THE TYPES OF PC/ES

The Types of PC/Es

Desktop

A computer is referred to as "desktop" when it is relatively small enough to be positioned on top of a table where a person is working. Such a computer can also be placed on the floor or somewhere under, or aside of, the table, in which case the monitor would be placed on top of the table. This is the most common type of computers used in the office or at home. A desktop computer is made of different parts that are connected with cables. 

Laptop

A computer is called laptop when it combines the CPU, the monitor, the keyboard, and the mouse in one unit to be so small that you can carry it on your laps when traveling or commuting. A laptop is also called a notebook. Other parts, such as an external mouse, an external keyboard, or peripherals such as a printer or a projector, can be connected to the laptop. A laptop is only physically smaller than a desktop but, everything considered, it can do anything that a desktop can do.

Notebook

An extremely lightweight personal computer. Notebook computers typically weigh less than 6 pounds and are small enough to fit easily in a briefcase. Aside from size and portability, the principal difference between a notebook computer and a personal computer is the display screen. Notebook computers use a variety of techniques, known as flat-panel technologies,to produce a lightweight and non-bulky display screen.The quality of notebook display screens varies considerably. Many notebook display screens are limited to VGA resolution. Active-matrix screens produce very sharp images, but they do not refresh as rapidly as full-size monitors.

Palmtop

A Palmtop PC was an approximately pocket calculator-sized, battery-powered computer compatible with the IBM Personal Computer in a horizontal clam shell design with integrated keyboard and display. It could be used like a sub-notebook, but was light enough to be comfortably used handheld as well. Most Palmtop PCs were small enough to be stored in a user's shirt or jacket pocket. Palmtop PCs distinguish from other palmtop computers by using a mostly IBM-compatible PC architecture and BIOS as well as an Intel-compatible x86 processor. All such devices were DOS-based, with DOS stored in ROM. While many Palmtop PCs came with a number of PDA and office applications pre-installed in ROM, most of them could also run generic, off-the-shelf PC software with no or little modifications. Some could also run other operating systems such as GEOS, Windows 1.0-3.0 (in Real mode only), or MINIX 2.0.

Workstations

A workstation is a special computer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by one person at a time, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems. The term workstation has also been used loosely to refer to everything from a mainframe computer terminal to a PC connected to a network, but the most common form refers to the group of hardware offered by several current and defunct companies such as Sun Microsystems, Silicon Graphics, Apollo Computer, DEC, HP, NeXT and IBM which opened the door for the 3D graphics animation revolution of the late 1990s.