Misplaced Pages

King City weather radar station

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

The King City weather radar station ( ICAO site identifier CASKR ( CWKR prior to 2021)) is a weather radar located in King City , Ontario , Canada . It is operated by Environment Canada and is part of the Canadian weather radar network , for which it is the primary research station .

#531468

72-481: The 16.45 hectare site is listed at an elevation of 360 m, and the tower is 27 m tall. Mounted on the tower was a 5 cm weather radar, and a C-band dual-polarization radar system, installed at the site in 2004, which was replaced during the modernization program of Canadian weather radar network of 2021 by an S band (10 cm), dual-polarization radar. The station serves a number of research roles, and collects data to fulfill those observational needs. It

144-447: A hard disk drive (HDD) for storage; since then, solid-state drives (SSD) have gradually come to supplant hard drives in all but some inexpensive consumer models. Solid-state drives are faster and more power-efficient, as well as eliminating the hazard of drive and data corruption caused by a laptop's physical impacts, as they use no mechanical parts such as a rotational platter. In many cases, they are more compact as well. Initially, in

216-406: A laptop or notebook , is a small, portable personal computer (PC). Laptops typically have a clamshell form factor with a flat-panel screen on the inside of the upper lid and an alphanumeric keyboard and pointing device on the inside of the lower lid. Most of the computer's internal hardware is fitted inside the lower lid enclosure under the keyboard, although many modern laptops have

288-417: A separate graphics processor were limited in their utility for gaming and professional applications involving 3D graphics, but the capabilities of CPU-integrated graphics have converged with the low-end of dedicated graphics processors since the mid-2010s. For laptops possessing limited onboard graphics capability but sufficient I/O throughput, an external GPU (eGPU) can provide additional graphics power at

360-414: A broad range of devices, which combined features of several previously separate device types. The hybrids , convertibles , and 2-in-1s emerged as crossover devices, which share traits of both tablets and laptops. All such devices have a touchscreen display designed to allow users to work in a tablet mode, using either multi-touch gestures or a stylus / digital pen . Convertibles are devices with

432-429: A built-in webcam at the top of the screen, and some even feature a touchscreen display. In most cases, unlike tablet computers which run on mobile operating systems , laptops tend to run on desktop operating systems, which were originally developed for desktop computers . The word laptop , modeled after the term desktop (as in desktop computer ), refers to the fact that the computer can be practically placed on

504-458: A few high-end models intended for gaming do as well. As of 2021, 8 GB RAM is most common, with lower-end models occasionally having 4 GB. Higher-end laptops may come with 16 GB of RAM or more. The earliest laptops most often used floppy disk for storage, although a few used either RAM disk or tape, by the late 1980s hard disk drives had become the standard form of storage. Between 1990 and 2009, almost all laptops typically had

576-469: A fiberglass laminate radome, and a parabolic reflector with a diameter of 6.1m and linear horizontal polarisation. Its gain was 48 dB. The radar emitted a 260 kW beam with a frequency of 5625 MHz and wavelength of 5.33 cm having a beam width of 0.65 degrees. In conventional operation, it had a pulse duration of 2 μs, pulse repetition frequency of 250 pulses per second, and performed 6.0 scanning rotations per minute. In Doppler operation, it had

648-405: A full-featured desktop OS like Windows 10 , and have a number of typical laptop I/O ports, such as USB 3 and Mini DisplayPort . 2-in-1s are designed to be used not only as a media consumption device but also as valid desktop or laptop replacements, due to their ability to run desktop applications, such as Adobe Photoshop . It is possible to connect multiple peripheral devices, such as

720-592: A laptop and provide display output over one USB-C Cable. Most laptop displays have a maximum refresh rate of 60 Hz. The Dell M17x and Samsung 700G7A, both released in 2011, were among the first laptops to feature a 120 Hz refresh rate, and more such laptops have appeared in the years since. A laptop's CPU has advanced power-saving features and produces less heat than one intended purely for desktop use. Mainstream laptop CPUs made after 2018 have at least two processor cores, often four cores, and sometimes more, with 6 and 8 cores becoming more common. For

