Portable PCs
Chapter 14
Overview
• In this chapter, you will learn to
– Describe the many types of portable computing
devices available
– Enhance and upgrade portable PCs
– Troubleshoot portable PCs
Portable Computing Devices
What’s in a Name?
• What’s the difference between a
portable, a laptop, and a notebook?
– Nothing!
– There’s no industry standard for names
– However, most notebooks are laptops in the 8 ½ x
11-inch range
Desktop Replacements
• Typical laptops function
as a fully standalone PC
which may be considered
a desktop replacement
– Input devices
• Trackballs on early laptops
• IBM’s TrackPoint pencil
eraser-sized joystick in the
middle of the keyboard
• Touchpads
– LCD monitors
Desktop Extenders
• Desktop extenders
are portable
devices that are
not intended to
take the place of a
desktop
– Think of them as a
smaller, lighter, less
powerful laptop for
less intensive uses
PDAs
• Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) are
tiny, hand-held portable computing
devices
– Address book, personal notes, appointments, word
processors, image viewers
– Often use handwriting
recognition with a pen-style
stylus for pen-based computing
– Uses specialized OSs such as
Windows CE, PocketPC,
PalmOS, and Linux
– Made by Palm, Sony, Toshiba,
Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft
and other companies
HotSync & PDA
Memory
• HotSync
– You can easily
synchronize your data
on your PDA with your
office PC
– Just put it on your
cradle by the PC and
click the button to
synchronize
• PDA Memory
– Internal flash ROM of 1
MB or more
– Compact Flash cards
that are removable and
upgradable for
removable storage
needs
Enhance and Upgrade the Portable
PC
PC Cards
• PC Cards are commonly known as the
Personal Computer Memory Card
International Association (PCMCIA)
– Hot-swappable devices that perform every PC
function
– Easy to use, inexpensive, and convenient
PC Cards
• CardBus card is a 32-bit PC Card with a
special slot
– PCI bus mastering
– Can perform up to 8 functions compared with 2
functions for a regular PC card (such as a modem
and network card combined)
– Regular PC cards will work in a CardBus slot
– CardBus uses 3.3 volts of power – regular PC cards
use 5 volts
PC Cards
• Two levels of software drivers
– Socket services
• Device drivers that enable the system to detect when a PC
Card is inserted or removed, and provide necessary I/O to
the device
• Standardized and handled by the system BIOS
– Card services
• Recognize the function of a particular PC Card and provide
the specialized drivers required to make the card work
• Handled by Windows
• Accessed via PCMCIA option in Control Panel
PC Card Types
Limited-Function Ports
• All portable PCs and many PDAs come
with a variety of ports
–
–
–
–
VGA connection for hooking up an external monitor
PS/2 port for an external keyboard or mouse
Speaker ports
Built-in NICs and modems for network support
• All of these work the same as in desktop PCs
– Video ports
• Allow displaying the laptop LCD, the external monitor, a
projector, or a combination
– Extra function key (like the Control or Alt keys)
General-Purpose Ports
• USB ports
– Support up to 127 devices
– Usually most USB sharing is limited to 3 or 4
devices
– 12 Mbps throughput
– Maximum cable length of 5 meters only
– Due to electrical interference, it’s better to stay
around 2 meters maximum
• Hi-Speed USB
– Backwards compatible with regular USB
– 480 Mbps throughput
USB Configuration
• Ensure that the CMOS provides an IRQ
for USB ports
• Ensure that the operating system
supports USB
– All versions of Windows from Win95B and newer
(except for NT) support USB
• Always install
device drivers
before plugging
in a new USB
device
Port Replicators
• Port replicators are devices that plug
into a USB port and offer common PC
ports such as serial, parallel, network,
and PS/2
Docking Stations
• Easily gives laptops access to large
monitors, regular mice, network
connections, full size keyboards
• Provides an easy way to take your laptop
in and out of the office
• Basically a port replicator with extra
features such as a DVD drive or PC Card
slots
FireWire
• FireWire has faster transfer rates than
USB
– Uses a 6-pin powered connector that can provide
power to an attached device (like USB)
– Or a 4-pin unpowered connector
The Modular Laptop
The Modular Laptop
• The common components that can be
replaced or upgraded in a portable PC
are:
– RAM
• 72-pin or 144-pin SO-DIMMs
– Hard drives
• ATA drives in the 2.5-inch format dominate laptops
today
• Check for the proper settings (Cable Select, Master,
