Docking Station Versus Port Replicator

 

A docking station expands the capability of a portable computer by adding features such as the fol-lowing:

 

One or more expansion slots

 

Additional I/O ports, such as serial, parallel, ExpressCard or PC Card, display output (VGA, DVI, HDMI, component video), SPDIF digital audio, or USB ports

 

Additional drive bays

 

Power connection for the laptop

 

Connectors for a standard keyboard and mouse

 

Figure 3-18 illustrates the HP QuickDock, which provides additional USB ports, audio ports, and component video ports as well as one-touch power and charging capabilities to supported HP and Compaq laptop computers. It connects to the proprietary connector shown in Figure 3-1.

 

 

1.	Power switch	8.	VGA port
2.	Audio minijacks	9.	10/100 Ethernet port
3.	USB ports (6)	10.	Connector to laptop
4.	Component video ports for HDTV	11. Connector adapter
5.	S-video port	12.	Power connector
6.	Composite video port	13.	Security lock port
7.	SPDIF coaxial digital audio port

 

Figure 3-18 The HP QuickDock docking station supports several series of HP and Compaq lap-top computers.

80 CompTIA A+ Quick Reference

 

Physical Laptop Lock and Cable Lock

 

Laptop locks (see Figure 3-19) use a combination or keyed lock, and are designed to lock the lap-top (or other secured device) to a fixed location such as a table.

 

 

Figure 3-19 A combination laptop security lock.

Chapter 4

 

 

Printers

 

There are many kinds of printers. The A+ exams focus on a few common ones: laser, inkjet, thermal, and impact (dot matrix). The following is a list of common printer measurements:

 

Pages per minute (PPM) —Measures printer speed.

 

Characters per second (CPS) —Measures printer speed in impact (dot-matrix) printers. Dots per inch (DPI) —Measures quality (resolution).

 

Mean time between failures (MTBF) —Measures reliability.

 

Cost per page (CPP) —Measures the price of each printed page. A proper measurement ofCPP takes into consideration the cost of ink, paper, electricity, and scheduled printer mainte-nance.

 

Laser

 

Monochrome laser printers prorvide a good balance between cost and quality. They are quiet, reliable, and produce high-quality printouts at a very low cost per page (CPP). Table 4-1 outlines the seven steps of the laser-printing process with a helpful mnemonic.

 

Compared to discussions of the EP process in earlier versions of CompTIA A+ Certification exams, the exams now recognize the role of processing in laser printing, and have renamed some of the steps and changed the starting and ending point of the process. Use the new terms and sequence listed in this chapter as you prepare for the exams.