Knowing the Parts 2

1394 Port

IEEE1394 is a high speed serial bus like SCSI but has simple connections and hot-plugging capabilities like USB. The interface IEEE1394 has a bandwidth of 100-400 Mbits/sec and can handle up to 63 units on the same bus. IEEE1394 is also used in high-end digital equipment and should be marked “DV” for Digital Video port.

Infrared Port (IrDA)

The infrared (IrDA) communication port allows convenient wireless data communication with infrared -equipped devices or computers. This allows easy wireless synchronization with PDAs or mobile phones and even wireless printing to printers. If your office supports IrDA networking, you can have wireless connection to a network anywhere provided there is a direct line of sight to an IrDA node. Small offices can use IrDA technology to share a printer between several closely placed Notebook PCs and even send files to each other without a network.

USB Port (2.0/1.1)

The Universal Serial Bus is compatible with USB 2.0 or USB 1.1 devices such as keyboards, pointing devices, video cameras, modems, hard disk drives, printers, monitors, and scanners connected in a series up to 12Mbits/sec (USB 1.1) and 480Mbits/sec (USB 2.0). USB allows many devices to run simultaneously on a single computer, with peripherals such as USB keyboards and some newer monitors acting as additional plug-in sites or hubs. USB supports hot-swapping of devices so that peripherals can be connected or disconnected without restarting the computer.

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