Glossary of Laptop or Computer Related Terms

List of terms, in alphebetical order, you may run across while looking for a laptop:

CASV - Clear Advanced Super View, Toshiba's version of brighter LCD technology.

Centrino - see What is Centrino? for more info.

DDR - Double Data Rate, refers to memory speed.

Dual Channel - as in Dual Channel DDR Memory, similar to hard disk RAID where two devices (memory controllers) are used in such a way to increase speed (memory bandwidth).

DVI - Digital Visual (or Video) Interface.

FSB - Front Side Bus, path which the CPU communicates with system memory and motherboard chipset.

Geforce - name of graphics chip or card made by Nvidia. (see Laptop Video and 3D)

IEEE 1394 - also known as Firewire or iLink and stands for Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standard 1394.

LCD - Liquid Crystal Display. (see Laptop Screens for more info)

MVA TFT - Multi-Domain Vertical Alignment, Fujitsu's version of brighter LCD screens.

PCMCIA - Personal Computer Memory Card International Association, slot interface used for various peripherals for laptops.

PS/2 - standard port for connecting a keyboard or mouse.

Radeon - name of graphics chip or card made by ATI. (see Laptop Video and 3D)

S-Video - stands for Super Video.

SODIMM - Small Outline Dual Inline Memory Module. (Laptop Memory)

Spindle - refers to the shaft or rod in the center of a hard drive, floppy drive, or optical drive (cdrw,cdrom,dvdrw,dvdrom). This term somehow became a way to identify how many drives a laptop houses. EX: A three spindle laptop may have a hard drive, cdrw drive, and floppy drive.

TFT - Thin Film Transistor. (see Laptop Screens for more info)

UltraSharp - name used by Dell for their brighter LCD screens.

USB - Universal Serial Bus.

Xbrite - name used by Sony for their brighter LCD screens.