Glossary

AC Adapter

A device which converts the AC voltage from a wall outlet to the DC voltage needed to power your notebook.

Active-Matrix Display

A type of technology for making ﬂat-panel displays which has a transistor or similar device for every pixel on the screen.

APM

Advanced Power Management.

Auto/Airline Adapter

A device which converts the DC voltage from an auto- mobile cigarette lighter or aircraft DC power outlet to the DC voltage needed to power your notebook.

BIOS

Basic Input-Output System. A program and set of default parameters stored in ROM which tests and operates your notebook when you turn it on until it loads your installed operating system from disk. Infor- mation from the BIOS is transferred to the installed operating system to provide it with information on the conﬁguration and status of the hardware.

Bit

An abbreviation for binary digit. A single piece of information which is either a one (1) or a zero (0).

bps

An abbreviation for bits per second. Used to describe data transfer rates.

Boot

To start-up a computer and load its operating system from disk, ROM or other storage media into RAM.

Bus

An electrical circuit which passes data between the CPU and the sub-assemblies inside your notebook.

Byte

8 bits of parallel binary information.

Cache Memory

A block of memory built into the micro-processor which is much faster to access than your system RAM and used in specially structured ways to make your overall data handling time faster.

G l o s s a r y

CardBus

A faster, 32-bit version of the PC Card interface which offers performance similar to the 32-bit PCI architecture.

CD-ROM

Compact disc read only memory. This is a form of digital data storage which is read optically with a laser rather than a magnetic head. A typical CD-ROM can contain about 600MB of data and is not subject to heads crashing into the surface and destroying the data when there is a failure nor to wear from reading.

CMOS RAM

Complementary metal oxide semiconductor random access memory. This is a technology for manufacturing random access memory which requires very low levels of power to operate.

COMM Port

Abbreviation for communication port. This is your serial interface connection.

Command

An instruction which you give your operating system. Example: run a particular application or format a ﬂoppy disk.

Conﬁguration

The combination of hardware and software that makes up your system and how it is allocated for use.

CRT

Cathode Ray Tube. A display device which uses a beam of electronic particles striking a luminescent screen. It produces a visual image by varying the position and intensity of the beam.

Data

The information a system stores and processes.

Direct current. A voltage or current that does not ﬂuctuate periodically with time.

Default Value

A pre programmed value to be used if you fail to set your own.

DIMM

Dual-in-line memory module.