Dell Inspiron 3800 User Manual

Page 27

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Ports and Connectors:

Dell™ Inspiron™ 3800 System Reference

About the I/O Connectors

You can connect external devices to the input/output (I/O) connectors. The computer's basic input/output system (BIOS) detects the presence of
external devices when you boot (start) or reboot your computer.

Figure 1

shows the connectors on the back of your computer.

Figure 1. I/O Connectors

Audio Connectors

You can connect audio devices such as speakers, microphones, headphones, and record/playback devices to your computer. The following
information tells you how to connect the cables.

Figure 2

shows the locations of the audio connectors and the TV-out S-video connector.

l

Connect the audio cable from a microphone to the microphone-in connector.

l

Connect the audio cable from the speakers to the line-out connector.

l

Connect the line-out cable from a record/playback device to the line-in connector. Cassette players, CD players, radios, stereo systems, and
tape players are all record/playback devices.

l

Connect the TV-out S-video I/O cable from a record/playback device to the TV-out S-video connector. VCRs and video cameras are
record/playback devices.

Figure 2. Connecting Audio and S-Video Devices

About the I/O Connectors

USB Connector

Audio Connectors

PS/2 Connector

Video Connector

Serial Port Connector

Parallel Port Connector

AC Power Connector

Docking Connector

Infrared Port

NOTICE: When disconnecting external devices from the back of the computer, wait 5 seconds after turning off the
computer before you disconnect a device to avoid possible damage to the system board.

1

Video connector

5

Mini-Deutsche Industrie Norm (DIN) PS/2 connector

2

Parallel port connector

6

Serial port connector

3

Docking connector

7

AC adapter connector

4

USB connector

8

Infrared port

NOTES: Some external devices require you to load software called device drivers into system memory before the
devices will work. These device drivers help your computer recognize the external device and direct its operation.
Instructions for installing this software are usually included in the upgrade kits.

The advanced port replicator (APR) has the same I/O connectors as your computer. In addition, the APR has a second
Personal System/2 (PS/2) connector, a second Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector, and an Ethernet network
connector.

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