MEMORY MODULES

Two main types of industry-standard memory modules are used in laptops and portable computers today: SO-DIMM (small outline dual inline memory module) and Micro-DIMM (micro dual inline memory module). There are four main types of SO-DIMMs and two main types of Micro-DIMMs, with different sizes, speeds, and configurations available in each type (see Table 6.6). The SO-DIMM and Micro-DIMM form factors and pinouts are JEDEC standards, which means that they are industry standards, thus ensuring conformity, compatibility, and interchangeability among different systems and manufacturers.

SO-DIMMS
Most laptop and notebook computers use SO-DIMMs (small outline dual inline memory modules), which are basically smaller and more compact modules than the standard DIMMs used in desktop systems. Although they differ in form factor and pinout, as compared to standard DIMMs, SODIMMs perform the same function.

They allow for easy, modular memory installations and upgrades.

The modules are inserted into sockets in the system and can easily be installed or removed. As the name implies, SO-DIMMs have different pins on each side of the module, with the odd-numbered pins on the front and the even-numbered pins on the back. Special keying notches on either side allow the module to be inserted into the connector only in the proper orientation. The notches are normally offset in their space for voltage keying as well. A variety of SO-DIMMs are available for different system requirements. Because they are not all interchangeable, it is necessary to ensure you match the correct type for a given system.

MICRO-DIMMS
Micro-DIMMs (micro dual inline memory modules) are a newer and smaller type of memory module used mainly in subnotebooks, PDAs, and palmtop computers. As with all DIMMs, they have pins on both sides that perform different functions. The two main types of Micro-DIMMs are 144-pin and 172-pin. The 144-pin versions contain SDRAM (synchronous dynamic RAM) and are similar to 144-pin SO-DIMMs, whereas the 172-pin versions contain DDR (double data rate) SDRAM and are similar to 200-pin SO-DIMMs. The Micro-DIMMs are about half the size of the SO-DIMMs and yet offer similar capacities and performance.

MEMORY AND HARD DRIVE FORM FACTOR ON LAPTOP

A laptop computer is primarily intended to be portable. Below are some of the characteristic. Laptop Memory: A laptop memory or RAM has a much smaller size than a desktop memory which it is called SO-DIMM. It is roughly half the size of the regular RAM use in the desktop but has the same function which are for accessing a data quickly and store data temporarily. There are many type of laptop RAM which continues to improve over the years. This are some of it :

SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory)

It has a synchronous interface which it waits for a clock pulse from the computer system and processor before transfering data. Notebook SDRAM modules are usually 144-pin SO-DIMMs which is the first laptop generation.

DDR SDRAM (DDR stands for Double Data Rate)

It sends and receives data twice as often as SDRAM. This is achieved by transferring data on both the rising edge and the falling edge of a clock cycle with a speed of 400Mhz. DDR memory usually comes in the form of a 200-pin DDR SO-DIMM. But Second generation DDR memory provides greater speed than the first which is 800Mhz and works on a voltage of 1.8V instead of the 2.5V used by DDR memory modules, DDR2 consumes less power than its predecessor, helping to extend notebook battery life. DDR2 memory modules are 240-pin DDR2 SO-DIMMs.

DDR First Generation(DDR1) Generation(DDR2)

DDR Second

DDR SDRAM (DDR stands for Double Data Rate)

The latest generation of DDR SDRAM is the DDR3 SDRAM. It has the ability to transfer twice the rate than the previous generation of RAM and has a high clock speed which are 1060Mhz and 1300Mhz. It is the standard RAM for todays laptop because of its low cost and has better speed and low power compsumption. It uses 204-pin DDR3 SO-DIMM

DDR3 SO-DIMM (204 pins)

Laptop Hard Disk:

Small form factor A desktop computer has 3.5-inch drives, whereas a notebook computer, on the other hand, has a smaller 2.5-inch or 1.8-inch notebook hard drive. 1.8 hard drives are mainly installed and used in ultra-portable notebooks.

Low power consumption

Like other notebook components, hard drive is specifically designed for reduced power consumption. The average operating power consumption of a 7,200 RPM 3.5-inch internal hard drive currently exceeds 10 watts. A typical 7200 RPM notebook hard drive consumes about 2 watts by comparison.

Silent operation

Notebook hard drives spin at speeds of up to 5,400 RPM and even 7,200 RPM, the noise-reduction technologies employed in current hard drives mean that hard drives can run quetly. Enhanced Reliability Notebook computers are often moved from one place to another. To this end, enhanced vibration and shock protection are important for laptop hard drives. A typical notebook computer hard drive can take more than double the shock/vibration to that of a desktop hard drive.

