In windows, apm/acpi settings can be found in the control panel applet _______________.

In this chapter, you will learn how to

• Describe the many types of portable computing devices available

• Explain ways to expand portable computers

• Manage and maintain portable computers

• Upgrade and repair portable computers

• Troubleshoot portable computers

There are times when the walls close in, when you need a change of scenery to get that elusive spark that inspires greatness...or sometimes you just need to get away from your coworkers for a few hours because they're driving you nuts! For many occupations, that's difficult to do. You need access to your documents and spreadsheets; you can't function without e-mail or the Internet. In short, you need a computer to get your job done.

Portable computing devices combine mobility with accessibility to bring you the best of both worlds;portables enable you to take some or even all of your computing capabilities with you when you go. Featuring all the bells and whistles of a desktop system, many portables offer a seamless transition from desk to cafe table.

This chapter looks at the classic portable computer, essentially a desktop transformed into a mobile format. While classic portables usually run Windows, Mac OS X, or some flavor of Linux, operating systems based on Linux-like Chrome OS-can also be found on portable computers.

Other portable devices, such as smartphones and tablets, run mobile operating systems such as Apple iOS on the iPad and iPhone-designed to take advantage of small form factors and touch screens. In practice (and on the CompTIA A+ exams), such mobile devices differ a lot from classic portable computers. While these devices get their own chapters later in the book, it is worth being aware that mobility has encouraged a lot of innovation in recent years and some of the resulting products do a really good job of blurring the line between these categories.

Historical/Conceptual

Portable Computing Devices

All portable devices share certain features_ For output, they use LCD screens, although these vary from 20-inch behemoths to diminutive 10-inch displays. Portable computing devices employ sound of varying quality, from bland mono playback to fairly nice faux surround reproductions. All of them run on DC electricity stored in batteries when not plugged into an AC outlet_

When asked about portable computing devices, most folks describe the traditional clamshell notebook computer, such as the one in Figure 24-1, with built-in LCD monitor, keyboard, and input device (a touchpad, in this case). The notebook is also called a portable or a laptop- All the terms are synonymous. A typical laptop functions as a fully standalone computer, potentially even replacing the desktop- The one in Figure 24-1, for example, has all of the features you expect a modern computer to have, such as a fast CPU, lots of RAM, a high-capacity hard drive, an optical drive, and an adequate sound system. Attach it to a network and you can browse the Inter net and send e-mail.

Taxonomy

The rampant experimentation and innovation within the mobile and portable device categories in recent years (driven in part by the evolution of Windows as a combined desktop/mobile device OS) has introduced new device categories, made others obsolete, and continued blurring the lines between them. Let's take a look at some of the terms used to describe these devices and put them in context. Keep in mind that, because these categories can be slippery, you shouldn't think of them as mutually exclusive. Sometimes more than one of these terms can be applied to a single device.

Desktop Replacements

A desktop replacement features a massive screen, a full-size keyboard, an optical drive (or maybe two), and plenty of hard drive space (see the portable on the left in Figure 24-2). Considering that it weighs almost as much as a mini-tower (or at least it feels like it does when I'm lugging it through the airport! ), such a portable can be considered a desktop replacement because it does everything most people want to do with a desktop and doesn't compromise on performance just to make the laptop a few pounds lighter or the battery last an extra hour.Think power first, portability second. The current sweet spot for desktop replacements is a 15- to 17-inch monitor with 16+ GB of memory and either dual 1- to 2-TB HDDs or a single 512-GB to 1-TB SSD. Dedicated graphics are a must.Desktop replacements run the latest Intel high-end mobile processors and, of course, Windows 10 Pro. Such perfection in computing in a sub-8-pound format doesn't come cheap, so the question that immediately arises is, why buy a desktop replacement? Desktop replacements appeal to a diverse group of users. Most obviously, dedicated road warriors need to do everything on the plane, on the train, and in the hotel room. Second, having a computer that can work well on the road and in the office is convenient. Finally, some folks just prefer the compactness of a laptop. You can, after all, put it out of sight when you're finished with it and not have to dedicate space to an equally powerful desktop computer. Gaming Laptops There's a lot of overlap between the broad category of desktop replacements and a popular subcategory: gaming laptops. Gaming laptops are an expensive compromise between the high requirements of the latest computer games and the ability to set up shop away from home. While they tend to have flashy designs that distinguish them from more reserved desktop replacements, it helps to look past the stylistics and realize that gaming laptops are purpose-built to replace desktop gaming rigs. They'll typically come loaded with the latest top-end processors, graphics cards, RAM, SSDs, and large, high-quality displays. They also tend to come with thoughtful touches like high-quality keyboards that are extensively customizable.

