Computer hardware terms

Updated: 05/06/2024 by Computer Hope

Hardware terms with full definitions and information on each term. Explore this list of over 1,000 terms like keyboard, motherboard, input device, and mouse. Navigate quickly through the list by clicking one of the letters below; for example, click 'R' to find terms like 'router' in the 'R' section.

Top 10 hardware terms
Battery terms - CD terms - Floppy drive definitions - Hard drive terms - Keyboard terms - Memory terms - Modem terms - Motherboard terms - Mouse terms - Network terms - CPU terms - Scanner terms - Sound terms - Tape drive terms - Video terms
Keyboard Motherboard Function key Storage device Input device Hard drive Computer CPU Hardware Mouse
Number
2-in-1 laptop 3D Printer 4K 4K resolution 5ESS switch 8K 8K resolution 16-bit 32-bit 64-bit 701 702
A
A20 A-B Box ABC Accelerator Accessories Accessory Access point Access time Accounting machine Acoustic coupler Adapter Adapter card ADC Add-on Address Address space ADSI AGP Alarm Alligator clip All-in-One computer Altair AM Amazon Echo Amazon Fire TV Amazon Fire TV Stick Amiga AMOLED Analog signal Analytical engine Antikythera mechanism Antistatic mat Antistatic spray APIC APM Apple earbuds Apple silicon Apple TV Apple watch Architecture Arc Mouse Arduino Arduino Duemilanove Arduino shield AS/400 ASIC ASPI AT Atanasoff-Berry Computer Atari ST ATX Augmented reality AUI Auxiliary connector Auxiliary device Axis
B
Back Backbone Backlight Backplane Back-side bus Backward compatible Bank Barcode Barebone Bare metal Base Base station Bay BeagleBoard Bernoulli drive Bezel Big iron Biological computing BIOS BIOS shadow BJ Blackberry Playbook Black box Black screen Blank slot cover Blink Block diagram Bluetooth ExpressCard Booklet Bootable disk Boot device Boot menu Boot sequence Braille display Braille reader BRI Bridge Brown box Build Builtin Bump Bunny suit Burn Burn-in Bus BYOD
C
Cable Cable box Cable management Cable ties Cabling Cache Caddy Calibration Card CardBus Card punch Card reader Case Case badge Case fan Cassette CATV CCD CD-ROM CDSL CDTV Centaur Technology Centrino Centronics mode CF Characteristic Chassis Chip Chipset Chromebit Chromebook Chromebox ChromeOS CIM CISC Classical computer Classification Clean room Clone Closed architecture Cluster CMOS CNR Coaxial Cable Cold boot Cold swap Color-coded Colossus Commodore Communication device Communications port CompactFlash Compatible Component Computed axial lithography Computer Computer art Computer case Computer family Computer fan Computer form factor Computer laws Computer mouse Computometer Concept mapping Condensation Configuration Connection Connectivity Connector Console Control Cooler pad CPU CRC Crippleware CRT CrystalMark CSIRAC CUDA Custom-built PC Custom silicon Cyber clean Cycle
D
D2D DAC DASD Dash cam Data carrier Data channel Data flow Datasheet Data signal Data sink Data stream DDR Dead Dead halt Decode Dedicated Default drive Degauss Degausser Depress Desiccant Desktop computer Device Device dependent Device driver Device name Dhrystone Diagnostic program Diagnostics Difference engine Digital Digital camera Digital line Digital wallet Digitizer DIMM Diode Dip switch Direct connection Disable Disassembly Discard Disk drive DisplayPort Dispose Distortion Divx DLNA DMA DMI DOA Dock Docking station Dongle Dot pitch Downsizing DRAM Drive Drive bay Drive letter Driver Drivers CD Drobo Drone Drop in Drop out DRQ Dry run DSL filter DSS DTE Dual channel controller DualShock Dumb Duration Dust DUT DVD DVI DVR Dynabook
E
ECC Echoplex ECU Edge connector EDI EDP EDSAC EDVAC Efika eGPU EHCI EIDE E ink Eject Electron gun Electronic whiteboard Embedded Emulator Encoder End of life ENIAC Enigma Enigma machine Enquiry character Enumerator EOL EOM E-reader Ergonomics Error control eSATA ESD Essential Home Ethernet ETX E-waste Exclusive game Expansion Expansion card Expansion slot cover ExpressCard External External cache External graphics card Eye tracker
