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battery operating time — The length of time (minutes or hours) that a portable
computer battery powers the computer.
biometric reader — A strip sensor that uses your unique fingerprint to authenticate
your user identity to help secure your computer.
BIOS — basic input/output system — A program (or utility) that serves as an
interface between the computer hardware and the operating system. Unless you
understand what effect these settings have on the computer, do not change them. Also
referred to as system setup.
bit — The smallest unit of data interpreted by your computer.
Blu-ray Disc™ (BD)— An optical storage technology offering storage capacity of up
to 50 GB, full 1080p video resolution (HDTV required), and as many as 7.1 channels
of native, uncompressed surround sound.
®
Bluetooth
wireless technology — A wireless technology standard for short-range (9
m [29 feet]) networking devices that allows for enabled devices to automatically
recognize each other.
boot sequence — Specifies the order of the devices from which the computer
attempts to boot.
bootable media — A CD or DVD that you can use to start your computer. In case your
hard drive is damaged or your computer has a virus, ensure that you always have a
bootable CD or DVD available. Your Drivers and Utilities media is an example of
bootable media.
bps — bits per second — The standard unit for measuring data transmission speed.
BTU — British thermal unit — A measurement of heat output.
bus — A communication pathway between the components in your computer.
bus speed — The speed, given in MHz, that indicates how fast a bus can transfer
information.
byte — The basic data unit used by your computer. A byte is usually equal to 8 bits.
C
C — Celsius — A temperature measurement scale where 0° is the freezing point and
100° is the boiling point of water.
cache — A special high-speed storage mechanism which can be either a reserved
section of main memory or an independent high-speed storage device. The cache
enhances the efficiency of many processor operations.
L1 cache — Primary cache stored inside the processor.
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