Subnotebooks

Unsurprisingly, the term subnotebook describes a portable computer that is smaller and lighter than a regular notebook or laptop- This distinction is becoming increasingly moot as more and more of the portable computer sales consist of devices that are technically subnotebooks_

Netbooks For a time, netbooks offered a lightweight computing platform with low cost and long battery life_ These machines usually had displays in the I 0-inch range, small hard drives, and CPUs geared more for minimal power usage than raw speed_ While you may find some netbooks still in use, the category is basically dead. It's worth realizing that even though the term netbook has fallen out of vogue, the need it met for highly portable computing is bigger than ever_ The netbook lives on in a few of the newer portable device categories we're about to discuss_ A prime example of the netbook is the ASUS Eee PC, shown in Figure 24-3 sitting on a full-sized laptop. This netbook has a 9-inch screen, a 1.6-GHz Intel Atom CPU, a small solid-state drive, and runs a customized Linux distribution. One distinguishing feature of these netbooks is the use of Intel's Atom processor. The Atom CPU is very useful for keeping power usage down but has much less computing power than its more power-hungry siblings. Therefore, most netbooks run lightweight operating systems better suited for their limited resources_

Chromebooks The most direct successor to the netbook is the Chromebook. Technically a Chromebook is just a portable computer running Google's Linux-based Chrome OS, but the majority of Chromebooks are light, inexpensive, relatively modest in computing power and storage, and on the small end of the laptop spectrum. Where netbooks had to make a lot of sacrifices to deliver an ultra-portable with an emphasis on e-mail and Web browsing, Chromebooks offer an experience focused on Web applications by making use of virtually unlimited data storage in the cloud and software as a service (SaaS) applications available over the Web. The rapid adoption of Chromebooks, especially in schools, is in many ways a story about just how far Web applications have come in the last several years.

Ultrabooks Thin, light, and powerful, Ultrabooks are as much about power and portability as they are about looks. Ultrabooks are for people who can't give up the power of high-end computers but can afford to pay more for a smaller package. Intel set up the Ultrabook specifications in 20 11, defining the form factor to use power-sipping Intel processors with integrated graphics. According to the most recent 2013 update, Ultrabooks have maximum dimensions (20 to 23 mm thick, depending on the size of the screen) and a minimum battery life (6 hours of HD video playback) .You won't find optical drives on these, and most use solid-state drives for storage. Ultrabooks reveal how the near-ubiquity of portable computers and the demanding expectations of consumers are driving the industry to marry form and function in lightweight, attractive, powerful portable computers that aren't a chore to carry, use, or keep charged. As such, most major laptop makers have at least a few Ultrabook models. Though many copy the thin-slice aesthetic of the MacBook Air (see Figure 24-4 for an example), some Ultrabooks come equipped with touchscreens and can also be used as tablets. We'll discuss these so-called convertibles later in this chapter. 2-in 1s

Today, devices marketed or sold as a 2-in-1 can be roughly understood as a touchscreen computer somewhere along the spectrum from laptop-and-tablet to tablet-and-laptop. Because this is a pretty large spectrum covering several form factors, there are a number of more specific terms floating around, each with its own slippery definition, much overlap among them, and plenty of misuse to keep everything clear as mud. First we'll take a look at the Microsoft Tablet PCs that pioneered the category, and then we'll take a look at two terms used to describe these devices today: hybrid, and convertible. NOTE You may run into a recent term, lap/et, which describes a hybrid device with a full desktop OS and laptop-level specs all in a tablet form factor.

Tablet PCs Microsoft started the Tablet PC initiative way back in 2001, defining the devices as fully featured portables running a tablet-aware version of Windows and using a stylus to interact directly with the screen_ Many Tablet PCs have come to market since then, fulfilling the needs of specific professions, notably medicine.

NOTE Tablet PC is a Microsoft term (though you'll rarely catch Microsoft using the term itself anymore) and is not the equivalent of a tablet such as the Apple iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab_ The latter devices derive from the mobile phone market. Chapters 25 and 26 cover mobile devices in detaiL

Instead of (or in addition to) a keyboard and mouse, Tablet PCs provide a screen that doubles as an input device_ With a special pen, called a stylus, you can actually write on the screen (see Figure 24-5)- Unlike some touchscreens, most Tablet PC screens are not pressure sensitive you have to use the stylus to write on the screen_ There are two main Tablet PC form factors: convertibles, which include a keyboard that you can fold out of the way, and states, which do away with the keyboard entirely.The convertible Tablet PC in Figure 24-5, for example, looks and functions just like the typical clamshell laptop shown back in Figure 24-1. But here it's shown with the screen rotated 180 degrees and snapped flat so it functions as a slate. Tablet PCs worked well when you had limited space or had to walk around and use a laptop. Anyone who has ever tried to type with one hand while walking around holding a laptop with the other will immediately appreciate the beauty of a Tablet PC. In this scenario, Tablet PCs were most effective when combined with applications designed to be used with a stylus instead of a keyboard_ An inventory control program, for example, might present drop-down lists and radio buttons to the user, making a stylus the perfect input tool.

