Computer Peripheral Devices
Peripheral devices fall into three main categories:
Input devices, which send data to the computer.
Output devices, which receive data from the computer.
Input/output devices, such as storage devices.
1. Mouse is an input device that uses "point and click" technology to interact with a
computer.
2. Keyboard is one of the most common input devices that is used to enter letters,
numbers, and other symbols to give the computer with information and instruction.
3. Webcam is an input device most often used to enable people to see each other when
communicating over the internet, or for recording video blogs, or other videos.
4. Microphones are audio input devices. The microphone feeds a sound signal to the
computer, where it can be recorded, or streamed across the internet.
5. Joystick is an input device that is often used to control video games, and usually have
one or more push-buttons whose state can also be read by the computer.
6. Scanner is an input device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting or an
object and converts it to a digital image.
7. Monitor is an output device that enables users to interact with a computer more
easily. The monitor essentially displays a signal sent by the computer in a visual
format.
8. Speaker is another common type of output device used to play music and movies.
9. Projector is an optical output device that "project" still or moving images onto a
screen, blank wall, or other surface.
10.Printer is another common form of output device used to generate hard copies of
electronic data stored on a computer, most often text or images onto paper.
Computer System Specifications
Computer system specifications are technical descriptions of the computer's
components and capabilities. Decisions on hardware specification are often driven by the
minimum hardware required to run specific software. In broad terms, the performance of a
computer depends on four factors: the speed and architecture of its processor or "central
processing unit" (CPU), how much random-access memory (RAM) it has, its graphics system,
and its internal hard drive speed and capacity.
1. PROCESSOR SPEED & ARCHITECTURE
The speed of a computer's processor chip is measured in gigahertz (GHz). For most
computing tasks -- including web browsing, sending e-mails, word processing and spreadsheet
work -- any processor running at 1GHz or more remains perfectly sufficient.
2. RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM)
RAM -- or "random access memory" -- is the temporary storage space that a computer
loads software applications and user data into when it is running. To a large extent, the more
RAM a computer has the faster and more effectively it will operate.
3. GRAPHICS SYSTEM (VIDEO CARD)
A computer's graphics system determines how well it can work with visual output.
Graphics systems can either be integrated into a computer's motherboard, or plugged into the
motherboard as a separate "video card". Graphics systems integrated into the motherboard
(also known as "onboard graphics") are now quite powerful, and sufficient for handling the
requirements of most software applications aside from games playing, 3D modelling, and
some forms of video editing.
4. HARD DRIVE SPEED AND CAPACITY
Hard disk drives are the high capacity storage devices inside a computer from which
software and user data are loaded. Like most other modern storage devices, the capacity of
the one or more internal hard disks inside a computer is measured in gigabytes (GB), as
detailed on the storage page.
Two key factors determine the speed of Hard Drive:
1. Rotational velocity - The faster the disk spins, the quicker data can be read from or
written to it, hence the faster the disk the better. Most desktop hard disks run at either
5400 or 7200 rpm, while most laptop hard disks run at 4200 or 5400.
2. Interface used to connect it to the computer's motherboard
Types of Interfaces
a. SATA - the most modern and commonly used on new PCs
b. IDE (also known as UDMA) - which is a slower and older form of interface
c. SCSI - the oldest but in it most modern variant is still the fastest disk interface
standard