Slave) but otherwise the same as regular 3.5-inch drives
– Modular CPUs
• Just replace with a newer module from Intel or AMD
– Video cards
• Least standardized
Replacing RAM
• There’s no standard but you usually have
to unscrew or pop open a panel on the
underside of the portable
Modular Drives
• Laptop manufacturers may include
modular drives that may be swapped in
and out
–
–
–
–
CD-ROM
DVD-ROM
CD-R/W
Floppy disk drives
Managing and Maintaining
Portables
Maintenance
• Everything you normally do to maintain a
PC applies to portable PCs
–
–
–
–
–
–
Windows patches and Service Packs
Upgraded drivers
Check Disk
ScanDisk
Defragment
Disk Cleanup
Batteries
• Types of Batteries
– Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-Cd)
– Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH)
– Lithium Ion (Li-Ion)
Nickel-Cadmium
Batteries
• Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-Cd) batteries were
the first batteries commonly used in
mobile PCs
– Provide a steady voltage but subject to battery
memory problem
– Battery memory is the tendency of a Ni-Cd battery
to lose a significant amount of its recharge ability if
charged repeatedly without being totally
discharged
– To avoid this problem, these batteries had to be
discharged completely before each recharging
– Susceptible to self-discharge over time
Nickel Metal Hydride
• Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH) batteries
were the next generation of mobile PC
batteries
– Less susceptible to memory
problems and last longer
between recharges
– Still susceptible to heat
– Popular replacement for
Ni-CD systems
Lithium Ion
• Lithium Ion is the most common type of
battery used today
– Powerful and completely immune to memory
problems
– Built-in circuitry to prevent accidental overcharging
Other Portable Power
Sources
• Smart batteries tell the computer when
they need to be charged, conditioned, or
replaced
• Fuel cells are a promising new
technology that could power a laptop for
up to 40 hours before refilling
Battery Maintenance
• Batteries should be stored in a cool place
• Ni-Cd and Ni-MH batteries should be
conditioned by using a charger
• Battery contacts should be kept clean
using a little alcohol or dry cloth
• Used or old batteries should be recycled
Power Management
Power Management
• Power Management must
– Shut down unused devices selectively
– Define a maximum period of inactivity
– Shut down the entire system during longer periods
of inactivity
– Ready to restart if triggered by a wake-up event
– Sensitive to potential hazards like shutting down
the hard drive in the middle of a write operation
– Keep the system cost about the same
System Management
Mode
• System Management Mode (SMM) is a
set of features that enables the CPU to
slow down or stop its clock without
deleting the register information
– Stops the CPU and all of the peripherals
– Requires a specialized BIOS and OS
– To further power management capabilities, Intel
introduced Advanced Power Management (APM) in
1992 and Advanced Configuration and Power
Interface (ACPI) in 1996
Requirements for
APM/ACPI
• APM and ACPI require the following in
order to function properly
– An SMM-capable CPU
– APM-compliant BIOS
– Devices that will accept being shut off (“Energy
Star”)
– A system OS that knows how to request for the
shut down of a particular device
APM/ACPI Levels
• Full On
– No power management – everything running at full
power
• APM Enabled
– CPU and RAM running at full power
– Unused device may or may not be shut down
• APM Standby
– CPU is stopped
– RAM still stores all the programs
– All peripherals are shut down
• APM Suspend
– Everything is shut down or at its lowest powerconsumption
– Hibernation (stores everything in RAM on the hard drive
before powering down)
APM/ACPI
Configuration
• CMOS settings
• Windows
– Overrides CMOS
settings
– Display applet in
Control Panel
• SettingsAdvanced
Monitor tab
– Power Management
applet in Control Panel
Configuration of
APM/ACPI –Windows
Cleaning & Heat
• Cleaning
– Use a screen cleaner to
clean the LCD screen
(not a glass cleaner!)
– Compressed air to clean
out the keyboard and
PC Card sockets
• Heat
– Use power management
– Keep air space between
the bottom of the
laptop and the surface
it sits on
– Don’t use a keyboard
protector
– Listen for your fan
running a lot – if it is
allow your laptop to
cool off
Beyond A+
• Intel’s Centrino Technology
– Extremely low power
– Fast CPUs
– Integrated wireless networking
• ExpressCard
– Shorter than previous PC Cards
– Same width as a Type II card