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Other Parts Upgrade Guide:
How to Choose Keyboard, Printer, and Scanner
There are other essential parts of your computer that not mentioned in computer parts upgrade guide articles before. Those parts will be posted here. Beside of those parts that I have mentioned earlier, the computer has the other essential parts that needed by your system. Those parts are:
How to Choose Keyboard and Mouse
Keyboard and mouse is two primary input devices, except for laptops that have its own touch pad as a primary pointing device. Keyboard and mouse have the identical forms from old time to present time. Keyboard is similar to typewriter; it is a device to input the data that contain characters and numbers, while mouse is a pointing device. This device will control the arrow that appeared in the monitor.
Keyboard
Keyboard is the primary input device for most computers, consisting of keys with letters of the alphabet, digits, punctuation, and function control keys. So many keyboards have a QWERTY layout, and this is the type that widely used. I think all the keyboard has the same form till now. What you should consider is:
Design
First you should look its design. A futuristic design will be better. Look at the design that has a modern shape. You can also choose the color that meets your personal.
Connection
You will see that there are many keyboards that connected to the computer using several type of connector. These connections are standard connection (PS/2), USB connection, and wireless connection. Wireless keyboard will consume battery in order to run and it use Bluetooth® technology. Choose the keyboard that fit your need.
Mouse
Now, how to choose a mouse? What you should consider when choosing a mouse is:
Design
It is same with keyboard. Choose a mouse that has a newer design. Nowadays a lot of mouse in the market have a nice design.
Optical Mouse
Choose the mouse called optical mouse if possible. It used optical technology to recognize mouse movements and position instead of using a ball.
Connection
It has same connection type with keyboard, i.e. standard connection (PS/2), USB connection, and wireless connection. Choose it based on your need.
Joystick
Joystick is an input device generally used for game software, usually consisting of a central upright stick that controls horizontal and vertical motion and one or more buttons to control discrete events, such as firing guns. More complex models can resemble flight yokes and steering wheels or incorporate tactile feedback.
This device is exclusive for gamers. If you love playing game in your computer, you might need a joystick. Although not all game will supports usage of joystick, there are many games that will more comfortable if we play it using joystick. The joystick models are varying. You can choose whatever you like.
How to Choose Printer
Printer is a device that records information visually on paper or other material. Printer is important if you want to print out your documents, images or photos. As the printer nowadays become cheaper than past time, you should consider to buy it.
There are several types of printer: dot matrix printer, inkjet printer, laser printer, and thermal printer.
Dot matrix printer is an impact printer that prints characters composed of dots. Characters are printed one at a time by pressing the ends of selected wires against an inked ribbon and paper.
Inkjet printer is a type of printer that sprays one or more colors of ink on the paper; it can produce output with quality approaching that of a laser printer at a lower cost.
Laser printer is a type of printer that is a combination of an electrostatic copying machine and a computer printer. The output data from the computer is converted by an interface into a raster feed, similar to the impulses a TV picture tube receives. The impulses cause the laser beam to scan a small drum that carries a positive electrical charge. Where the laser hits, the drum is discharged. A toner, which also carries a positive charge, is then applied to the drum. As it rotates, the drum deposits the toner on a negatively charged sheet of paper. Another roller then heats and bonds the toner to the page.
Since dot matrix has low technology and thermal printer is used for special condition only (like ATM machine, cashier at the store, etc), we will not explain those.
Everyday used printer is from inkjet printer and laser printer. So choose between two of them. Inkjet printer usually cheaper than laser printer but produces lower resolution image compared to laser printer. Inkjet printer is also usually called deskjet. It is more popular from home use than a laser printer. Laser printer is usually on office. Laser printer is faster than inkjet printer. It is useful for printing a lot of documents in the same time.
Inkjet printer use ink that injected to the cartridge. Laser printer used toner instead of ink and it is more costly than inkjet's ink.
So the conclusion of this is that inkjet printer is cheaper than a laser printer in the side of hardware. Inkjet's inks are also cheaper than laser printer's toner. But the printing quality of inkjet printer is lower than laser printer. Inkjet printer is also having slower printing speed than a laser printer.
It is your choice to choose between save money and quality. If you want to save money, choose inkjet. If you want quality and speed, choose laser. But, if resolution is no problem to you, choose the inkjet. Please note that inkjet is not bad at all. The printout quality is also good for everyday printing. Choose laser only if you need a very high resolution printout quality or if you can afford it.
Portable Printer
Some laptop users also make a choice to buy a portable printer to make them print their documents easily anywhere. This portable printer might be useful in portability, but they usually have a capability to do decent printing job. It's very useful for people that have a high mobility.
How to Choose Scanner
Scanner is a device that reads an image and converts it into computer data. Opposite to a printer, scanner is used to import the image or document from the real world to your computer to become digital file. Scanner can be considered as a part of your computer system. It has advantages to turn all real paper document or image to your computer. You can also manipulate your real text that scanned to your computer with your word processing program.
Resolution
A scanner will have resolution specification of the scanned image that measured in dpi. Greater resolution of the scanner, the greater resolution of scanned image will appear in your monitor screen.
Type of scanner
There are many types of scanner, such as handheld scanner, flatbed scanner, sheet fed scanner, photo drum scanner, and slide scanner. Each type has it own advantages and you should choose it based on your need.
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