Laptops All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies- P7: Okay, I’ll admit it: I’ve got a strange biography. I’ve been a writer all my life. My first semi-pro job was sports editor of my high school newspaper. (Go Commodores!) After college I was a political reporter for daily newspapers in Ohio and New York (I covered four national nominating conventions and two Presidential campaigns) and a correspondent for The Associated Press. And then, in 1983, I gave in to my inner geek and became the first Executive Editor of PC Magazine, back in the days when most people asked, “What is a PC?”. | 34 Getting to the Bottom of the Box Courtesy of Toshiba America Inc. Figure 2-9 A version of a WiFi symbol used on modern laptops. In addition to the hardware on off switch for the WiFi system most laptops include wireless control software provided by the wireless system manufacturer this software may have a feature to enable or disable the transmitter. Shutting off the WiFi system at the software level makes it impossible to use the wireless facilities but might not end the hardware s draw on the battery. Use the on off switch instead. Audio input. Depending on the design and capabilities and any extra sound adapter software you ordered as an option your machine may have one or more audio input jacks. Most common is a microphone input used you guessed this right for recording directly from a microphone. Many laptops use an icon of an old-style microphone to indicate this input see Figure 2-10. A line input port is another type used to record from an amplified source such as a tape recorder digital recorder or home stereo system. Figure 2-10 Many laptops use a drawing of an antique microphone as the symbol for microphone input. Courtesy of Toshiba America Inc. Getting to the Bottom of the Box 35 Audio output. Again you may see one or more output plugs for use with headphones or as an output for use with another electronic device such as a home theater system or a tape recorder. One of the simpler icons on many laptops looks like an earmuff for a housefly a tiny set of headphones see Figure 2-11. Book I Chapter 2 Figure 2-11 The audio output port often a set of headphones can provide a low-power signal to an amplifier for use with external speakers or a stereo system. Touring a Modern Laptop Courtesy of Toshiba America Inc. USB port. This near-miraculous piece of technology when it was introduced is still pretty nifty The Universal Serial Bus is capable of twoway communication with almost any type of external device. You want to add a mouse Plug it into the USB
