Datasheet

Checking Out Basic Hardware
Your laptop is good to go all by itself. Okay, let me amend that slightly: You’ll
probably want to bring along an AC adapter to recharge the battery or run the
machine off wall current. But other than that, when it comes to basic functions,
it’s all in the box. See Figure 1-1.
Courtesy of Hewlett-Packard Company
From the beginning of time, or at least laptop time, the box has been built in
what designers call a
clamshell — two main components with a hinge at the
back and a latch at the front.
When you slide that latch and open that hinge, you have the following: the
upper part, which is the screen (nearly always a variation of a liquid crystal dis-
play, better known as an
LCD), and the lower part, which I call the . . . laptop
Touchpad-pointing device
Optical drive
Keyboard
Screen
Figure 1-1
2 Part 1: The Laptop Computer
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