792-510: A mouse, keyboard, and several external displays to a modern 2-in-1. Microsoft Surface Pro-series devices and Surface Book are examples of modern 2-in-1 detachable, whereas Lenovo Yoga -series computers are a variant of 2-in-1 convertibles. While the older Surface RT and Surface 2 have the same chassis design as the Surface Pro, their use of ARM processors and Windows RT do not classify them as 2-in-1s, but as hybrid tablets. Similarly,

SECTION 10

#1733084881532

864-742: A number of hybrid laptops run a mobile operating system , such as Android . These include Asus's Transformer Pad devices, examples of hybrids with a detachable keyboard design, which do not fall in the category of 2-in-1s. A rugged laptop is designed to reliably operate in harsh usage conditions such as strong vibrations, extreme temperatures, and wet or dusty environments. Rugged laptops are bulkier, heavier, and much more expensive than regular laptops, and thus are seldom seen in regular consumer use. The basic components of laptops function identically to their desktop counterparts. Traditionally they were miniaturized and adapted to mobile use, The design restrictions on power, size, and cooling of laptops limit

936-456: A pulse duration of 0.5 μs, alternating pulse repetition frequencies of 892 and 1190 pulses per second, and a scan rate of 0.75 rotations per minute. In long-range Doppler operation, a pulse repetition frequency of 650 pulses per second and a scan rate of 2 rotations per minute were used. It was replaced in 2004 by a similar radar but with dual polarization capabilities. During the modernization program of Canadian weather radar network , it

1008-485: A small niche market , mostly for specialized field applications, such as in the military, for accountants, or travelling sales representatives. As portable computers evolved into modern laptops, they became widely used for a variety of purposes. The history of the laptop follows closely behind the development of the personal computer itself. A "personal, portable information manipulator" was imagined by Alan Kay at Xerox PARC in 1968, and described in his 1972 paper as

1080-493: A standard for memory cards in PCs. The specification for PCMCIA type I cards, later renamed PC Cards, was first released in 1990. Displays reached 640x480 ( VGA ) resolution by 1988 ( Compaq SLT/286 ), and color screens started becoming a common upgrade in 1991, with increases in resolution and screen size occurring frequently until the introduction of 17" screen laptops in 2003. Hard drives started to be used in portables, encouraged by

1152-485: A wide range of CPUs designed for laptops available from both Intel , AMD , and other manufacturers. On non- x86 architectures, Motorola and IBM produced the chips for the former PowerPC -based Apple laptops ( iBook and PowerBook ). Between around 2000 to 2014, most full-size laptops had socketed, replaceable CPUs; on thinner models, the CPU was soldered on the motherboard and was not replaceable or upgradable without replacing

1224-588: Is "responsible for providing national leadership on radar meteorology research applications". In 1984, the Research Directorate of the Atmospheric Environment Service established the first Canadian weather radar with Doppler capability in King City. In 2004, a dual-polarization radar was installed for further research. These systems are used for predictive purposes, and the data collected

1296-398: Is a concept for a laptop that can be easily disassembled. The terms laptop and notebook both trace their origins to the early 1980s, coined to describe portable computers in a size class smaller than the contemporary mainstream units (so-called "luggables" ) but larger than pocket computers . The etymologist William Safire traced the origin of laptop to some time before 1984;

1368-454: Is being replaced again on the same site in the spring of 2021 by an S band and dual-polarization radar with an estimated construction date from March to June. This new radar uses a klystron , instead of a magnetron , and has: C band (IEEE) The C band is a designation by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in

1440-426: Is by the high frequency (5.2 GHz) band of Wi-Fi ( IEEE 802.11a ) wireless computer networks. These are the most widely used computer networks in the world, used to allow laptops , smartphones , printers and TVs to connect to the internet through a wireless router in home and small office networks, and access points in hotels, libraries, and coffee shops. The communications C band was the first frequency band that

1512-476: Is mounted, although, as of 2021, an increasing number of models use memory soldered to the motherboard, either alongside SO-DIMM slots or without any slots and soldering all memory to the motherboard, but a new form factor, the CAMM module , is slated to fix the size and timing limitation. Before 2000, most laptops used proprietary memory modules if their memory was upgradable. In the early 2010s, high end laptops such as

