COMPUTER HARDWARE

COMPUTER HARDWARE

Computer hardware is the collection of physical parts of a computer system. This includes the computer case, monitor, keyboard, and mouse. It also includes all the parts inside the computer case, such as the hard disk drive, motherboard, video card, and many others. Computer hardware is what you can physically touch and see.

A computer system consists of two major elements: hardware and software. Computer hardware is the collection of all the parts you can physically touch. Computer software, on the other hand, is not something you can touch. Software is a set of instructions for a computer to perform specific operations. You need both hardware and software for a computer system to work.

Some hardware components are easy to recognize, such as the computer case, keyboard, and monitor. However, there are many different types of hardware components.

Before looking at the various components, it is useful to distinguish between two different types of computers: desktop computers and laptop computers. A desktop computer consists of a computer case and a separate monitor, keyboard, and mouse. As the name suggests, this type of computer is typically placed on a desk and is not very portable.

A laptop computer has the same components but integrated into a single, portable unit.

While these two types of computers look quite different, they have the same general hardware components.

Hardware represents the physical and tangible components of a computer i.e. the components that can be seen and touched.

Examples of Hardware are following:

• Input devices -- keyboard, mouse etc.
• Output devices -- printer, monitor etc.
• Secondary storage devices -- Hard disk, CD, DVD etc.
• Internal components -- CPU, motherboard, RAM etc.

 Here are the main types of computer hardware that you can buy for your PC.

1. Hard drive - also called hard disk, it is the permanent storage space that stores all information and applications of the computer, retaining the space even when it is turned off.

2. Motherboard - Considered as the most important types of computer hardware. The motherboard houses the microprocessor, providing the necessary sockets and slots that connect to all other types of computer hardware. Thus the motherboard serves as the 'mediator', a channel that allows the components to work together and walk to each other, making it a whole and completely working unit.

3. RAM - short for Random Access Memory. It is the memory used to process applications. RAM is lost when the computer is turned off.

4. ROM - short for Read Only Memory. It serves as memory for storage of programs.

5. Storage Devices - External storage devices like CDs, DVDs, USB flash drives are important as removable storage devices that you can take from one personal computer to another.

6. Power Supply Unit (PSU) - this converts the AC power to low voltage DC power, integral for the internal components of the PC.

7. Sound Card - responsible for the PC's audio input and output, necessary for games, music and other multimedia programs.

8. Keyboard - an input device used to input text & characters by pressing the keys.

9. Mouse - pointing device that detects two-dimensional motion to the surface. Other pointing devices include the track ball, the touch pad and the touch screen.

10. Joystick - a gaming device with a handheld stick that pivots from left to right and up to down, detecting angles in two and three dimensions.

11. Image input devices - includes scanners and web cams, these devices are used to provide input of images, written text, handwriting, etc for digital use.

12. Image output devices - the printer, used to produce a physical and permanent text or graphic document.

13. Audio input devices - the microphone is used to record or provide input through sound conversion to electrical signals.

14. Audio output devices - headphones and speakers that allows you to hear the audio coming from the computer.

15. Monitor - the monitor is an electronic visual display that shows the graphical and textual information of the computer. There are may types of monitors, such as the CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), which is almost obsolete, the LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) which is the most common monitor used nowadays, and the touch screen display.