Convertible Most of the time, the term convertible is used (much like it was in the preceding "Tablet PCs" section) to describe a laptop that uses one of several mechanisms to "convert" into something you can use like a tablet_ More specifically, you can find convertibles with completely removable screens that become standalone tablets (leaving behind any functionality or power that depends on hardware built into the keyboard portion of the device), and others that use one of a few hinge-based mechanisms:

• The laptop's hinges allow the screen to open all the way until it's flush with the bottom of the laptop, leaving the keyboard exposed on the underside of the tablet. • The laptop's hinge has a vertical or horizontal swivel mechanism so you can rotate the screen and leave it exposed when you close the lid. • The laptop has novel hinges that pop the screen up from a default tablet position and angle it toward the user, exposing a keyboard (usually a narrow one) underneath.

Hybrid A hybrid laptop/tablet is most often a device with a tablet form factor that is designed to integrate with a detachable keyboard (which may or may not come bundled with the device).Some of these keyboards may double as soft/pliable covers for the tablet (see Figure 24-6), while others are built more like a traditional keyboard in miniature. The line between a hybrid tablet that can attach to a separate hardware keyboard and a convertible laptop with a removable tablet screen can be hard to draw but focus on whether any functionality or power is lost when the tablet portion is used alone.If all you lose is a keyboard, it's a hybrid. NOTE Innovative portable form factors like those in the hybrid and convertible categories are often designed to be handled,rotated,flipped, and passed around.As a result,Windows now supports the automatic screen rotation tricks we've seen on smartphones and tablets for years. Anyone who has used a device like this for long knows that occasionally you'll run into problems with the automatic screen orientation sensor; see the troubleshooting section later in the chapter for fixes. 901

Input Devices

Portable computers come with a variety of input devices_ Most have a fully functional keyboard and a device to control the mouse pointer_

Keyboard Quirks

Laptop keyboards differ somewhat from those of desktop computers, primarily because manufacturers have to cram all the keys onto a smaller form factor. They use the QWERTY format, but manufacturers make choices with key size and placement of the non-alphabet characters. Almost every portable keyboard uses a Function (FN) key to enable some keys to perform an extra duty- Figure 24-7 compares a standard desktop keyboard with a large portable keyboard_ You'll note that the latter has no separate number pad on the right_ To use the number pad, you press the FN key (lower left in this case) to transform the (7, 8, 9), (U, I, 0), Q, K, L), and (M) keys into the (7, 8, 9), (4, 5, 6), (1, 2, 3), and (O) keys.

NOTE The FN key also enables you to toggle other features specific to a portable, such as GPS tracking or the keyboard backlight to save battery life_

Pointing Devices

Portables need a way to control your mouse pointer, but their smaller size requires manufacturers to come up with clever solutions. Beyond the built-in solutions, portables usually have USB ports and can use every type of pointing device you'd see on a desktop. Early portables used trackballs, often plugged in like a mouse and clipped to the side of the case. Other models with trackballs placed them in front of the keyboard at the edge of the case nearest the user, or behind the keyboard at the edge nearest the screen_

The next wave to hit the laptop market was IBM's TrackPoint device, a joystick the size of a pencil eraser, situated in the center of the keyboard (see Figure 24-8). With the TrackPoint, you can move the pointer around without taking your fingers away from the "home" typing position. You use a forefinger to push the joystick around, and then click or right-dick, using two buttons below the spacebar. This type of pointing device has since been licensed for use by other manufacturers, and it continues to appear on laptops today.

By far the most common laptop pomtmg device found today is the touchpad (see Figure 24-9)-a flat, touch-sensitive pad just in front of the keyboard . To operate a touchpad, you simply glide your finger across its surface to move the pointer, and tap the surface once or twice to single- or double-dick. You can also click by using buttons just below the pad. Most people get the hang of this technique after just a few minutes of practice. The main advantage of the touchpad over previous laptop pointing devices is that it uses no moving parts a fact that can really extend the life of a hard-working laptop.

Some manufacturers today include a multitouch touchpad that enables you to perform

gestures, or actions with multiple fingers, such as scrolling up and down or swiping to

another screen or desktop- The Multi-Touch trackpad on Apple's laptops pioneered such great improvements to the laptop-pointing-device experience that the lack of a mouse is no longer a handicap on many laptops. EXAM TIP In the past it was common to accidentally"use"a touchpad with your palm while typing,so you may find some devices with a hardware switch or FN key combination for disabling the touchpad.More recent touchpads are usually capable of detecting and ignoring accidental input like this on their own. Continuing the trend of mobile's influence on more traditional portables, a growing number of laptops now come equipped with a touchscreen like you would find on a smartphone or tablet, again relying heavily on gestures to enable users to fluidly perform complex actions_ In some cases these are otherwise very traditional laptops that happen to include a touchscreen, but in other cases they are devices that are intended to be used as both a tablet and a laptop- Webcams and Microphones

The ability to communicate with others through real-time video is such a common expectation of mobile and portable devices these days that most of these devices (including laptops) come equipped with some sort of front-facing video camera a webcam in the case of laptops and one or more built-in microphones. A single microphone may be suitable for picking up the user's voice, and additional microphones can help noise cancellation routines improve the audio quality- Even though most of us may just use the microphone in conjunction with the webcam, a growing number of programs support voice commands.Take Google, for example, which has ported its popular "Ok Google" functionality from its Google Now Android app to its full Chrome browser_ Any Chrome user on a system with a microphone, as long as they can live with letting Chrome listen in on them, can perform voice searches and other actions from anywhere within earshot (mic-shot?) of their device.