SECTION 20

#1733084881532

1584-429: Is no clear dividing line in minimum or maximum size. Machines small enough to be handheld (screens in the 6–8" range) can be marketed either as very small laptops or "handheld PCs", while the distinction between the largest laptops and "All-in-One" desktops is whether they fold for travel. Having a higher resolution display allows more items to fit onscreen at a time, improving the user's ability to multitask, although, at

1656-430: Is not unknown as of 2022, but since around 2010, the practice has been restricted to small-volume gaming models. Laptop CPUs are rarely able to be overclocked ; most use locked processors. Even on gaming models where unlocked processors are available, the cooling system in most laptops is often very close to its limits and there is rarely headroom for an overclocking–related operating temperature increase. On most laptops,

1728-472: Is reserved exclusively for radar altimeter installed on board aircraft and for the associated transponders on the ground. In February 2020, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission adopted rules for the ;band at 3.7–4.2 GHz that allocated the lower 280 megahertz of the band, at 3.7–3.98 GHz, for terrestrial wireless use. Existing satellite operators will have to repack their operations into

1800-970: Is used for weather forecasts for the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe . Further, under the auspices of the Cloud Physics and Severe Weather Research Section of Environment Canada, the King Doppler Weather Radar Research Facility collects data for research. The radar can be useful for observing bird migration patterns, especially when data is taken in aggregate with that of other radar stations. Current active research in dual-polarization radar includes winter precipitation, detection and short-term forecasting of high-impact weather events, quantitative precipitation estimation, satellite validation, and particle type identification. The WSR82D radar installed in 1982 had

1872-576: The Socket G2 , but many laptops use processors that are soldered to the motherboard. Many laptops come with RAM and storage that is soldered to the motherboard and cannot be easily replaced. This restriction is one of the major differences between laptops and desktop computers, because the large " tower " cases used in desktop computers are designed so that new motherboards , hard disks , sound cards , RAM , and other components can be added. Memory and storage can often be upgraded with some disassembly, but with

1944-565: The flip form factor appeared in the early 1980s. The Dulmont Magnum was released in Australia in 1981–82, but was not marketed internationally until 1984–85. The US$ 8,150 (equivalent to $ 25,730 in 2023) GRiD Compass 1101 , released in 1982, was used at NASA and by the military , among others. The Sharp PC-5000 , the Ampere WS-1 , and Gavilan SC were released between 1983 and 1985. The Toshiba T1100 won acceptance by PC experts and

2016-496: The input/output components and capabilities of a desktop computer into a single unit, including a display screen (usually 11–17 in or 280–430 mm in diagonal size), small speakers, a keyboard, and a pointing device (namely compact ones such as touchpads or pointing sticks ). Hardware specifications may vary significantly between different types, models, and price points . Design elements, form factors, and construction can also vary significantly between models depending on

2088-565: The microwave range of frequencies ranging from 4.0 to 8.0  gigahertz (GHz). However, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission C band proceeding and auction, designated 3.7–4.2 GHz as C band. The C band is used for many satellite communications transmissions, some cordless telephones , as well as some radar and weather radar systems . The C band contains the 5.725 - 5.875 GHz ISM band allowing unlicensed use by low power devices, such as garage door openers , wireless doorbells , and baby monitors . A very large use

2160-575: The " Dynabook ". The IBM Special Computer APL Machine Portable (SCAMP) was demonstrated in 1973. This prototype was based on the IBM PALM processor . The IBM 5100 , the first commercially available portable computer , appeared in September 1975, and was based on the SCAMP prototype. As 8-bit CPU machines became widely accepted, the number of portables increased rapidly. The first "laptop-sized notebook computer"

2232-450: The 1970s introduction of portable computers, their forms have changed significantly, spawning a variety of visually and technologically differing subclasses. Excepting distinct legal trademark around terms (notably Ultrabook ), hard distinctions between these classes were rare, and their usage has varied over time and between sources. Since the late 2010s, more specific terms have become less commonly used, with sizes distinguished largely by

King City weather radar station - Misplaced Pages Continue

2304-427: The 1980s using red plasma displays could only be used when connected to AC power, and had a built in power supply. The development of memory cards was driven in the 1980s by the need for a floppy-disk-drive alternative, having lower power consumption, less weight, and reduced volume in laptops. The Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) was an industry association created in 1989 to promote

