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.