LAPTOP PERIPHERALS
Docking Station: Provides a simplified way of plugging in an electronic device from a laptop to common peripherals. A dock can allow some laptop computers to become a substitute for a desktop computer, without sacrificing the mobile computing functionality of the machine.

PORT REPLICATORS
The port replicator shown here has an extensive array of connectors, including two PS/2 connectors (for a keyboard and mouse), one RJ-11 phone-line connector, one RJ-45 network connector, two USB ports, two video connectors (standard RGB and DVI [Digital Video Interface]), and IEEE 1394 (FireWire), parallel, and serial connectors. As its name suggests, the main function of a port replicator is to duplicate the connectors already available on the back panel of a notebook computer. In most cases, the port replicator also provides additional connectors that were left off the notebook either to save weight, lower costs, or reserve room for another component. These additional connectors may include a network adapter, extra USB connectors, and various video and sound connectors.

In a typical configuration, a port replicator may have an AC adapter, a mouse, a printer, a LAN cable, and a phone line connected to it. To connect to these five different devices, all a notebook user has to do is snap the notebook into the port replicator, thus saving considerable time.

Conversely, before going out on the road, all the user needs to do is push a button or a lever to undock the notebook from the port replicator.
The actual connection process is more complicated than it sounds. The port replicator usually has two or three plastic pins that mate with corresponding holes on the notebook.

These pins ensure that the port replicator's large connection plug will line up exactly with the socket on the notebook. This connector has dozens of pins or lines and is capable of handling all the signals involved with all the connectors on the port replicator.

Once the notebook has been fully inserted into the port replicator, a ratchet usually engages to hold the notebook in place, causing the characteristic snapping sound.
Many port replicators include a network interface. At one time this was an important feature for port replicators, often being the primary justification for purchasing one of these devices. Now, however, with most notebook computers coming standard with either a wired or wireless LAN interface, the importance of having a LAN interface in the port replicator has declined

LAPTOP PORTS
Display Ports: The interface is primarily used to connect a video source to a display device such as a computer monitor, though it can also be used to transmit audio, USB, and other forms of data. It has a VGA display port and the latest is the HDMI display which allow the connection between the laptop and a high resolution monitor or television.

VGA Port

HDMI Port

E-SATA: Uses for attaching an external hard drive and also has a high transfer rate than using a USB port.

Ethernet (RJ-45): Use to connect to the internet via cables if the laptop does not have Wireless connection devices.

Kensingston Lock Slot:

Allow to use a special security cable to hook your laptop physically to an

immovable object to prevent theft.

LAPTOP EXPANSION SLOT

There are three type of expansion slot: Type I: These cards are 3.3 mm thick use for adding RAM ROM to notebook PC. Type II:These cards are 5.0 mm thicks used for modem, fax, SCSI and LAN cards. Type III: These cards are 10.5 mm thicks use for portable disk drives. The diiference between this PC card slot are its size to enable more or less one or more type of card.

PC CARDS (PCMCIA)
Modern PC Cards support a variety of applications; the functionality that can be added to a system through PC Card technology is enormous. Virtually any type of interface or adapter that can be added to a desktop system via ISA (industry standard architecture) or PCI (peripheral component interconnect) bus cards can also be added to a laptop or notebook system via PC Cards. The PC Card slots found in laptop and notebook systems enable you to add USB ports, FireWire ports, serial (RS-232) ports, parallel ports, fax/modems, cellular modems, Parallel or Serial ATA ports, SCSI adapters, wireless or wired network interface adapters, 1.8-inch hard drives, TV tuners, sound cards, GPS (global positioning satellite) receivers, and many other types of devices to your system. If your computer has PC Card slots that conform to the standards developed by the PCMCIA, you can insert any type of PC Card (built to the same standard) into your machine and expect it to be recognized and usable.

LAPTOP COMMUNICATION CONNECTION

There are many ways a laptop can connect to a devices or internet via wireless. Below are some of the examples. Bluetooth:

Use for wireless connection between devices to sent files or to print to a bluetooth
enabled printer without downloading a driver.

Infrared:

An electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength that only establish connection via

line of sight and any obstruction is going to distrupt communication. Cellular WAN: Provides wireless connectivity over long distances using cellular towers. Ethernet : It consist of diverse family of computer networking technologies that operates over local area networks (LANs). It defines a number of wiring and signaling standards for the physical layer, and network access at the Media Access Control (MAC)/Data Link Layer, and a common addressing format. Ethernet has been standardized as IEEE 802.3.