The downside of these input devices becoming ubiquitous is the security risk they pose. It might be bad enough if a nefarious hacker or government agency (from any country. _ _ ) managed to get malware into my computer to see everything I dick or type, but the risks are amplified if they can also hear and see anything going on near the device_ It's common enough for webcams to include a light that indicates when they're recording, but built-in microphones don't do the same_ In some cases, vulnerabilities allow the recording indicator to be disabled anyway. NOTE If you pay careful attention when you're visiting offices or in a place people with laptops congregate,you may see tape over someone's built-in webcam; risks like these are why. Display Types

Laptops come in a variety of sizes and at varying costs. One major contributor to the overall cost of a laptop is the size of the LCD screen_ Most laptops offer a range between

10.1-inch to 17.3-inch screens (measured diagonally), while a few offer just over 20-inch screens.

EXAM TIP Laptop LCDs are the same in almost every way as desktop LCDs with a TFT screen, an inverter (if using a CCFL backlight), and a backlight (CCFL or LED).You know all about these screens from Chapter 19,"Display Technologies:'Expect questions about laptop displays, but know that they're pretty much the same as desktop displays.The only major difference is that the LCD frame contains an antenna, and may contain a camera and microphone,but we'll discuss this later in the chapter. In the past, 4:3 aspect ratio screens were common, but these days it's hard to find one on anything but special-purpose or ruggedized laptops; almost all regular laptops come in one of two widescreen format ratios. Aspect ratio is the comparison of the screen width to the screen height, as you'll recall from Chapter 19. While widescreens can have varying aspect ratios, almost all of the screens you find in present-day laptops will be 16:9 or 16:10. Laptop LCD screens come in a variety of supported resolutions, described with acronyms such as XGA, WXGA, WSXGA, and more. The Win front of the letters indicates widescreen. Though the number of aspect ratios on new laptops has fallen quickly,you'll still find a few resolutions for each ratio, and you may find more resolutions in use on older systems. Laptop screens typically come with one of two types of finish: matte or high-gloss.

The matte finish was the industry standard for many years and offered a good trade-off between richness of colors and the reduction of glare. The better screens have a wide viewing angle and decent response time. The major drawback for matte-finished laptop screens is that they wash out a lot in bright light. Using such a laptop at an outdoor cafe, for example, is almost hopeless during daylight.

Manufacturers released high-gloss laptop screens in 2006, and they rapidly took over many store shelves. The high-gloss finish offers sharper contrast, richer colors, and wider viewing angles when compared to the matte screens. The drawback to the high-gloss screens is that, contrary to what the manufacturers' claim, they pick up lots of reflection from nearby objects, including the user! So although they're usable outside during the day, you'll need to contend with increased reflection as well. With the advent of LED backlighting for LCD panels, many manufacturers have switched back to an anti-glare screen, though they're not quite the matte screens of old. When the LED brightness is up high, these are lovely screens. (See the "Troubleshooting Portable Computers" section, later in this chapter, for issues specific to LED-backlit portables.) As with other LCD technologies that you'll recall from Chapter 19, most LCD/LED screens use twisted nematic (TN} technology. Some laptop screens use In-Plane Switching (JPS) panels for the greater viewing angle and better color quality. You'll mostly find IPS panels on higher-grade portables. What you will not find on portables are two other display technologies, plasma and organic light-emitting diode (OLED). Plasma displays demand a lot more electricity than LCDs demand and are completely inappropriate for portable devices. OLED screens sip energy when compared to LCDs, but they're still so expensive that you'll only find them on smartphones and tablets today. Chapter 25, "Mobile Devices," discusses OLED screen technology. EXAM TIP The CompTIA A+ 901 exam objectives refer to OLEO displays for laptops, but these don't exist_ You'll find OLEO displays on a few smartphones, but not on portable PCs, at least not at the time of this writing.

Extending Portable Computers

In the dark ages of mobile computing, you had to shell out top dollar for any device that would operate unplugged, and what you purchased was what you got. Upgrade a laptop? Connect to external devices? You had few if any options, so you simply paid for a device that would be way behind the technology curve within a year and functionally obsolete within two.

