Page 14 - UNI 101 Computer Science Handout.

Faculty of Nursing
Adult care Nursing Department

1.2 Types of Computer

It is nearly impossible today to escape the immediate reach of computers and computer-based systems.

There is probably a cell phone in your pocket or on your desk and, perhaps, an iPod as well. For many of
you, your laptop or desktop computer is sitting nearby as you read this paragraph. And that’s not all.

Your car probably has several embedded computers controlling various functions. Even your microwave

oven and the machine that launders your clothes depend on computers to function properly. As you are

probably aware, most of these machines can talk to each other, using the Internet or some other

networking technology. Indeed, the jargon of computers has become a part of common daily language.

You can open a newspaper and find references to expressions such as ‘‘2GBDDRAM’’ or ‘‘WXGA LCD

display’’ or ‘‘2MB level 2 cache’’ or ‘‘Wi-Fi’’ in articles and advertisements. (In a way, it’s scary!) The ad

in Figure 1.1, taken from a Sunday newspaper flier, is typical of recent computer ads. You’ll notice that

this computer features a ‘‘Core 2 Duo Processor’’ CPU, 2 GB of DDR2 SDRAM memory, a 16×DVD±RW
Drive, and a 160 GB SATA hard drive. It also contains a 256MB PCI Express graphics card among other

things. But how good a system is this? Are these features important to the user? Is this the right

combination of features that you need in your computer to have the computer perform the work that
you wish to get done? Are there features missing that we need? Is a Core 2 Duo processor the best CPU

for us? Perhaps we are paying too much for the performance that we need. Or maybe we need more.

And what does ‘‘Core 2 Duo’’ mean, anyway? What I/O ports might you need to assure a satisfy long-

term investment of computers for your organization? Is a16×DVD±RW drive adequate for your work?

What if you have to burn a lot of disks? What other information about this system would allow you to
make a more informed decision? (For example: Hey—where’s the networking capability?)

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14 Academic Year 2025/2026