Portable Computing

1. Portable Computing Chapter 21

2. Overview In this chapter, you will learn how to Describe the many types of portable computing devices available Enhance and upgrade portable computers Manage and maintain portable computers Troubleshoot portable computers

3. Portable Computing Devices Getting the Right Sound Card

4. LCD Screens Major contributor to cost Most range from 12 inch to 17 inch Aspect ratio changing from 4:3 standard For comparison, 16:9 is standard for widescreen 16:10 is the standard for 17-inch LCD screen

5. LCD Screens (continued) Two types of finishes Matte Traditional standard Reduces glare Washes out a lot in bright light Hopeless in bright daylight High Gloss Relatively new Offers sharper contrast, richer colors, and wider viewing angles

6. A desktop replacement laptop can function as a fully standalone PC Can be used as a desktop replacement Input devices Trackballs on early laptops IBM’s TrackPoint—pencil eraser–sized joystick in the middle of the keyboard Touchpads Desktop Replacements

7. Desktop Extenders Desktop extenders are portable devices Not intended to take the place of a desktop Think of them as smaller, lighter, less-powerful laptops for less intensive use

8. Netbooks Netbooks fill the gap between PDAs and laptops Focused on low price and size Most have a 10.1” screen Powered by Intel Atom processors Long battery life Relatively lowperformance

9. PDAs and Smartphones Personal digital assistants (PDAs) Tiny, handheld portable computing devices Address book, personal notes, appointments, word processors, image viewers Often use handwriting recognition with a pen-style stylus for pen-based computing Use specialized OS such as PocketPC, PalmOS, or Android Made by Apple, HTC, RIM, Hewlett-Packard, and other companies Called smartphones when coupled with calling capabilities

10. PDA and Smartphone Features Sync Can synchronize data betweenPDA or smartphone and a PC Need to use specific software on the PC to make this happen Apple iTunes Windows Mobile Device Center PDA to PDA communication Older PDAs typically have IR ports Can transfer data (beam) between PDAs Newer devices use cellular and wireless networks to communicate just like other portable PCs

11. PDA and Smartphone Features (continued) Memory Internal flash memory of 1+ MB on older devices Newer devices have internal memory of 16+ GB for storing music, videos, and more Many support additional flash-media cards that are removable and upgradeable for removable storage needs SD cards common

12. Tablet PCs Combines handwriting benefits of PDAs with power of traditional laptops Classical Tablet PCs require a stylus to write or interact with menus, icons, and so on Acts like mouse in non-tablet-aware applications Some feature a touch screen, just like a PDA Some models offer pressure sensitivity

13. Form factors Convertibles offer the look andfeel of a laptop, but can transform into a flatcomputer Slates start as flatcomputers and stay that way Tablet PCs (continued)

14. Tablet PCs (continued) Applications can use digital ink to capture pen strokes Add annotations directly to the screen in Microsoft Office applications InkyBoard provides a virtual dry-erase board and keeps a digital copy of each board http://www.cfcassidy.com/inkyboard

15. Portable Computer Device Types

16. Lab – What’s in Your Class? It’s time for show and tell Survey the class to see what portable devices people have What do they use the devices for? What variations are there? What’s the most unusual device? Expect to see the gamut from laptops to netbooks to smartphones

17. Enhancement Options PC Cards Single-function ports General-purpose ports The modular laptop

18. PC Cards are commonly known as the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) Hot-swappable devices Easy to use, inexpensive, and convenient Two flavors: parallel and ExpressCard PC Cards

19. Parallel PC Cards 16-bit PC Cards 5-volt Cards can have one or two functions CardBus PC Cards 32-bit 3.3-volt Cards can have up to eight functions Slots support 16-bit PC Cards (not visa versa)

20. Sizes/Types Three sizes: Type I (thinnest), II, and III (thickest) Many laptops offer two Type-II slots that can also accommodate one Type-III card Parallel PC Card Types Type Length Width Thickness Typical Use Type I 85.6 mm 54 mm 3.3 mm Flash memory Type II 85.6 mm 54 mm 5.0 mm I/O (modem, NIC, etc.) Type III 85.6 mm 54 mm 10.5 mm Hard drives

21. ExpressCard ExpressCard High-performance serial PC Cards Connect to either the USB 2.0 bus (480 Mbps) or PCIe bus (2.5 Gbps) Many portable PCs have ExpressCard sockets today

22. Software Support for PC Cards Two levels of software drivers Socket services Device drivers that enable the system to detect when a PC Card is inserted or removed Provide necessary I/O to the device Standardized and handled by the system BIOS Card services Recognize the function of a particular PC Card and provide the specialized drivers required to make the card work Handled by Windows Accessed via PCMCIA option in Control Panel Only for parallel PC Cards ExpressCards require neither set of services

23. Limited-Function Ports • All portable PCs and many PDAs come with a variety of ports • Video connection(s) for hooking up an external monitor (VGA, DVI, HDMI) • PS/2 port for an external keyboard or mouse • Built-in NICs and modems for network support • All of these work the same as in desktop PCs • Video ports • External monitor, projector,or a combination of both • Speaker ports • Extra function key

24. Legacy ports RS-232, parallel USB, FireWire, andeSATA Work same as in PC Port replicators Plug into a single port Usually USB Offer common PC portssuch as serial, parallel, network, and PS/2 General-Purpose Ports

25. Docking Stations Gives laptops access to PC resources Large monitors, regular mice, network connections, and full-size keyboards Provides an easy way to take your laptop in and out of the office Almost always a proprietary port

26. Lab – Expanding the Laptop Examine a laptop and answer these questions What sort of expansion options does it have? Does it have a PC Card slot? What kind? What about single and multifunction ports? Does it have a proprietary connection for a docking station?

