on your computer.

CD
DVD drives can do everything that CD drives can, plus read DVDs. If you have a DVD drive, you
can watch movies on your computer. Many DVD drives can record data onto blank DVDs.

Tip

 If you have a recordable CD or DVD drive, periodically back up (copy) your important files to
CDs or DVDs. That way, if your hard disk ever fails, you won't lose your data.

Floppy disk drive

Floppy disk drives store information on floppy disks, also called floppies or diskettes.
Compared to CDs and DVDs, floppy disks can store only a small amount of data. They also
retrieve information more slowly and are more prone to damage. For these reasons, floppy disk
drives are less popular than they used to be, although some computers still include them.

Floppy disk
Why are these disks called "floppy" disks? The outside is made of hard plastic, but that's just
the sleeve. The disk inside is made of a thin, flexible vinyl material.

Mouse
A mouse is a small device used to point to and select items on your computer screen. Although
mice come in many shapes, the typical mouse does look a bit like an actual mouse. It's small,
oblong, and connected to the system unit by a long wire that resembles a tail. Some newer
mice are wireless.

Mouse
A mouse usually has two buttons: A primary button (usually the left button) and a secondary
button. Many mice also have a wheel between the two buttons, which allows you to scroll
smoothly through screens of information.

Mouse pointers
When you move the mouse with your hand, a pointer on your screen moves in the same
direction. (The pointer's appearance might change depending on where it's positioned on your
screen.) When you want to select an item, you point to the item and then click (press and
release) the primary button. Pointing and clicking with your mouse is the main way to interact
with your computer. For more information, see Using your mouse.

Keyboard
A keyboard is used mainly for typing text into your computer. Like the keyboard on a
typewriter, it has keys for letters and numbers, but it also has special keys:

 The function keys, found on the top row, perform different functions depending on where
they are used.
 The numeric keypad, located on the right side of most keyboards, allows you to enter
numbers quickly.
 The navigation keys, such as the arrow keys, allow you to move your position within a
document or webpage.

Keyboard
You can also use your keyboard to perform many of the same tasks you can perform with a
mouse. For more information, seeUsing your keyboard.

Monitor
A monitor displays information in visual form, using text and graphics. The portion of the
monitor that displays the information is called the screen. Like a television screen, a computer
screen can show still or moving pictures.

There are two basic types of monitors: CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors and the
newer LCD (liquid crystal display) monitors. Both types produce sharp images, but LCD monitors
have the advantage of being much thinner and lighter.

LCD monitor (left); CRT monitor

(right)

Printer
A printer transfers data from a computer onto paper. You don't need a printer to use your
computer, but having one allows you to print e-mail, cards, invitations, announcements, and
other material. Many people also like being able to print their own photos at home.

The two main types of printers are inkjet printers and laser printers. Inkjet printers are the
most popular printers for the home. They can print in black and white or in full color and can
produce high-quality photographs when used with special paper. Laser printers are faster and
generally better able to handle heavy use.
 Inkjet printer (left); laser
printer (right)

Speakers
Speakers are used to play sound. They can be built into the system unit or connected with
cables. Speakers allow you to listen to music and hear sound effects from your computer.

Computer speakers

Modem
To connect your computer to the Internet, you need a modem. A modem is a device that sends
and receives computer information over a telephone line or high-speed cable. Modems are
sometimes built into the system unit, but higher-speed modems are usually separate
components.

Cable modem
Input and Output Devices

The terms “input” and “output” are used both as verbs to describe the process of entering or
displaying the data, and as nouns referring to the data itself entered into or displayed by the
computer.

Below we discuss the variety of peripheral devices used for computer input and output.

Input Devices
Keyboard

Input Devices
Keyboard
Mouse
Touch pad
Track Ball
Other
Output Devices
CRT Monitor
Flat Panel Display
Ink Jet Printer
Laster Printer
Other
The computer keyboard is used to enter text information into the computer, as when you type
the contents of a report. The keyboard can also be used to type commands directing the
computer to perform certain actions. Commands are typically chosen from an on-screen menu
using a mouse, but there are often keyboard shortcuts for giving these same commands.

In addition to the keys of the main keyboard (used for typing text), keyboards usually also have
a numeric keypad (for entering numerical data efficiently), a bank of editing keys (used in text
editing operations), and a row of function keys along the top (to easily invoke certain program
functions). Laptop computers, which don’t have room for large keyboards, often include a “fn”
key so that other keys can perform double duty (such as having a numeric keypad function
embedded within the main keyboard keys).

Improper use or positioning of a keyboard can lead to repetitive-stress injuries. Some

ergonomic keyboards are designed with angled arrangements of keys and with built-in wrist
rests that can minimize your risk of RSIs.