2376-509: The 2011 Samsung 700G7A have passed the 10 GB RAM barrier, featuring 16 GB of RAM. When upgradeable, memory slots are sometimes accessible from the bottom of the laptop for ease of upgrading; in other cases, accessing them requires significant disassembly. Most laptops have two memory slots, although some will have only one, either for cost savings or because some amount of memory is soldered. Some high-end models have four slots; these are usually mobile engineering workstations, although

2448-407: The 5.8 GHz ISM band between 5.725 and 5.875 GHz, which is used for medical and industrial heating applications and many unlicensed short-range microwave communication systems, such as cordless phones , baby monitors , and keyless entry systems for vehicles. The C-band frequencies of 5.4 GHz band [5.15 to 5.35 GHz, 5.47 to 5.725 GHz, or 5.725 to 5.875 GHz, depending on

2520-421: The C band is highly associated with television receive-only satellite reception systems, commonly called "big dish" systems, since small receiving antennas are not optimal for C band. Typical antenna sizes on C-band-capable systems range from 6 to 12 feet (1.8 to 3.5 meters) on consumer satellite dishes, although larger ones also can be used. For satellite communications, the microwave frequencies of

2592-430: The C band perform better under adverse weather conditions in comparison with the K u  band (11.2–14.5  GHz ), microwave frequencies used by other communication satellites . Rain fade  – the collective name for the negative effects of adverse weather conditions on transmission – is mostly a consequence of precipitation and moisture in the air . The C band also includes

2664-573: The C-Band Alliance (CBA) was established in September 2018 by the four satellite operators— Intelsat , SES , Eutelsat and Telesat —that provide the majority of C-band satellite services in the US, including media distribution reaching 100 million US households. The consortium made a proposal to the FCC to act as a facilitator for the clearing and repurposing of a 200 MHz portion of C-band spectrum to accelerate

2736-514: The C-Band Alliance was dead. Among other claims, Intelsat argued that it was obvious that the FCC was already treating each satellite operator individually and that it therefore made business sense for each company to respond to the FCC from its own commercial perspective. One of the major members of the C-Band Alliance, Intelsat, filed for bankruptcy on 14 May 2020, just before the new 5G spectrum auctions were to take place, with over US$ 15 billion in total debt. Public information showed that

2808-546: The GPU is integrated into the CPU to conserve power and space. This was introduced by Intel with the Core i-series of mobile processors in 2010, followed by similar AMD APU processors in January 2011. Before that, lower-end machines tended to use graphics processors integrated into the system chipset , while higher-end machines had a separate graphics processor. In the past, laptops lacking

2880-472: The IEEE S band for radars. The C-band communication satellites typically have 24 radio transponders spaced 20 MHz apart, but with the adjacent transponders on opposite polarizations such that transponders on the same polarization are always 40 MHz apart. Of this 40 MHz, each transponder utilizes about 36 MHz. The unused 4.0 MHz between the pairs of transponders act as guard bands for

2952-470: The ability to conceal a hardware keyboard. Keyboards on such devices can be flipped, rotated, or slid behind the back of the chassis, thus transforming from a laptop into a tablet. Hybrids have a keyboard detachment mechanism, and due to this feature, all critical components are situated in the part with the display. 2-in-1s can have a hybrid or a convertible form, often dubbed 2-in-1 detachable and 2-in-1 convertibles respectively, but are distinguished by

King City weather radar station - Misplaced Pages Continue

3024-459: The ability to run a desktop OS , such as Windows 10 . 2-in-1s are often marketed as laptop replacement tablets . 2-in-1s are often very thin, around 10 millimetres (0.39 in), and light devices with a long battery life. 2-in-1s are distinguished from mainstream tablets as they feature an x86 -architecture CPU (typically a low- or ultra-low-voltage model), such as the Intel Core i5 , run