F
Fabless Facebook Portal Failover Fail-safe system Fail-soft system Failure Fan Faraday bag Faraday cage Faraday shield Fast SCSI Fault Fax Fax machine Fax modem FCC ID Feeder cable Female connector Fencing Fetch FHD Fi Fiber-optic cable FIFO Filament File allocation unit Firewall Firewire Firmware Flagship Flash BIOS Flash drive Flash memory Floppy disk Footprint Form factor Forward compatibility Forward compatible FPGA FPU Frankenmac Front panel FRU FSB Full duplex Full-duplex transmission Function keys
G
Gadget Galaxy Tab Galaxy Z Fold Game control adapter Gateway Gear Gearhead Gender Gender changer General-purpose computer Generation Gimbal Google Cardboard Google Chromebook Google Daydream View Google Glass Google Home Google Nest Google silicon Google Tensor GPS GPU Graffiti Graphics tablet Grosch's law Group 3 protocol Group 4 protocol Gyroscope
H
HACMP Half duplex Half-duplex transmission Hamming code Handheld Hands-free Handwriting recognition Hard card Hard drive Hard error Hard reset Hardware Hardware acceleration Hardware conflict Hardware key Hardware monitor Hardwired HCI HDD HDMI HDTV Headphones Heat gun Heat sink HFC HID High dynamic range Home computer Host adapter Hot docking Hot plugging Hot-swappable Hot swapping Housing HP 200A HSF HTC Vive HTPC Hub Hwmonitor Hybrid Hybrid computer Hypervisor
I
IBM 5100 IBM compatible IC IDE IGP Immediate access Indicator Infotainment system Infrared Infrared thermometer Initialization Initiator Input Input device Input/output channel Input/output device Input/output port Input/output processor Insert InstantGo Instruction Insulation INTA Integrated Integrated circuit IntelliMouse Interactive Interface Interference Internal Interrupt Intertec Superbrain IO I/O I/O address IOPS iPad IPB iPhone iPod IPOS IPS display IrDA IRQ ISA
J
Jack Jacquard Loom Java Card JavaStation Jaz drive Joint Test Action Group Joystick JTAG Jump Jumper
K
Keyboard Killer poke Kindle Kinect KVM switch
L
L2 cache L3 cache Landscape mode Laptop Laptop bag Laptop stand Laser Lazy write LCD Leapfrog test LED LED monitor Legacy LIFO Light Light guide Light gun Lightning Light pen Lightwave system LILO Line Line analyzer Line driver Line frequency Line level Link time Linux Terminal Server Project Liquid cooling Logical Logical partition Logic circuit Long-haul Long-haul communications Loopback Loop configuration LPAR LRC LTSP Luggable computer
M
M.2 Mac MAC address Machine Machine error Machine-readable magicJack Magic Link Magnetic Magnetic card Magnetic card reader MagSafe Mainframe Male connector Manchester Baby Manchester Mark 1 Mark parity Matrix code Matte MCA Mechanical Media Meltdown and Spectre Memory Memory module Memory stick Mickey Microarchitecture Microcomputer Microcontroller Microphone Microsoft Signature Edition PC Microsoft Surface Minicomputer MiniDisc Mixed reality MMU Mode Model number Modem Modern Modularity Module Molex Molex connector Monitor Moore's law Motherboard Motor Moto Z Mount Mouse MP3 player MSC MSN TV MSX MTBF Multiphase cooling Multipoint
N
Nanocomputer Nanotechnology NAS NDAS Negation Nest Doorbell Nest Thermostat Nest x Yale Lock Netbook Nettop Network Direct Attached Storage NEWCARD NIC Nintendo DS Nintendo Switch NMI Node No life Non-interactive Non-volatile memory Nook No-parity Nor Northbridge Notebook computer NUC Null cycle Nvidia shield NVMe NVRAM
O
Object computer Oculus Rift Off Off-the-shelf OHCI OLED OLPC OMR On On and off Online Online state Open Open architecture Open system Optane memory Optical Optical communications Optical drive Optimize OSD OTG OTG adapter OTP Output Output device Output stream Overclock Overheat
P
