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CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide

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Portable Computing Devices

All portable devices share certain features. For output, they use LCD screens,

although these vary from 20-inch behemoths to diminutive 10-inch displays.

Portable computing devices employ sound of varying quality, from bland

mono playback to fairly nice faux-surround reproductions. All of them run on

DC electricity stored in batteries when not plugged into an AC outlet.

NOTE Other portable devices, such as smartphones and tablets, run mobile

operating systems—such as Apple iOS on the iPad and iPhone—designed to

take advantage of small form factors and touchscreens. In practice (and on

the CompTIA A+ exams), such mobile devices differ a lot from classic

portable computers. While these devices get their own chapters later in the

book, it is worth being aware that mobility has encouraged a lot of innovation

in recent years and some of the resulting products do a really good job of

blurring the line between these categories.

When asked about portable computing devices, most folks describe the

traditional clamshell notebook computer, such as the one in Figure 23-1, with

built-in LCD monitor, keyboard, and input device (a touchpad, in this case).

The notebook is also called a portable or a laptop. All the terms are

synonymous. A typical laptop functions as a fully standalone computer, but

there are always trade-offs that come with portability. Common trade-offs are

price, weight, size, battery life, computing power, input devices, ports, drives,

support for hardware upgrades, storage capacity, durability, and the quality of

any warranty/support programs. Finding the right portable is easier if you can

figure out what it will be used for and narrow your search to only devices

with essential features and exclude those with unacceptable trade-offs.

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