Toshiba Satellite 1730 User Guide - Page 28

28 Finding Your Way Around Back The USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports allow you to connect USB peripherals to your computer, such as a keyboard, pointing device, printer, or monitor. DEFINITION: USB is a peripheral expansion standard that supports a data-transfer rate of up to 12 Mbps. USB peripherals have a single standard for cables and connectors. The USB standard allows you to install and remove USB devices while the computer is on. Switching devices without turning off the computer is called "hot swapping." The modem port lets you use a modular phone cable to connect the built-in modem directly to a standard telephone line. For more information on using the modem, see Connecting the modem to a telephone line on page 101. The shutdown button, accessed through the small hole, allows you to shut down your computer manually. The parallel port lets you connect a parallel printer, or other parallel device, including ECP-compatible devices. DEFINITION: ECP (Extended Capabilities Port) is a parallelport standard for PCs that support bi-directional communication between the PC and attached devices (such as a printer).