Portable computers today offer a few ways to enhance their capabilities. Most feature external ports that enable you to add completely new functions, such as attaching a scanner, mobile printer, or both. You can take advantage of the latest wireless technology breakthrough simply by slipping a card into the appropriate slot on the laptop-

I'll first describe single-function ports, and then turn to networking options_ Next, I'll cover card slots, and then finish with a discussion of general-purpose ports. Single-Function Ports

All portable computers come with one or more single-function ports. You'd have a hard time finding a portable computing device that doesn't have an audio port, for example. Laptops often provide a video port for hooking up an external monitor, though wireless screen sharing and screencasting are gaining popularity as an alternative.

Ports work the same way on portable computers as they do on desktop models. You plug in a device to a particular port and, as long as the operating system has the proper drivers, you will have a functioning device when you boot.

Audio

Portable computers have a standard 3.5-mm audio-out port and some have a similarly sized microphone-in port (see Figure 24-10), though built-in microphones are increasingly common_ You can plug in headphones, regular PC speakers, or even a nice surround sound set to enable the laptop to play music just as well as a desktop computer can.

You can control the sound (both out and in) through either the appropriate Control Panel applet in Windows, System Preferences in Mac OS X, or some kind of switches on

the laptop.The portable in Figure 24-11, for example, enables you to mute the speakers by pressing a special mute button above the keyboard. Other portables use a combination of the fn key and another key to toggle mute on and off, as well as to play, pause, fast-forward, and rewind audio (or any other media options). Most portables will have volume up/down controls in the same location.

Display

Most laptops support a second monitor via a digital port of some sort. There are many of these you may find HDMI (including Mini-HDMI and Micro-HDMI), Display Port (including USB Type-C and Thunderbolt), and DVI; on ancient or special-purpose portables, there's even a chance you may still find an analog VGA. With a second monitor attached, you can duplicate your screen to the new monitor, or extend your desktop across both displays, letting you move windows between them.Not all portables can do all variations, but they're more common than not. Most portables use the FN key plus another key on the keyboard to cycle through display options. Figure 24-12 shows a close-up of a typical keyboard with the FN key; note the other options you can access with the FN key, such as indicated on the F2 key. To engage the second monitor or to cycle through the modes, hold the FN key and press F2.

NOTE Although many laptops use the Function key method to cycle the monitor selections, that's not always the case.You might have to pop into the Display applet or System Preferences to click a checkbox. Just be assured that if the laptop has a video output port, you can cycle through monitor choices!

You can control how the external monitor displays through the Display applet in the Control Panel in Windows. (Other OSs have similar options_) Open Display and click on Change display settings (see Figure 24-13). On the Screen Resolution panel, click the drop-down arrow next to Multiple displays (see Figure 24-14). You'll see several options. Extend these displays makes your desktop encompass both the laptop and the external monitor. Duplicate these displays places the same thing on both displays.You'd use that for a presentation, for example, rather than for a workspace. The other two options shown in Figure 24-14 temporarily blank one or the other display

EXAMTIP The CompTIA A+ 901 exam objectives refer to multiple monitors as dual displays, though they can be in several modes

Smart Card Reader

It isn't really a port, but you'll find some portable computers-especially ones designed for and marketed to business users with a very thin slot the width of a credit card on one side or the other. No, it isn't an expansion or memory card slot it's a smart card reader. If you've seen a credit or debit card with a little metallic chip (see Figure 24-15), you've seen a smart card. While smart cards have tons of uses, what matters here is that you can log into a portable device (if it has a built-in or USB smart card reader) using your smart card and a PIN number.

Networking Options

It's a rare item to find a portable computer without at least one network connection option. Today's portables come with some combination 802.11, Bluetooth, or wired Ethernet connections. Generally they work exactly as you've seen in previous chapters, but you may stumble into a few issues that are unique to portables. 802.11 Wireless

Most portables today have Wi-Fi built directly into the chipset for connecting the device to a wireless access point (WAP) and from there to a bigger network, such as the Inter net. The 802.11b and 802.1lg standards are common on older laptops; newer portable computers use 802.lln or 802.llac.

NOTE While the newest portables are shipping with 802.11ac,be aware that, especially as portables are getting powerful enough to live longer useful lives, you may see a few previous standards built into devices in the wild.

Bluetooth

While not quite as ubiquitous as 802.11, most portables use Bluetooth as well. Bluetooth is really handy on a laptop because it gives you the ability to add wireless peripherals such as mice, keyboards, and headsets, as well as communicate with smartphones, speakers, and other Bluetooth devices.

Hardware Switches

Portable computers that come with wireless technologies such as 802.11, mobile broadband, GPS, or Bluetooth have some form of on/off switch to toggle the antenna off or on so that you may use the laptop in areas where emissions aren't allowed (like a commercial aircraft) .The switch may be hard-wired, like the one shown in Figure 24-16, or it may be a toggle of the FN key plus another key on the keyboard. Also, if you're not using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, turn them off to save electricity and lengthen the portable's battery life. EXAM TIP Hardware switches or specialFunction key toggles enable you to switch features on and off,such as wireless networking, cellular networking, and Bluetooth.Toggle them off when in a scenario where battery life takes priority over networking.

