Texas Instruments 3000 WinSX - Manual (Page 13)

Learning About Hardware
If you are already familiar with the main components of a computer, you may want to
skim the remainder of this chapter and skip ahead to Chapter 2 to learn more about your
new TravelMate 3000 WinSX's standard hardware and available options. Otherwise,
please continue on.
The TravelMate 3000 WinSX's standard hardware consists of a system circuit board, a
keyboard, an LCD (liquid ciystal display) screen, a hard disk drive, a 3.5-inch floppy
diskette drive, serial and parallel I/O (input/output) ports, TravelPoint pointing device
port, and other electronic circuits needed to control the display and external options.
System Board
The system board holds the integrated circuits that make up the microprocessor and
memory. The system board also contains the hardware that controls the screen and
keyboard. The optional RAM modules, optional Internal Modems, and the optional
80387SX Math Coprocessor all plug into the system board.
Microprocessor
The microprocessor is the 'brain' of the computer. It processes data-or information-at
speeds so fast, its performance is measured in millionths of a second. The microprocessor
handles information in binary code, using the digit 0 or 1. Any piece of information (for
example, a number or character) is represented by a string of O's and I's.
For example, the number 23 in binary code is 10111. A 0 or 1 in the binary system is
referred to as a bit, the smallest piece of information handled by the processor. A byte is a
group of eight bits, and represents a single character or number, such as "H" or "9". The
microprocessor in the TravelMate 3000 WinSX is a high-speed 80386SX microprocessor,
running at a clock speed of up to 20 MHz.
Taking A First Look 1-3