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Batteries power most modern portable devices, and they vary greatly in size, shape, and capacity.
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Batteries are generally identified by their voltage and capacity ratings, printed somewhere on the exterior.
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Digitizers allow your device to recognize when and where you touch the screen. Digitizers themselves do not produce your device's visuals—that's the job of the display panel.
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They can usually be identified by a large glass panel, and a digitizer ribbon cable that connects it to the rest of the device.
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The display panel is what shows all of your device's visuals.
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Although there are a wide variety of display panel types and sizes (LCD, LED, OLED, AMOLED), they're typically the most prominent feature of the device, which makes them very easy to identify. Look for a ribbon cable that connects the panel to the rest of the device.
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Speakers provide sound for a wide variety of devices. They convert an electrical signal to sound by using magnets to vibrate a flexible cone inside of an acoustic chamber. This vibration creates the sound waves that your ears hear.
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Speakers come in many shapes and sizes, but are generally easily identified. To locate the speakers on a device, look for some sort of speaker grille coupled with a hollow acoustic chamber.
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Microphones are an integral component of many modern devices. They take sound waves and convert it to electrical signals that can then be recorded and transferred.
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To identify where the microphone is on your device, look for a small grille on the casing. Generally, the word "Mic" is written next to it, or there is a small picture of a microphone.
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Keyboards are another prominent component of most devices. They let the user input text into the device.
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They can be identified by several rows of keys with letters and numbers covering them. Individual keys can often be replaced, as well as the whole keyboard.
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Fans are commonly found in larger devices such as laptops, which need dedicated cooling.
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Fans can vary greatly in size and shape, so look for a component with a circular hole that has fan blades inside of it.
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Most devices have some sort of casing around them which protects their internal components. Casings are made from a variety of materials, including plastic, aluminum, and glass.
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Laptops often have a top and bottom case that needs to be taken apart to access the internals.
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Phones/cameras on the other hand often have front and rear cases that separate to reveal the internals.
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The motherboard is like the nervous system of your device. Without a motherboard, your device is just a useless hunk of electronics!
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Motherboards are generally very easy to identify, because they're one of the largest components in your device. Many of the other components inside your device connect to the motherboard.
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Heatsinks keep CPUs cool by dissipating the heat into the surrounding environment.
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To identify the heatsink, look for metal fins and copper piping that help pull heat away from the CPU.
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The central processing unit (CPU) is a lot like the "brain" of a device. It handles all of the necessary calculations to run the operating system and all of your applications.
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Although CPUs can vary greatly in size, it's generally fairly easy to identify them. Most devices have a heatsink (see previous step) keeping the CPU cool. Find the heatsink, and you'll generally find the CPU hiding underneath.
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Antennas allow devices to send and receive digital signals such as cellular, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. Antennas vary greatly from device to device, but there are two major antenna designs.
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The first commonly features black/white antenna cables that plug into a wireless card.
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The second is generally a flat piece of plastic that looks like a sticker. With this design, the entire piece acts as an antenna.
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Hard drives and solid-state drives allow for the storage of documents/pictures/etc. on a device, and are commonly found in laptops and desktop computers.
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They are generally rectangular and covered in markings that denote how big they are (500 GB, etc).
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Additionally, both types can vary greatly in size and shape. For example, some solid-state drives have no casing, leaving the memory chips exposed.
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RAM (Random access memory) can be found in almost all modern devices and generally looks like a stick with a large amount of memory chips covering it. RAM is like a sort of "temporary" memory for your device, where commonly accessed data is stored for quicker retrieval.
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Some devices, such as phones and ultra-thin laptops have non-removable RAM. Don't try to remove this RAM from the device, as it is soldered into the motherboard.
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Many laptops feature optical drives, which allow the device to read CDs and DVDs.
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To identify the optical drive, look for a large square component that has a slot or bay for a disc to be inserted into.
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Touchpads (or trackpads) are found on all laptops, and allow the user to interact with their device using only their fingers.
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To identify the touchpad on your device, look for the large square surface that you use to move the cursor around the screen.
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The wireless card is a small circuit board which provides wireless connectivity to your laptop.
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It can generally be identified by two white and black antenna wires that connect to it.
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The lens assembly of a camera houses the shutter and lens which allows your camera to take photos.
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The lens assembly is generally one of the largest components of a camera, and can be identified by a large ring that surrounds the shutter.
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The flash assembly of a camera provides a quick burst of light when taking a photo that can brighten up otherwise dark environments.
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To identify the flash assembly, look for a small board that attaches to the rectangular light on the front of the device.
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Audio/Video(A/V) ports are commonly found on most cameras, and allow for content on your camera to be displayed on a television or monitor. They can be identified by their circular shape, and are often found near the power and memory card ports.
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Charging ports are found on almost all portable devices, and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The two most common types are MicroUSB and Apple's Lightning connector.
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Video ports, like A/V ports, are found on many devices and allow for content on your device to be displayed on a television or monitor. The most common types are HDMI, VGA, and Apple's Thunderbolt.
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Many higher-end desktop computers feature a dedicated graphics card which displays the visuals on the monitor.
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Graphics cards can generally be identified by their long rectangular shape, and are usually plugged into a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) slot on the motherboard.
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To distinguish a graphics card from other PCI slot components (Such as TV tuner cards), look for some sort of video connector at the rear of it.
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Some desktop computers feature a sound card, which provides the audio output to the speakers.
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Sound cards can be identified by the headphone and/or microphone jacks found at the rear of the card.
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On smaller devices, look for a headphone/microphone that might be tethered to an I/O board or motherboard.
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Power supplies convert AC power from a wall socket, to DC power that your PC can use.
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To identify a power supply, look for a large rectangular component that connects your PC to a wall socket.
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Very nicely done. Thank you!
Looks good!!
Very instructive
Great overview
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