Datasheet

Chipset
If the CPU is the brain or the manager, then the chipset is the loyal, handpicked,
and highly skilled support staff. The devices in the
chipset, which must be care-
fully matched to the CPU by the laptop’s designers, are in charge of executing
the instructions put forth by the processor and determine the personality of the
hardware side of the hardware/software equation. In almost every design, laptop
processors and chipsets come from the same manufacturer; once again, the
biggest maker of both is Intel.
Input/Output
Where the motherboard stops, its input/output (I/O) ports and connectors
begin. Modern laptops offer faster and more flexible means of communication
than ever before, led by USB and WiFi.
Foraging for Hardware
You buy into a tradeoff with the purchase of a laptop: It’s unreasonable to plan
on opening the box to make changes or add parts. Everything has to be done
from the outside.
The good news, though, is that there is a huge selection of external enhance-
ments. I will divide those improvements into two classes: plug-ins and attach-
ments. Those two may sound like they’re the same, and they’re very similar. But
here’s the difference:
 Plug-ins slide into pockets, bays, and enclosed slots and travel with the
laptop. In most cases they’re locked into place with a latch or a screw.
(They’re still external to the innards of the case despite residing in their
own plastic cocoon.)
 Attachments hook up to connectors, ports, or make electronic communion
with wireless points of access including WiFi and infrared circuitry. Most
must be disconnected and put in your carrying case or suitcase (or left
behind) when you set out to travel.
Plug-ins
Modern laptops typically come with one or more bays to allow easy interchange,
replacement, or upgrade of certain components. They include the following:
 Memory compartment: Most machines come with a basic block of RAM
and let you install one or more additional modules into connectors, which
you access from the bottom of the case. (Most motherboard designs bal-
ance memory into an even number of
banks, which is why a design with
16 Part 1: The Laptop Computer
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