Wired Ethernet

Most full-size laptops have an RJ-45 wired Ethernet connection like the one shown in Figure 24-17. These work exactly like any other Ethernet jack they have link lights and connect via UTP cable. Be aware, however, that wired Ethernet is one of the things hybrids, Ultrabooks, and other smaller portables usually leave out..

There are two issues with RJ-45s on laptops. First, they do not have an on/off switch like the 802.11 and Bluetooth connections. You can turn them off just like you would turn off the NIC on a desktop: disable the NIC in Device Manager or turn the NIC off in BIOS.The other issue is the relative weakness of the physical connection. If you ever plug a laptop into a wired network and the OS doesn't see a connection, check the RJ-45 port. Portable-Specific Expansion Slots

The makers of portable computers have developed methods for you to add features to a portable via specialized connections known generically as expansion slots. For many years,

the Personal ComputerMemory Card International Association (PCM CIA) established standards involving portable computers, especially when it came to expansion cards and slots Once a common feature on laptops, these specialized expansion slots are almost impossible to find due to the dominance of USB. The last standard was called ExpressCard_

ExpressCard

ExpressCard comes in two widths: 34 mm and 54 mm, called ExpressCard/34 and ExpressCard/54. Figure 24-18 shows both ExpressCard varieties. Both cards are 75 mm long and 5 mm thick_

ExpressCards connect to either the USB 2_0 bus or the PCI Express bus. These differ phenomenally in speed. The amazingly slow-in-comparison USB version has a maximum throughput of 480 Mbps. The PCie version, in contrast, roars in at 2.5 Gbps in unidirectional communication_

Table 24-1 shows the throughput and variations for the parallel and serial PC Cards currently on the market_

PCMCIA announced ExpressCard 2.0 in 2009 with speeds up to 5 Gbps and support for SuperSpeed USB 3.0, and we expected to see devices roll out in 2010, but that's not what happened_ PCMCIA instead dissolved and shut its offices. The USB Implementer's Forum manages all ExpressCard standards, and there has been no further development. NOTE You may find ExpressCa rds that supposedly support USB 3.0.Wh ile technically these cards have USB 3.0 ports, they connect to the PCle bus and therefore aren't capable of true USB 3.0 speeds of up to 5 Gbps. Storage Card Slots

Many portable computers offer one or more flash-memory-card slots to enable you to add storage to the portable.These slots also enable the fast transfer of data from the card to the portable, and vice versa.They come in the standard varieties that you already know from Chapter 11, "Essential Peripherals," such as SD or Micro-SD. General-Purpose Ports

Portable computers rarely come with all of the hardware you want. Today's laptops usually include at least USB ports to give you the option to add more hardware. Some special-purpose laptops may still provide legacy general-purpose expansion ports (PS/2, RS-232 serial ports, and so on) for installing peripheral hardware, while other portables focus on more modern ports like Thunderbolt, eSATA, and FireWire. If you're lucky, you will have a docking station so you don't have to plug in all of your peripheral devices one at a time. USB,Thunderbolt, FireWire,and eSATA

Universal serial bus (USB), Thunderbolt, FireWire (or more properly, IEEE 1394), and eSATA enable users to connect a device while the PC is running you won't have to reboot the system to install a new peripheral. With USB, FireWire, and eSATA, just plug the device in and go! Because portable PCs don't have a desktop's multiple internal expansion capabilities, USB, Thunderbolt, FireWire, and eSATA are some of the more popular methods for attaching peripherals to laptops (see Figure 24- 19). NOTE The small device resting in a stand in Figure 24-19,a personal digital assistant (PDA), was a precursor to modern smartphones and tablets.You could view pictures, take notes,check a calendar,listen to music, and more on these devices_

Docking Stations

Dockingstationsofferlegacyandmodern single and multi-function ports (see Figure 24-20). The typical docking station uses a proprietary connection but has extra features built in, such as an optical drive or ExpressCard slot for extra enhancements. You can find docking stations for many older small laptops. A docking station makes an excellent companion to such portables.

USB Adapters

When you don't need access to a number of ports at once, you can often find a USB adapter for whatever you need to connect. There are tons of these things, but CompTIA wants you to know about a few in particular_ When it comes to drives or connectors that you need only occasionally, these adapters can enable you to use a much more portable device.