Most keyboards attach to the PC via a PS/2 connector or USB port (newer). Older Macintosh
computers used an ABD connector, but for several years now all Mac keyboards have
connected using USB.

Pointing Devices
The graphical user interfaces (GUIs) in use today require some kind of device for positioning the
on-screen cursor. Typical pointing devices are: mouse, trackball, touch pad, trackpoint, graphics
tablet, joystick, and touch screen.

Pointing devices, such as a mouse, connected to the PC via a serial ports (old), PS/2 mouse port
(newer), or USB port (newest). Older Macs used ADB to connect their mice, but all recent Macs
use USB (usually to a USB port right on the USB keyboard).

Mouse
PC Keyboard (you have one in front of you that you can see for a closer look)
The mouse pointing device sits on your work surface and is moved with your hand. In older
mice, a ball in the bottom of the mouse rolls on the surface as you move the mouse, and
internal rollers sense the ball movement and transmit the information to the computer via the
cord of the mouse.

The newer optical mouse does not use a rolling ball, but instead uses a light and a small optical
sensor to detect the motion of the mouse by tracking a tiny image of the desk surface. Optical
mice avoid the problem of a dirty mouse ball, which causes regular mice to roll unsmoothly if
the mouse ball and internal rollers are not cleaned frequently.

A cordless or wireless mouse communicates with the computer via radio waves (often using
BlueTooth hardware and protocol) so that a cord is not needed (but such mice need internal
batteries).

A mouse also includes one or more buttons (and possibly a scroll wheel) to allow users to
interact with the GUI. The traditional PC mouse has two buttons, while the traditional
Macintosh mouse has one button. On either type of computer you can also use mice with three
or more buttons and a small scroll wheel (which can also usually be clicked like a button).

Touch pad

Two-button mouse with scroll wheel

Wireless Macintosh mouse

Most laptop computers today have a touch pad pointing device. You move the on-screen cursor
by sliding your finger along the surface of the touch pad. The buttons are located below the
pad, but most touch pads allow you to perform “mouse clicks” by tapping on the pad itself.
Touch pads have the advantage over mice that they take up much less room to use. They have
the advantage over trackballs (which were used on early laptops) that there are no moving
parts to get dirty and result in jumpy cursor control.

Touch pad of a PC laptop

Some sub-notebook computers (such as the IBM ThinkPad), which lack room for even a touch
pad, incorporate a trackpoint, a small rubber projection embedded between the keys of the
keyboard. The trackpoint acts like a little joystick that can be used to control the position of the
on-screen cursor.

Trackpoint
The trackball is sort of like an upside-down mouse, with the ball located on top. You use your
fingers to roll the trackball, and internal rollers (similar to what’s inside a mouse) sense the
motion which is transmitted to the computer. Trackballs have the advantage over mice in that
the body of the trackball remains stationary on your desk, so you don’t need as much room to
use the trackball. Early laptop computers often used trackballs (before superior touch pads
came along).

Trackballs have traditionally had the same problem as mice: dirty rollers can make their cursor
control jumpy and unsmooth. But there are modern optical trackballs that don’t have this
problem because their designs eliminate the rollers.

Joysticks

Trackball
Joysticks and other game controllers can also be connected to a computer as pointing devices.
They are generally used for playing games, and not for controlling the on-screen cursor in
productivity software.
Touch screen
Some computers, especially small hand-held PDAs, have touch sensitive display screens. The
user can make choices and press button images on the screen. You often use a stylus, which
you hold like a pen, to “write” on the surface of a small touch screen.

Graphics tablet

A graphics tablet consists of an electronic writing area and a special “pen” that works with it.
Graphics tablets allows artists to create graphical images with motions and actions similar to
using more traditional drawing tools. The pen of the graphics tablet is pressure sensitive, so
pressing harder or softer can result in brush strokes of different width (in an appropriate
graphics program).

Scanners
A scanner is a device that images a printed page or graphic by digitizing it, producing an image
made of tiny pixels of different brightness and color values which are represented numerically
and sent to the computer. Scanners scan graphics, but they can also scan pages of text which
are then run through OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software that identifies the individual
letter shapes and creates a text file of the page's contents.

Microphone
A microphone can be attached to a computer to record sound (usually through a sound card
input or circuitry built into the motherboard). The sound is digitized—turned into numbers that
represent the original analog sound waves—and stored in the computer to later processing and
playback.

