Computer hardware

When talking about computer hardware we refer to the physical components, all of their electronic circuitry and mechanical parts.  Generally speaking, no matter the type of computer, we may clasiffy the hardware components as follows: The central Processing  unit, Iput/Output peripherals and other peripherals.

 

CPU (Central Processing Unit)

The central processing unit is a conjunction of electronic devices conected together that are responsible of performing all of the data processing. These devices are generally found inside a metallic case, however newer computers, tablets and handhelds have all of their processing electronics integrated inside the same case as the screen.

The CPU, case or processing electronics can be viewed as the computer itself. This is because the CPU can continue processing information even with no peripherals attached. I always rather to call this block "processing electronic" because many people and even the hardware manufacturers themselves use the CPU acronym to name the microprocessor.

Input/Output (I/O) Devices

The I/O devices make possible the human-computer interaction. The essential input devices are the keyboard and the mouse. On the other hand, the essential output device is the computer monitor or screen. Below, every peripheral device that can be found is listed:

 
Input

• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Joystick
• Web cam
• Microphone
• Optical Pencil
• Scanner
• Digital camera

 
Output

• Monitor
• Printer
• Speakers
• Proyector
• Headphones

 
Other peripherals
Among the peripherals, we may find

Storage Peripherals

• • External hard drive
  • CD/DVD/BluRay external drives
  • Flash USB pendrives and SD cards
  • Tape backup drives

 

Communication peripherals

• • Modem
  • Wireless adapter Wi-fi or bluetooth
  • Radio/TV Tuner

 In this web we will focus mainly on the hardware that is found in desktop computers, because in general desktops are the base desings that manufacturers use to develop  other types of computers such as laptops and tablets.

Below the most important components inside a computer are detailed.

• Microprocessor
• Motherboard
• Video Card
• RAM Memory
• Storage devices
• I/O devices
• Peripherals