What are 2 major reasons laptops are harder to repair?
Small form factor, and manufacturer specific components
What are the 2 most common types of laptop batteries?
Lithium Ion (Li-ion) and Lithium Ion Polymer (LiPo)
True or false: Charging a mobile device's battery has no effect on its capacity
False - It diminishes the battery over time
True or false: All laptops use the same type and style of battery
False - Batteries vary significantly laptop to laptop
How are laptop keyboards usually connected to the device?
A few screws and a single ribbon cable
What should be the 1st step in removing a keycap on a laptop?
Check the manufacturer’s instructions
Define SODIMM
Small Outline Dual Inline Memory Module, a small form factor RAM module
True or false: RAM is always easy to replace in mobile devices
False - In some devices the RAM module is soldered directly to the MOBO
Describe 4 traits of HDDs and their most common form factors
Least expensive, volatile memory (moving parts), high capacity, relatively slow, 2.5” or 3.5”
Describe 4 traits of SSDs and their most common form factors
Relatively expensive, non-volatile memory (no moving parts), lower theoretical capacity, fast, 2.5” or M.2
Name 2 benefits of M.2 over 2.5” SSDs
No cables, smaller form factor
List the 8 steps to install a new storage device in a laptop
1-Power off the device 2-Remove the battery 3-Allow time to discharge 4-Ground yourself 5-Remove the rear cover 6-Unscrew the fastening screws on the drive 7-Unplug and remove the device 8-Install the new device
What is the primary motivation for migrating from an HDD to an SSD
Significant speed increase
What are 3 ways one could migrate a drive
Installing a new OS and manually migrating (slowest), Imaging/Cloning the drive with software (faster), Drive-to-Drive imaging (fastest)
Briefly describe imaging a drive
A software takes a snapshot of the current state of the drive and creates an image file with all of the stored data and configurations including the OS, this image file can be installed on one or multiple new drives
What are 3 common connectivity options for laptops?
802.11 (Wi-Fi), PAN (Bluetooth), NFC (Near-field Communication)
What is 802.11 most useful for?
Connecting devices to WLAN networks and the internet
What is Bluetooth most useful for?
Connecting personal devices within 10m
What is NFC most useful for?
Short-distance networking (~4cm), data transfers, touchless authorizations
Define Biometrics
Using unique, identifiable, physical attributes of a user for authentication purposes
True or false: Biometrics are automatically detected and configured within the OS
False - Biometrics require additional configuration in OS