Toshiba M105-S3004 User Manual - Page 256

capacity GLOSSARY capacity: The amount of data that can be stored on a magnetic storage device such as a diskette (floppy disk) or hard disk. It is usually described in terms of kilobytes (KB), where one KB = 1024 bytes and megabytes (MB), where one MB = 1024 KB. card: Synonym for board. See board. CardBus: An industry standard bus for 32-bit PC Cards. CD-ROM: A Compact Disk-Read Only Memory is a high capacity disk that can be read from but not written to. The CD-ROM drive uses a laser, rather than magnetic heads, to read data from the disk. Centronics: The printer manufacturer whose method of data transmission between a parallel printer and a computer has become an industry standard. CGA: Color/graphics adaptor. A video display protocol defined by the IBM Color/Graphics Monitor Adaptor and its associated circuitry. This protocol supports two-color 640x200 and four-color 320x200 graphics, and 16-color 640x200 and 320x200 text modes. character: Any letter, number, punctuation mark, or symbol used by the computer. Also synonymous with byte. chassis: The frame containing the computer. chip: A small semiconductor containing computer logic and circuitry for processing, memory, input/output functions and controlling other chips. CMOS: Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor. An electronic circuit fabricated on a silicon wafer that requires very little power. Integrated circuits implemented in CMOS technology can be tightly packaged and are highly reliable. cold start: Starting a computer that is currently off (turning on the power). COM1, COM2, COM3 and COM4: The names assigned to the serial and communication ports. commands: Instructions you enter at the terminal keyboard that direct the actions of the computer or its peripheral devices. communications: The means by which a computer transmits and receives data to and from another computer or device. See parallel interface; serial interface. compatibility: 1) The ability of one computer to accept and process data in the same manner as another computer without modifying the data or the media upon which it is being transferred. 2) the ability of one device to connect to or communicate with another system or component. components: Elements or parts (of a system) which make up the whole (system). Glossary-4