Computers 101: Anatomy

Wendy Sink recently bought a 13-inch Apple Macbook laptop, but she still had questions about… Wendy Sink recently bought a 13-inch Apple Macbook laptop, but she still had questions about it.

“Sometimes it feels like you don’t know what to ask until after you purchase the product, unfortunately,” Sink said.

Accordingly, Sink attended a Love Your Computer Week information session in order to have some of her questions answered.

The event, Buying a Computer: Hardware and Software from the Inside Out, which was held yesterday afternoon in the Posvar Hall Computing Lab, provided simple explanations about computers.

Computing Services Systems Development employee Tom Hutchinson began the event with a slideshow presentation explaining what each of the major parts of a computer does. These parts are the main factors to keep in mind when buying a computer.

Hutchinson described the processor as the brain in a computer. It controls the execution of every process. He advised the crowd that if they get a computer with a duo processor, which is two processors in one unit, their programs will run faster than if they had only one processor.

The Random Access Memory is like a person’s short-term memory. It stores current data and erases the data each time the computer is shut down, Hutchinson said.

The hard drive, then, is the long-term memory in the computer, according to Hutchinson as he passed around an old model. If you want to store a lot of programs, songs or information on the computer, then you should look into upgrading this part.

Hutchinson touched upon expansion cards as well, which the computer may or may not come with. For example, if someone plays 3-D graphic video games, then he would want to have a video card to enhance the features.

Hutchinson explained that low-end cards, which are cheaper in price, usually cannot be upgraded and are not as capable as high-end cards. The high-end card can move more data at one time because it has its own processor and memory chip whereas the low-end is just a chip.

Knowing about these parts is not only helpful to those interested in PCs, but also to those who are considering Macs, because both are basically the same on the inside, according to Hutchinson.

The only difference is in the operating systems: PCs use Windows and Macs use OS X. He also pointed out that newer Macs can also run Windows now, so people may not be as intimidated to buy one.

Hutchinson posed some questions to keep in mind when deciding whether to buy a desktop or a laptop.

He said desktops are more powerful, so they are better for running large programs such as games and movies.

Although laptops are not as fast or powerful, they can be taken anywhere around campus. With Pitt expanding its wireless network to the entire campus, though, some people may find this factor more important than others, such as the speed, Hutchinson said.

The slideshow offered charts that listed standard features such as storage space and speed for each part of the computer.

These charts, which illustrated features for Mac desktops and laptops and for Windows-run desktops and laptops, will be made available at my.pitt.edu portal after this week is over so that people can use them as references when shopping for a computer.

Hutchinson said that if you can tell people at computer companies what you are looking for in a computer, the employees would be better able to help you find one that is right for you.

If you want a fast processor, you may also need more memory, or else it will not have the space to run as fast as it can, Hutchinson explained.

Upgrading certain aspects of a computer can be costly, though.

According to Apple’s Web site, if you want to upgrade to two GB of memory instead of keeping the one GB on the 13-inch Macbook, it will cost an extra $175.

For Dell’s 12.1-inch XPS M1210 notebook, which is the same price as the Macbook, $255 will be added to the $1,299 price if you upgrade from one GB of memory to two, according to its Web site.

Hutchinson did say that getting a computer to fit your needs would most likely not break as quickly or as often as one that does not because it is built to handle what you want to do with it.

Many of Sink’s questions were addressed during the question and answer session after the presentation.

She found out that when running the Windows system on her Mac, it would make the computer just as vulnerable to viruses as any other computer that runs Windows. But if she runs the OS X system, the computer will not be as vulnerable because there are fewer viruses for Mac systems.

Sink also learned that she will not be able to access files across both operating systems. If something is saved on Windows, it will remain there.

Sink said the session was quite helpful, and that she is becoming more computer-savvy.

“This is my third computer. My first was a Gateway, and it was fine. My first laptop was a Dell, and I never felt right about it,” Sink said. “I would give them a low consumer rating.

“But with the Apple, I don’t feel as out on a limb, and I have [the CSSD employees] here to help.”