Mobile computing allows us to do work or play on the road, or in an airplane, using a computer. Mobile computing devices are usually very light to make them easy to carry. The most common mobile computers are laptops. They are called laptops because they sit on top of your lap while you work. Laptops usually come with:
· A LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen for a monitor
· A built-in keyboard
· A Touch Pad or Track Point for a mouse
· A battery so that it doesn’t need to be plugged in
· A CD-ROM Drive or a DVD-ROM drive
· A USB (Universal Serial Bus) port for USB devices
· Two or Three PC Card (or PCMCIA) slots for PC Card expansion devices
Some common PC Card devices are:
· Modems
· Network Interface Cards
· Hard Disks
The second most common type of mobile computer is called a PDA (or Personal Digital Assistant). The PDA is used to store appointments and telephone contact / address information. Because the PDA is not as powerful as the laptop it can be much smaller. Consequently, most PDAs can be held in your hand. This is the reason that PDAs are also called “hand helds”.
In between the laptop and the PDA is the notebook computer. It is usually lighter and even more portable than a laptop, but not small enough to fit in your hand.