LAPTOP POWER AND ELECTRICAL INPUT DEVICES

The commonly and widely use laptop batteries nowadays is the Lithium-ion batteries. The advantages of Li-ion batteries are:

Light weight and have very good energy-weight ratios.

Long life spans and can last for several hundreds of re-charges. Do not suffer from the memory effect. Can be charged randomly and wont overheat if overcharged.

Memory effect, also known as battery effect, lazy battery effect or battery memory, is an effect observed in nickel cadmium rechargeable batteries that causes them to hold less charge. It describes one very specific situation in which certain NiCd batteries gradually lose their maximum energy capacity if they are repeatedly recharged after being only partially discharged.

BATTERIES
There are many different battery chemistries that come in various sizes and shapes. Battery chemistries can be compared by energy density and power density.

Energy density measures how much energy a battery can hold.

Power density measures how quickly the stored energy can be accessed, focusing on access in bursts, not prolonged runtime. Another common metric for battery comparison is rate of self-discharge, or how fast an unused battery reduces its storage charge.

NICKEL CADMIUM (NICD)

NiCd batteries are known for relatively low energy density, compared to batteries of other chemical makeup. Nickel-based batteries tend to develop a chemical memory that causes them to discharge very quickly once they reach a certain point. The memory forms more quickly when the battery is left in the charger for long periods of time or recharged frequently and not fully discharged on a regular basis.

NICKEL-METAL HYDRIDE
NiMH batteries dont develop as much of a memory as NiCd batteries and have a higher energy density.

LITHIUM-ION
Li-Ion batteries dont really suffer from a performance-affecting chemical memory. Their affliction come from the so-called digital memory that plagues the builtin gauges that monitor the charge left in the battery. This effect can also be observed in software gauges that read the batterys charge level.

The digital memory effect manifests itself as a sudden loss of power when the gauges register, says, 30 percent remaining capacity.

LITHIUM-POLYMER
Li-poly is an newer form of lithium-ion chemistry. The dry chemical makeup of the Li-poly cell allows the metal casing of the Liion cell to be replaced with the flexible casing without fear of leakage.

Li-poly doesnt quite match the energy density of Li-Ion, but the advantages make Li-poly the obvious choice over Li-ion in certain application.

ALKALINE AND LITHIUM PRIMARY BATTERIES

Nonrechargeable alkaline batteries have an extremely high energy density.

When use in power-hungry application, alkaline batteries cannot keep up with the draw on their power and quickly lose the ability to provide the energy requested.

LAPTOP LCD TECHNOLOGIES

LCD(Liquid Cystal Display) is use for display in notebook and other smaller computers As it consumes less energy and much thinner making it ideal use in portable devices.

Two commonly use LCD display:

Passive Matrix Display: Consists of a grid of conductors with pixels located evenly at each intersection in the grid. Current is sent across two conductors on the grid to control the light emitted through a given pixel element.

Active Matrix Display:

Has a transistor located at each pixel intersection, and the switching times are very fast which will provides better interactivity and smooth scrolling of text/images.

Different display resolutions widely used in notebook or portable computers is as

given below:
Standard 4:3 Aspect Ratio SVGA (Super Video Graphics Array): 800 x 600 XGA (Extended Graphics Array): 1024 x 768

SXGA (Super Extended Graphics Array): 1280 x 1024

SXGA+ (Super Extended Graphics Array+): 1400 x 1050 UXGA (Ultra Extended Graphics Array): 1600 x 1200 WUXGA (Wide Ultra Extended Graphics Array) 1920 x 1200 Resolutions higher than 1024 x 768 are used for display sizes of 14 inches or above. WUXGA 1920X1200 is best suited for HDTV. This is a wide screen display with aspect ratio of 16:9.

LAPTOP INPUT DEVICES

On laptop, a single button is to activate a few that makes a laptop more portable but can be use for many.

Funtion (Fn) keys:

Normally found on notebook computers to ensure a compact keyboard and allow the compact keyboard to provide functionality of a full sized keyboard. Touchpad: Use to position or move the cursor according to the finger movement.

Stylus/Digitizer:
A pointing and drawing shaped like a pen use with a digitizing tablet or touch screen.