3096-1112: The auction. In December 2021, Boeing and Airbus called on the US government to delay the rollout of new 5G phone service that uses C band due to concern of the interference with some sensitive aircraft instruments, especially radio altimeters operating at 4.2–4.4 GHz. On January 18, 2022, Verizon and AT&T announced that they would delay their C-band 5G rollout near airports in response to those concerns. ELF 3 Hz/100 Mm 30 Hz/10 Mm SLF 30 Hz/10 Mm 300 Hz/1 Mm ULF 300 Hz/1 Mm 3 kHz/100 km VLF 3 kHz/100 km 30 kHz/10 km LF 30 kHz/10 km 300 kHz/1 km MF 300 kHz/1 km 3 MHz/100 m HF 3 MHz/100 m 30 MHz/10 m VHF 30 MHz/10 m 300 MHz/1 m UHF 300 MHz/1 m 3 GHz/100 mm SHF 3 GHz/100 mm 30 GHz/10 mm EHF 30 GHz/10 mm 300 GHz/1 mm THF 300 GHz/1 mm 3 THz/0.1 mm Laptop A laptop computer or notebook computer , also known as

3168-454: The company had been considering bankruptcy protection from at least as early as February 2020. Slight variations in the assignments of C-band frequencies have been approved for use in various parts of the world, depending on their locations in the three ITU radio regions. Note that one region includes all of Europe and Africa , plus all of Russia ; a second includes all of the Americas, and

3240-581: The cost of physical space and portability. Higher-end laptops intended for gaming or professional 3D work still come with dedicated (and in some cases even dual) graphics processors on the motherboard or as an internal expansion card . Since 2011, these almost always involve switchable graphics so that when there is no demand for the higher performance dedicated graphics processor, the more power-efficient integrated graphics processor will be used. Nvidia Optimus and AMD Hybrid Graphics are examples of this sort of system of switchable graphics. Traditionally,

3312-481: The deployment of next generation 5G services, while protecting incumbent users and their content distribution and data networks in the US from potential interference. The C-Band Alliance lobbied for a private sale, but the FCC and some members of Congress wanted an auction . In November 2019, the FCC announced that an auction was planned, which took place in December 2020. Cable operators wanted to be compensated for

3384-465: The earliest attestation of laptop found by the Oxford English Dictionary dates to 1983. The word is modeled after the term desktop , as in desktop computer . Notebook , meanwhile, emerged earlier in 1982 to describe Epson 's HX-20 portable, whose dimensions roughly correspond to a letter -sized pad of paper . Notebooks emerged as their own separate market from laptops with

3456-417: The early 2010s. Optical disc drives became common in full-size laptops around 1997: initially, CD-ROM drives, supplanted by CD-R, then DVD, then Blu-ray drives with writing capability. Starting around 2011, the trend shifted against internal optical drives, and as of 2022, they have largely disappeared, though are still readily available as external peripherals . In 2021, Dell showed Concept Luna, which

3528-763: The higher resolutions on smaller screens, the resolution may only serve to display sharper graphics and text rather than increasing the usable area. Since the introduction of the MacBook Pro with Retina display in 2012, there has been an increase in the availability of "HiDPI" (or high Pixel density ) displays; as of 2022, this is generally considered to be anything higher than 1920 pixels wide. This has increasingly converged around 4K (3840-pixel-wide) resolutions. External displays can be connected to most laptops, with most models supporting at least one. The use of technology such as USB4 (section Alternate Mode partner specifications ). DisplayPort Alt Mode has been utilized to charge

3600-644: The intended use. Examples of specialized models of laptops include 2-in-1 laptops , with keyboards that either be detached or pivoted out of view from the display (often marketed having a "laptop mode"); rugged laptops , for use in construction or military applications ; and low-production-cost laptops such as those from the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) organization, which incorporate features like solar charging and semi-flexible components not found on most laptop computers. Portable computers , which later developed into modern laptops, were originally considered to be

3672-464: The introduction of 3.5" drives in the late 1980s, and became common in laptops starting with the introduction of 2.5" and smaller drives around 1990; capacities have typically lagged behind those of physically larger desktop drives. Resolutions of laptop webcams are 720p (HD), or 480p in lower-end laptops. The earliest-known laptops with 1080p (Full HD) webcams, like the Samsung 700G7C, were released in

