The external connectors coming out of a PC are an important concept to
understand.
If you've ever taken apart your PC,
you'll see that it has several external connectors out. These include USB ports,
Firewire ports, as well as
serial and parallel ports.
This article runs through some of the more common external
connectors you'll expect to find in a modern PC.
Read through this and you'll never be confused by those terms
again!
1. Universal
Serial Bus
The first and most important external connector out of a PC is the Universal Serial Bus (USB).
It is the most common and is used to connect to a wide variety of devices. These
include computer mice, keyboards, digital cameras, handhelds, external disk
drives, CD writers and DVD writers.
And let's not forget the humble flash drive. Millions of offices around the
world use this device with a computer's USB port to transfer documents daily.
2. IEEE 1394
(FireWire)
Another important external connector is IEEE 1394 (FireWire). Firewire is much
faster than USB and support a wide variety of products too. However, we do see
less Firewire products on the market right now. Some of the devices that do have
Firewire ports include camcorders, digital cameras and digital VHS players.
3. PC Card
Here's another important external connector - the PC Card. It was to be called
PCMCIA and is important for plugging in modules to laptop
and small PCs. PC Card based devices include storage cards, modem card, network
adapters and even sound adapters.
4. Ethernet Port
The Ethernet port is a critical external connector. Without this, you cannot
connect to a network from your PC (unless
you've gone wireless). I know that without my Ethernet port, I'm often
handicapped - and can't do work or surf the Net.
5. Sound Output Port
Some may argue that this is not a critical external connector. However, it is
important for plugging speakers to your PC and therefore needed for sound
production. I rate it as an common and important external connector too.
Conclusion
I've put up this article to help you learn more
about the more common external connectors coming out of PC. Hopefully,
this information will be of use to you when you set up a computer.
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