Personal computer (PC)
From Saferpedia
The personal computer or PC is any computer used by people at home or in an office. The PC is designed to be used directly by the end user without the intervention of an operator.
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History
Old PC, called micro-computers, were sold as a kit and in limited quantities. To insert instructions you should do a mini program using switches and the result was displayed on a screen with lamps.
To use them there were necessary peripherals like keyboard, computer terminals, hard disk and printer. Micral N was the first commercial PC which was not sold as a kit and was based on the Intel 8008 microprocessor. It was built starting with 1972 and there were sold about 90.000 pieces. The first complete PC was Commodore PET inserted in January 1977 and the next one was Apple II.
Types of PCs
Workstations
A workstation is a high level PC designed for technical or scientific applications. It was built to be used by a single person at a time and it's usually connected to a local network and runs multi-user operating systems.
Desktop computers (office)
Before the wide spread of the PCs a computer that could fit a desk was considered to be extremely small. Nowadays the term "desktop PC" refers to a specific computer: the horizontal one, that can be put on a desk and the monitor can be put on top.
Single unit PCs
Single unit computers, known as all in one, are derived from desktop PCs which combines the central unit and the monitor in a single unit. The monitor usually uses a touchscreen for data entry and PC's interior components are behind the monitor.
Nettop
The Nettop was inserted by Intel Corporation in February 2008. A nettop is a very small desktop computer, low-cost, low-wattage designed for basic tasks such as surfing the Internet, accessing web-based applications, document processing, and audio/video playback. The word nettop is a combination between Internet and desktop.
Laptop
A laptop or a notebook is a small PC designed for portability. Usually all necessary hardware components are included in a single unit. Laptops have batteries of high capacity to aliment the device for long periods of time improving the portability.
Netbook
Netbooks, also called mini-notebooks, are a fast evolution of laptops being smaller and lighter and realizing the same functions.
PC tablets
A PC tablet is a notebook inserted for the first time by PEN computers in early 90s with the logo PenGo Tablet Computer popularized by Microsoft. The touchscreen allows user to operate the computer with the help of a stylus, digital pen or their finger instead of the keyboard and mouse.
Ultra mobile computers
The UMPC - Ultra-Mobile PC is the specification for a smaller tablet PC developed as an exercise by Microsoft, Intel and Samsung, among others.
Home Theater Computers
A Home Theater Computer combines the functions of a PC with the ones of a digital video recorder. The computer is connected to a TV or a monitor and is used to display digital pictures, music and video formats.
Pocket PC
A pocket PC is a PDA - Personal Digital Assistant, a computer that can be held in one hand or put in a pocket.
