Erin Cannata

COMPUTER COMPONENTS
The Basics

INPUT UNIT
An input unit is a general name for any hardware unit which can be used to enter information into
a computer system. The most common examples, today, are the keyboard, mouse, and microphone.
CPU
CPU is an acronym for central processing unit. The processor unit is the part of the computer which
is the actual computer. It contains three sections: memory, control circuits, and logic circuits.
OUTPUT UNIT
An output unit is a general name to describe any hardware unit which can be used to display answers
or information generated by a computer. The most common examples today are the monitor, speakers, and
printer. Note that printers come in three popular types – dot matrix, ink jet (or bubble jet), and laser. From
left to right they improve in quality, but also in price.
AUXILIARY STORAGE UNIT
An auxiliary storage unit is a unit that provides extra storage, such as magnetic tape drives, which
can be added to a computer system.

A Typical System
Microsoft Keyboard .................................. $99.99 Memory
Pentium II-400 with 64 Meg................. $1625.99 Term Approx. # bytes
Kilobyte (KB) 1000
17” SVGA monitor ................................. $324.95 Megabyte (MB) 1 000 000
Jazz Drive ............................................... $325.99 Gigabyte (GB) 1 000 000 000
Note: A byte is the amount of memory it takes
to store a single character.

Assign. 8 November 9th, 2017