Two great examples of this are wired Ethernet and optical drives. I don't know about you, but I haven't spun up an optical disc in months, nor am I sure when I last opened my laptop within a few feet of a wired Ethernet connection. A USB to RJ-45 dongle and a USB optical drive can provide these features when and where I need them, leaving me a much smaller laptop to carry the rest of the time_

Another good use for USB adapters is updating connectivity support for older devices. A USB to Wi-Fi dongle or a USB Bluetooth adapter can let me update an old laptop to

802.1 lac, or add Bluetooth to a laptop that didn't come with it built in. EXAM TIP The 901 exam expects you to be familiar with USB to RJ-45 and USB to Wi-Fi dongles as well as USB to Bluetooth, USB to optical drive,and USB to Ethernet adapters_

Managing and Maintaining Portable Computers

Most portables come from the factory fully assembled and configured. From a tech's standpoint, your most common work on managing and maintaining portables involves taking care of the batteries and extending the battery life through proper power management, keeping the machine clean, and avoiding excessive heat. Everything you normally do to maintain a computer applies to portable computers. You need to keep current on OS updates and use stable, recent drivers. Use appropriate tools to monitor the health of your storage drives and clean up unwanted files. That said, let's look at issues specifically involving portables. Batteries

Manufacturers over the years have used a few types of batteries for portable computers: Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-Cd), Nickel-Metal Hydride (Ni-MH), and Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion}. Today, only Li-Ion is used because that battery chemistry provides the highest energy density for the weight and has few problems with external factors.

Lithium-Ion

Li-Ion batteries are powerful, and last much longer than the Ni-MH and Ni-Cd ones we used in the 1990s. If Li-Ion batteries have a downside, it's that they will explode if overcharged or punctured, so all Li-Ion batteries have built-in circuitry to prevent accidental overcharging.Lithium batteries can only be used on systems designed to use them. They can't be used as replacement batteries to keep that retro laptop from 1998 going. Figure 24-21 shows a typical Li-Ion battery.

NOTE Lithium polymer (UPO) batteries area variation of Li-Ion that places the heart of the battery-the electrolyte into a solid polymer shape rather than

an organic solvent.This enables the batteries to take on unusual forms beyond the simple cylinder or rectangle shapes. LiPO batteries haven't replaced Li-Ion in most portables (with the Apple MacBook an exception), but they are used a lot in smaller electronics such as tablets, smartphones, and portable media players. The Care and Feeding of Batteries

In general, keep in mind the following basics. First, always store batteries in a cool place. Although a freezer might seem like an excellent storage place, the moisture, extreme freezing cold, metal racks, and food make it a bad idea. Second, keep the battery charged, at least to 70-80 percent. Third, never drain a battery all the way down unless required to do so as part of a battery calibration (where you, in essence, reset the battery according to steps provided by the manufacturer) . Rechargeable batteries have only a limited number of charge-discharge cycles before overall battery performance is reduced_ Fourth, never handle a battery that has ruptured or broken; battery chemicals are very dangerous and flammable (check YouTube for videos of what happens when you puncture a Li-Ion or LiPO battery). Finally, always recycle old batteries_

Recycling Old Portable PC Batteries

Got an old portable PC battery lying around? Well, you need to get rid of it, and there are some pretty nasty chemicals in that battery, so you can't just throw it in the trash. Sooner or later, you'll probably need to deal with such a battery, so Try This! 1. Do an online search to find the battery recycling center nearest to you_ Electronics retailers are getting much better about accepting a wide array of e-waste, including batteries, though they often place quantity limits.

2.

Sometimes, you can take old laptop batteries to an auto parts store that disposes of old car batteries-I know it sounds odd, but it's true! See if you can find one in your area that will do this.

Many cities offer a hazardous materials disposal or recycling service_ Check to see if and how your local government will help you dispose of your old batteries.

Power Management

Many different parts are included in the typical laptop, and each part uses power. The problem with early laptops was that every one of these parts used power continuously, whether or not the system needed the device at that time. For example, the hard drive continued to spin even when it was not being accessed, the CPU ran at full speed even when the system was doing light work, and the LCD panel continued to display even when the user walked away from the machine_

The optimal situation would be a system where the computer shuts down unused devices selectively, preferably by defining a maximum period of inactivity that, when reached, would trigger the system to shut down the inactive device. Longer periods of inactivity

would eventually enable the entire system to shut itself down, leaving critical information loaded in RAM,ready to restart if wake-up event (such as moving the mouse or pressing a key) told the system to resume.The system would have to be sensitive to potential hazards, such as shutting down in the middle of writing to a drive, and so on. Also, this feature could not add significantly to the cost of the computer. Clearly, a machine that could perform these functions would need specialized hardware and a specialized BIOS and operating system to operate properly. This process of cooperation among the hardware, the BIOS, and the OS to reduce power use is known generically as power management.

System Management Mode

Intel began the process of power management with a series of new features built into the 386SX CPU.These new features enabled the CPU to slow down or stop its clock without erasing the register information, as well as enabling power saving in peripherals.These features were collectively called System Management Mode (SMM). All modern CPUs have SMM. Although a power-saving CPU was okay, power management was relegated to special "sleep" or "doze" buttons that would stop the CPU and all of the peripherals on the laptop. To take real advantage of SMM, the system needed a specialized BIOS and OS to go with the SMM CPU. To this end, Intel put forward the Advanced Power Management (APM) specification in 1992 and the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) standard in 1996.