TRACKPOINT II/III/IV
On October 20, 1992, IBM introduced a revolutionary new pointing device called TrackPoint II as an integrated feature of its ThinkPad 700 and 700C computers. Often referred to as a pointing stick device, TrackPoint II and its successors consist primarily of a small rubber cap that appears on the keyboard right above the B key, between the G and H keys (see Figure 13.13). The TrackPoint II was the first significant new pointing device since the mouse had been invented nearly 30 years earlier!

This device occupies no space on a desk, does not have to be adjusted for left-handed or right-handed use, has no moving parts to fail or become dirty, andmost importantlydoes not require you to move your hands from the home row to use it. This is an absolute boon for touch typists.

In its final production form, the TrackPoint consists of a small (usually red colored) silicone rubber knob nestled between the G, H, and B keys on the keyboard (see Figure 13.14). The primary and secondary mouse buttons are placed below the spacebar, where you can easily reach them with your thumbs without taking your hands off the keyboard.

TOUCH PADS
Cirque originated the touch pad (also called a track pad) pointing device in 1994. Cirque refers to its technology as the GlidePoint and has licensed the technology to other vendors, such as Alps Electric, which also uses the same term for its touch pads. The GlidePoint uses a flat, square pad that senses finger position through measuring body capacitance via a grid of electrodes under the surface. This is similar to the capacitance-sensitive elevator button controls you sometimes encounter in office buildings or hotels. When it is used on a portable computer's keyboard, the touch pad is mounted below the spacebar, and it detects pressure applied by your thumbs or fingers. An electrode grid under the pad converts finger pressure and movement into pointer movement. The entire outline of the finger contact region is sensed; then software calculates the center point. Several laptop and notebook manufacturers have licensed this technology from Cirque and have incorporated it into their portable systems. Touch pads are also integrated into a number of mid-range to high-end keyboards from many vendors. When used on a desktop keyboard, touch pads are often offset to the right side of the keyboard's typing area. Figure 13.16 shows the internal grid underneath the cover layer of a typical touchpad
.

Touch pads feature mouse buttons, although the user also can tap or doubletap on the touch pad's surface to activate an onscreen button located under the touch pad's cursor. Dragging and dropping is accomplished without touching the touch pad's buttons; just move the cursor to the object to be dragged, press down on the pad, hold while moving the cursor to the drop point, and release to drop the object. Some recent models also feature additional hot buttons with functions similar to those on hot-button keyboards.

LAPTOP PROCESSOR
The main difference between laptop and desktop processors is the clock frequency and the power consumption. Desktop processors are optimized for higher performance at the cost of large heat production and space. On contrast, laptop processors are optimized for smaller energy requirements the cost of lower clock frequency. Higher performance versions are also available for laptops that consume more power. The disadvantage of using higher performance processors is large heat production, and smaller battery backup time. Laptop processors typically use a surface-mount Micro-FCBGA (Flip Chip Ball Grid Array), or slot-mount form factor, while desktop processors use a socket-mount form factor. The main advantage is smaller space requirement. If mounted using FCBGA, the processor replacement requires special tools .

LAPTOP PROCESSOR
Laptop have less space , and thus, heat is a major concern. To help combat this heat problem, laptop processors are engineered with the following features :

- streamlined connection to the motherboard

- lower voltage and clock speeds - active sleep and slow down modes

STREAMLINED CONNECTION TO THE MOTHERBOARD

Laptop processors are generally either soldered directly to the motherboard or attached using the Micro-FCBGA (Flip Chip Ball Grid Array) standard, which uses balls instead of pins. In most cases, this means that the processors cannot be removed, meaning no processors upgrades are possible.

LOWER VOLTAGE AND CLOCK SPEEDS

Two ways to combat heat are to slow processor down (run it at lower speed) or give it less juice (run it at lower voltage). Again, performance will suffer compared to desktop processor, but lowering heat is the goal hear.

ACTIVE SLEEP AND SLOW DOWN MODES

Most laptops will run in a lower power state when on battery power, in an effort to extend the life of battery. This is known as processor throttling.

The motherboard work closely with the operating system to determine if the processor really needs to run at full speed.
If it doesnt, its slowed down to save energy and reduce heat. When more processing power is needed, the CPU is throttled back up.

The best features of many laptop processors is that they include built-in wireless networking. The most common processor is the Pentium M chip made by Intel.

The Pentium M chip consists of three separates components: The mobile Intel Express chipset, which is the graphics memory controller hub. The Intel/ PRO Wireless Network Connection, providing an integrated wireless LAN connection. The Intel Centrino chipset, which is the brain of the chipset, designed to run on lower power than the desktop processor.