P1 PaaS Paddle PalmPilot Palmtop computer Panic Parallel Parallel access Parallel computer Parallel execution Parallel interface Parallel port Parallel transmission Parity bit Partition Part number Pascaline Passive-matrix display PC P-Cable PCB PC Card PC Card slot PCI PCI Express PCMCIA PCPartPicker PDA PDP Pen computer Pen drive Peopleware Peripheral Phablet Phantom Phases Phone Photocopier Photosensor Physical PID Pin Pin-compatible Ping pong buffer Pixelbook Platform PlayStation Playstation 2 PlayStation 3 PlayStation 4 PlayStation Portable PLCC PLED Plug Plug and play Plug-compatible PN PnP Polling Polling cycle Port 80 display Portable computer Port bar Port expander POST Postprocessor Power bank Power cycle Power supply PPGA PRAM Prebuilt computer Preprocessor Printer ProBook Processing device Processor Programmable ROM Programmable ROM programmer Project Ara PROM Propagation delay Prototype PS/2 PS3 PS4 PSP Punch card Punch tape Push-button PXI
Q
QAM Q-Cable QHD Qi QLED QPI Frequency QR Code QSXGA Quad-core Quadro plex Quantum algorithm QXGA
R
Radiation RAM Random-access file Raspberry Pi RDRAM Read Reader Read error Reboot Receptacle Recovery time Redundancy Register capacity Relay Reliability Remote Remote communication Remote terminal Render farm Repeater Reseat Reset Reset button Resource Restore button Rev Reverse engineering Rewrite RFID RF shielding RG-6 Rig Right to repair Ring RISC Riser board Robot Robustness Rocker switch RoHS Roku ROM ROM cartridge RO Terminal Router RRD RS-232 RS-422 RS-423 RS-449 RS-485 Rugged PC Runs on RXD
S
Samsung Family Hub Samsung Gear SAN SAS SATA Satellite computer SB SBus Scalable architecture Scanner SCC Screw Scroll wheel SCSI SCSI bus SCSI cable SCSI chain SCSI device SCSI port SD SDRAM Seated Sector Segment Semacode Sensor Serial Serial communications Serial console Serial device Serial number Serial port Server Service Tag Set-top box SFF Shuffle Shutterstock SHV connector SIGINT Silicon chip SIM card Simplex transmission Single Point of Failure Skin Slate PC Slimline model Small-Scale Experimental Machine Smart cable Smart card Smart dust Smart glasses Smart home Smartphone Smart TV Smartwatch Solid-state device Sound card Southbridge Speaker Specialized computer Special-purpose computer Specification SPGA Splash screen SSD SSD mounting bracket SSEM Stabilizer Standalone Standby Standing desk Starlink Static Stick computer Storage device Stress test Stylus Subnotebook computer Supercomputer SuperDisk Superscalar Surface Book Surface Duo Surface Pen Surface Studio Surge protector Switch Sync Synchronization Synchronous transmission SYS 64738 System diskette System failure System requirements System unit
T
Tablet Tape drive TDP Telephone Television Temperature Temperature gun Terminate Tesla Dojo Thermal sensors Thumbscrew Thunderbolt Tile TiVo Tools Touch Touchpad Touch screen Tower TPM Trackball Transcoding Transfer time Transistor Transmission Tuner card Turbo button Turnkey system TV TV tuner card Tweak Typeball Type Cover Typewriter
U
UART UART overrun UDMA UHCI UHD ULSI Ultrabook Ultra-light computer Ultra SCSI Ultraviolet UMS Unbundled Uncanny valley Undock Unibus UNIVAC Universal machine Universal Media Disc Unknown device UPC Upcycle Upgrade UPnP UPS Uptime Upward compatible USB USB drive
V
V.28 Vacuum tube Vanilla VCR VCS VDU Vega Vendor Vendor ID Vertical mouse VGA VHF VHS VIA Video card Video Computer System Videodisk Video memory Viiv Virtual device Virtualization Vitesse Bus VL Bus Voice-grade channel Volatile memory Volume VR VRAM VSAM VT-100
W
Ware Warm swap Water block Waymo WDM Wearable Webcam Wetware WFM Wheel of reincarnation White box WHQL Wibree Wii Windows Mixed Reality Windows Touch Wing Wintel Wireless charging Workaround Workstation WQHD WQXGA Write Write mode
X
X86 Xbox Xbox 360 XJACK XPS XT
Y
Yoke
Z
Z1 Z3 Zap ZIF socket Zip drive Zoomed video ZX81

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