Requirements for APM/ACPI

To function fully, APM and ACPI require a number of items. First, they require an

$MM-capable CPU. As virtually all CPUs are $MM-capable, this is easy. Second, they need an APM-compliant BIOS that enables the CPU to shut off the peripherals when desired. The third requirement is devices that will accept being shut off. These devices are usually called Energy Star devices, which signals their compliance with the EPA's Energy Star standard.To be an Energy Star device, a peripheral must be able to shut down without actually turning off and show that it uses much less power than the non-Energy Star equivalent. Last, the system's OS must know how to request that a particular device be shut down, and the CPU's clock must be slowed down or stopped. ACPI goes beyond the APM standard by supplying support for hot-swappable devices-always a huge problem with APM.This feature aside, it is a challenge to tell the difference between an APM system and an ACPI system at first glance.

NOTE Don't limit your perception of APM, ACPI,and Energy Star just to laptops.Virtually all desktop systems and many appliances also use the power management functions. APM/ACPI Levels

APM defined four power-usage operating levels for a system. These levels are intentionally fuzzy to give manufacturers considerable leeway in their use; the only real difference

among them is the amount of time each takes to return to normal usage_ These levels are as follows:

• Full On Everything in the system is running at full power.There is no power management.

• APM Enabled CPU and RAM are running at full power_ Power management is enabled. An unused device may or may not be shut down_

• APM Standby CPU is stopped. RAM still stores all programs. All peripherals are shut down, although configuration options are still stored_ In other words, you won't have to reinitialize the devices to get back to APM Enabled. • APM Suspend Everything in the system is shut down or at its lowest power consumption setting_ Many systems use a special type of Suspend called hibernation, where critical configuration information is written to the hard drive.

Upon a wake-up event, the system is reinitialized, and the data is read from

the drive to return the system to the APM Enabled mode. Clearly, the recovery time between Suspend and Enabled will be much longer than the time between Standby and Enabled_

ACPI, the successor to APM, handles all these levels plus a few more, such as "soft power on/off,"which enables you to define the function of the power button_ You should familiarize yourself with the following ACPI global (G) and sleeping (S) system power state specifications for both the CompTIA A+ exams and your own practical application: • GO (SO) Working state

• GI Sleeping state mode. Further subdivided into four S states_

• SI CPU stops processing_ Power to CPU and memory (RAM) is maintained .

• S2 CPU is powered down_

• S3 Sleep or Standby mode_ Power to RAM still on_

• S4 Hibernation mode. Information in RAM is stored to nonvolatile memory or drive and powered off.

• G2 (SS) Soft power off mode. Certain devices used to wake a system such as keyboard, LAN, USB, and other devices remain on, while most other components are powered to a mechanical off state (G3).

• G3 Mechanical off mode. The system and all components, with the exception of the real-time clock (RTC), are completely powered down_

Configuration of APM/ACPI

You configure APM/ACPI via CMOS settings or through your operating system_ OS settings override CMOS settings. Although the APM/ACPI standards permit a great deal of flexibility, which can create some confusion among different implementations, certain

settings apply generally to CMOS configuration. First is the ability to initialize power management; this enables the system to enter the APM Enabled mode. Often CMOS then presents time frames for entering Standby and Suspend modes, as well as settings to determine which events take place in each of these modes.

Many CMOS versions present settings to determine wake-up events,such as directing the system to monitor a modem or a NIC (see Figure 24-22). You'll see this feature as make on LAN, or something similar. A true ACPI-compliant CMOS provides an ACPI setup option. Figure 24-23 shows a typical modern BIOS that provides this setting.

In Windows, APM/ACPI settings can be found in the Control Panel applet Power Options_ Windows offers power plans that enable better control over power use by customizing a Balanced, High performance, or Power saver power plan (see Figure 24-24)_ You can customize a power plan for your laptop, for example, and configure it to turn off the display at a certain time interval while on battery or plugged in and configure it to put the computer to sleep as desired (see Figure 24-25)-

NOTE You can also access your power options by clicking on the Power icon in the notification area if it is present.

Another feature, Hibernate mode, takes everything in active memory and stores it on the hard drive just before the system powers down. When the system comes out of hibernation, Windows reloads all the files and applications into RAM. Figure 24-26 shows the hibernation options in Windows.

Try This! Adjusting Your System's Power Management Go into the Power Options applet on a Windows computer and take a look at the various settings_ What is the current power plan for the computer? Check to see if it is running a Balanced or High-performance power plan. If it is, change the power plan to Power saver and click Change p/,an settings. Familiarize yourself with some of the advanced power settings (click on the Change advanced power settings link)_

Try changing the individual settings for each power scheme_ For instance, set a new value for the Turn off the disc/,ay setting-try making your display turn off after five minutes. Don't worry; you aren't going to hurt anything if you fiddle with these settings.