Batteries

Outside of the physical difference in packaging, notebook computers differ from desktop machines most significantly in that they are designed with self-contained power systems. They hold their own electricity and can run on batteries. The power versatility is what gives the notebook machine the ability to compute anywhere.

But batteries play a larger role in modern computing. Wireless keyboards and mice, digital cameras, and MP3 players all rely on batteries as their primary source of power (as likely does your cell phone and a host of other electronic gadgets you take for granted). It's enough to make you want to buy stock in a battery company—and shudder to think what all those throw-away batteries are doing to landfills.

Batteries ...

Get Winn L. Rosch Hardware Bible, Sixth Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.