27. The Modular Laptop Newer laptops offer some part-swapping Get parts off the Web RAM Hard drives CPUs Video cards Optical drives Network cards

28. Replacing RAM Usually first replacement item Many portables have insufficient RAM Get the right kind for the laptop 72-pin SO-DIMM with SDRAM 144-pin SO-DIMM with SDRAM 200-pin SO-DIMM with DDR or DDR2 172-pin micro-DIMMs with DDR or DDR2 204-pin SO-DIMM with DDR3

29. No standard method You usually have to unscrew or pop open a panel on the underside of the portable Disconnect AC power and battery before installing Replacing RAM (continued)

30. Shared Memory Video subsystem “borrows” a portion of system memory Reduces cost of video cards Reduces amount of memory on the video card System RAM will report less RAM available Not shared as much as taken from OS Once taken, OS no longer has access to the RAM

31. Shared Memory (continued) Shared memory technologies TurboCache (NVIDIA) HyperMemory (ATI) You can make changes to shared memory settings in the system setup utility Adding more system RAM will increase overall performance

32. Lab – Adjusting Shared Memory How much RAM does the laptop have, according to Windows? Access the system setup utility to see how much RAM is reported to BIOS Find the options for shared memory Does it have any shared memory? If so, what can you do here? How much RAM can you dedicate to memory?

33. The Modular Laptop Common components that can be replaced or upgraded in a portable PC Hard drives 2.5-inch ATA drives most common Cable select often required Otherwise the same as regular 3.5-inch drives Modular CPUs Just replace with a newer module from Intel or AMD Video cards Least standardized

34. The Modular Laptop (continued) Common components that can be replaced or upgraded in a portable PC Modular Drives CD, DVD, and Blu-ray Disc Hot-swappable, though use the Hardware Removal Tool for safety Mobile NICs and Mini PCI Most laptops have dial-up modems and Ethernet Many also come with integrated wireless networking support Many devices can be toggled on and off with key combinations such as FN-F2

35. Mini PCI Support for NICs, Bluetooth, modems, audio, and hard drive controllers 32-bit, 33-MHz Supports bus mastering and DMA Can swap out for newer/improved components

36. Maintenance Everything you normally do to maintain a PC applies to portable PCs Windows patches and Service Packs Upgrading drivers Error-checking Defragmenting Disk Cleanup Plus there are other issues Batteries Power Management Cleaning and heat Protecting the portable from harm

37. Three types of commonly used batteries Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-Cd) Nickel-Metal Hydride (Ni-MH) Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) Batteries

38. Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-Cd) batteries First batteries commonly used in mobile PCs Battery memory is the tendency of a Ni-Cd battery to lose a significant amount of its recharge ability Conditioning charge cansometimes resolve battery memory problem At best, can only be recharged about 1000 times Toxic – dispose of at recycling centers Nickel-Cadmium Batteries

39. Nickel-Metal Hydride Nickel-Metal Hydride (Ni-MH) batteries Next generation of mobile PC batteries Less susceptible to memory problems and last longer between recharges Still susceptible to heat Popular replacement for Ni-Cd systems

40. Lithium Ion Lithium Ion batteries Most common type of battery used today Powerful Completely immune to memory problems Built-in circuitry to prevent accidental overcharging Systems designed only to use Li-Ion

41. Other Portable Power Sources Smart batteries Tell the computer when they need to be charged, conditioned, or replaced Can recalibrate smart batteries, so they remember full length of charge http://www.rm.com/Support/TechnicalArticle.asp?cref=TEC49012

42. Battery Maintenance Batteries should be stored in a cool place But not the freezer! Ni-Cd and Ni-MH batteries should be conditioned by using a special charger Battery contacts should be kept clean using a little alcohol or dry cloth Never handle a ruptured battery Check the MSDS for what to do in case of an emergency Used or old batteries should be recycled

43. Power Management All components on a portable draw power CPU RAM Drives Motherboard Key for power management is the hardware, BIOS, and OS working together to reduce power use SMM APM/ACPI

44. System Management Mode System Management Mode (SMM) Set of features that enables the CPU to slow down or stop its clock without deleting information Stops the CPU and all of the peripherals Requires a specialized BIOS and OS To further power management capabilities, Intel introduced Advanced Power Management (APM) in 1992 Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) in 1996

45. Requirements for APM/ACPI APM and ACPI require the following in order to function properly An SMM-capable CPU APM-compliant BIOS (so CPU can shut off peripherals) Devices that will accept being shut off (“Energy Star”) A system OS that knows how to request the shutdown of a particular device ACPI also supports hot-swappable devices

46. APM/ACPI Levels Full On No power management—everything running APM Enabled CPU and RAM running at full power Unused devices may or may not be shut down APM Standby CPU is stopped (can easily be restarted) RAM still stores all the programs All peripherals are shut down (but still loaded) APM Suspend Everything is shut down or at its lowest power-consumption Hibernation (stores everything in RAM on the hard drive before powering down)

47. APM/ACPI Configuration Windows Overrides CMOS settings Display applet in Control Panel Settings | Advanced | Monitor tab Power Management applet in Control Panel • CMOS settings

48. Configuration of APM/ACPI— Windows

49. Cleaning Keep it clean Use a screen cleaner to clean the LCD screen (not a glass cleaner) Use compressed air to clean out the keyboard and PC Card sockets Avoid moisture on keyboard

50. Dealing with Heat Heat can kill Use power management Keep air space between the bottom of the laptop and the surface it sits on Don’t use a keyboard protector Listen for fan running a lot or stopping Use on a hard surface, not a lap or pillow