MIDI Devices
MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a system designed to transmit information
between electronic musical instruments. A MIDI musical keyboard can be attached to a
computer and allow a performer to play music that is captured by the computer system as a
sequence of notes with the associated timing (instead of recording digitized sound waves).
Output Devices
CRT Monitor

The traditional output device of a personal computer has been the CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)
monitor. Just like a television set (an older one, anyway) the CRT monitor contains a large
cathode ray tube that uses an electron beam of varying strength to “paint” a picture onto the
color phosphorescent dots on the inside of the screen. CRT monitors are heavy and use more
electrical power than flat panel displays, but they are preferred by some graphic artists for their
accurate color rendition, and preferred by some gamers for faster response to rapidly changing
graphics.

Monitor screen size is measured diagonally across the screen, in inches. Not all of the screen
area may be usable for image display, so the viewable area is also specified. The resolution of
the monitor is the maximum number of pixels it can display horizontally and vertically (such as
800 x 600, or 1024 x 768, or 1600 x 1200). Most monitors can display several resolutions below
its maximum setting. Pixels (short for picture elements) are the small dots that make of the
image displayed on the screen. The spacing of the screen’s tiny phosphor dots is called the dot
pitch (dp), typically .28 or .26 (measured in millimeters). A screen with a smaller dot pitch
produces sharper images.

Your computer must produce a video signal that a monitor can display. This may be handled by
circuitry on the motherboard, but is usually handled by a video card in one of the computer’s
expansion slots; often the slot is a special one dedicated to video use, such as an AGP slot
(Accelerated Graphics Port). Video cards are also called video display adapters, and graphics
cards. Many video cards contain separate processors and dedicated video memory for
generating complex graphics quickly without burdening the CPU. These accelerated graphics
cards are loved by gamers.

Flat Panel Monitor

A flat panel display usually uses an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen to display output from
the computer. The LCD consists of several thin layers that polarize the light passing through
them. The polarization of one layer, containing long thin molecules called liquid crystals, can be
controlled electronically at each pixel, blocking varying amounts of the light to make a pixel
lighter or darker. Other types of flat panel technology exist (such as plasma displays) but LCDs
are most commonly used in computers, especially laptops.
Older LCDs had slow response times and low contrast, but active matrix LCD screens have a
transparent thin film transistor (TFT) controlling each pixel, so response, contrast, and viewing
angle are much improved.

Flat panel displays are much lighter and less bulky than CRT monitors, and they consume much
less power. They have been more expensive than CRTs in the past, but the price gap is
narrowing. You will see many more flat panels in the future.

As with CRTs, the display size of a flat panel is expressed in inches, and the resolution is the
number of pixels horizontally and vertically on the display.

Flat panel display (LCD)

For hardcopy (printed) output, you need some kind of printer attached to your computer (or
available over a network). The most common type of printer for home systems is the color ink
jet printer. These printers form the image on the page by spraying tiny droplets of ink from the
print head. The printer needs several colors of ink (cyan, yellow, magenta, and black) to make
color images. Some photo-quality ink jet printers have more colors of ink.

Ink jet printers are inexpensive, but the cost of consumables (ink cartridges and special paper)
make them costly to operate in the long run for many purposes.
Inkjet Printer
A laser printer produces good quality images by the same technology that photocopiers use. A
drum coated with photosensitive material is charged, then an image is written onto it by a laser
(or LEDs) which makes those areas lose the charge. The drum then rolls through toner (tiny
plastic particles of pigment) that are attracted to the charged areas of the drum. The toner is
then deposited onto the paper, and then fused into the paper with heat.

Most laser printers are monochrome (one color only, usually black), but more expensive laser
printers with multiple color toner cartridges can produce color output.
Laser printers are faster than ink jet printers. Their speed is rated in pages per minute (ppm).
Laser printers are more expensive than ink jets, but they are cheaper to run in the long term if
you just need good quality black & white pages.

Other Printers
Laser Printer
Multi-function printers are available that not only operate as a computer printer, but also
include the hardware needed to be a scanner, photocopier, and FAX machine as well.

Dot matrix printers use small electromagnetically activated pins in the print head, and an inked
ribbon, to produce images by impact. These printers are slow and noisy, and are not commonly
used for personal computers anymore (but they can print multi-layer forms, which neither ink
jet or laser printers can).

Sound Output
Computers also produce sound output, ranging from simple beeps alerting the user, to
impressive game sound effects, to concert quality music. The circuitry to produce sound may be
included on the motherboard, but high quality audio output from a PC usually requires a sound
card in one of the expansion slots, connected to a set of good quality external speakers or
headphones.

Multimedia is a term describing computer output that includes sound, text, graphics, movies,
and animation. A sound card is an example of a multimedia output device (as is a monitor that
can display graphics).