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Description of Portable PC Terms
Motherboard
This is the board through which all the other components of
the PC connect. A motherboard with cache memory will
increase system speed by 10-20%. However, most laptop CPUs
come with their own cache and do not require it from the
motherboard.
I/O
Input/Output ports. This includes serial, parallel, external
video and other connectors. The more types of ports you
have, the more choices your computer has for communicating
with other devices and computers.
CPU
The CPU is the brain of your computer. Most of the time,
your CPU is idle, so a faster CPU does not necessarily make
a faster computer. However, tasks involving multimedia
presentations can require a great deal of CPU power.
Memory
Also known as RAM. This is where the computer's CPU works on
problems. Having more RAM can give the largest increase in
system speed, unless you already have enough, in which case
adding more can be useless. How much is enough? Good
question. Here are some guidelines for Windows XP:
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Light word processing, infrequent Web browsing, email,
1-2 open applications at a time |
64MB |
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Complex word processing, Web browsing, spreadsheet,
business graphics, more than 3 open applications at a
time |
128MB |
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Page layout, illustration/graphics, complex spreadsheet,
statistical applications, light CAD/Modeling |
256MB |
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Photo/Video editing, complex CAD/Modeling |
512MB+ |
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