SECTION 50

#1733084881532

3744-501: The likely case of imperfections in the microwave electronics . One use of the C band is for satellite communication, whether for full-time satellite television networks or raw satellite feeds, although subscription programming also exists. This use contrasts with direct-broadcast satellite , which is a completely closed system used to deliver subscription programming to small satellite dishes that are connected with proprietary receiving equipment. The satellite communications portion of

3816-457: The loss of 200 MHz, which would not include a guard band of 20 MHz to prevent interference. By late 2019, the commercial alliance had weakened. Eutelsat formally pulled out of the consortium in September 2019 over internal disagreements. By February 2020, it became even less of a factor in C-band spectrum reallocation as Intelsat pulled out of the alliance and communicated to the FCC that

3888-478: The low price and mainstream performance, there is no longer a significant performance difference between laptop and desktop CPUs, but at the high end, the fastest desktop CPUs still substantially outperform the fastest laptop processors, at the expense of massively higher power consumption and heat generation; the fastest laptop processors top out at 56 watts of heat, while the fastest desktop processors top out at 150 watts (and often need water cooling). There has been

3960-560: The mass market as a way to have PC portability. From 1983 onward, several new input techniques were developed and included in laptops, including the touch pad ( Gavilan SC , 1983), the pointing stick (IBM ThinkPad 700 , 1992), and handwriting recognition (Linus Write-Top, 1987). Some CPUs, such as the 1990 Intel i386SL , were designed to use minimum power to increase the battery life of portable computers and were supported by dynamic power management features such as Intel SpeedStep and AMD PowerNow! in some designs. Some laptops in

4032-406: The maximum performance of laptop parts compared to that of desktop components, although that difference has increasingly narrowed. In general, laptop components are not intended to be replaceable or upgradable by the end-user, except for components that can be detached; in the past, batteries and optical drives were commonly exchangeable. Some laptops feature socketed processors with sockets such as

4104-479: The most compact laptops, there may be no upgradeable components at all. The following sections summarize the differences and distinguishing features of laptop components in comparison to desktop personal computer parts. The typical laptop has a screen that, when unfolded, is upright to the user. Laptop screens most commonly employ liquid-crystal display (LCD) technology, although use of OLED panels has risen substantially since 2020. The display interfaces with

4176-921: The motherboard using the embedded DisplayPort protocol via the Low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS) 30 or 40 pin connector. The panels are mainly manufactured by AU Optronics , BOE Technology , LG Display or Samsung Display . Externally, it can be a glossy or a matte (anti-glare) screen. In the past, there was a broader range of marketing terms (both formal and informal) to distinguish between different sizes of laptops. These included Netbooks , subnotebooks , Ultra-mobile PC , and Desktop replacement computers ; these are sometimes still used informally, although they are essentially dead in terms of manufacturer marketing. As of 2021, mainstream consumer laptops tend to come with 11", 13" or 15"-16" screens; 14" models are more popular among business machines. Larger and smaller models are available, but less common – there

4248-428: The motherboard. Since 2015, Intel has not offered new laptop CPU models with pins to be interchangeable, preferring ball grid array chip packages which have to be soldered; and as of 2021, only a few rare models using desktop parts. In the past, some laptops have used a desktop processor instead of the laptop version and have had high-performance gains at the cost of greater weight, heat, and limited battery life; this

4320-446: The ranges 5.830 to 5.850 GHz for down-links and 5.650 to 5.670 GHz for up-links. This is known as the 5-centimeter band by amateurs and the C band by AMSAT . Particle accelerators may be powered by C-band RF sources. The frequencies are then standardized at 5.996 GHz (Europe) or 5.712 GHz (US), which is the second harmonic of S band . Several tokamak fusion reactors use high-power C-band RF sources to sustain

4392-527: The region of the world] are used for Wi-Fi wireless computer networks in the 5 GHz spectrum . The C-Band Alliance was an industry consortium of four large communications satellite operators in 2018–2020. In response to a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking of July 2018 from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to make the 3.7 to 4.2 GHz spectrum available for next-generation terrestrial fixed and mobile broadband services,

SECTION 60

#1733084881532

4464-474: The release of the NEC UltraLite in 1988. Notebooks and laptops continued to occupy distinct market segments into the mid-1990s, but ergonomic considerations and customer preference for larger screens soon led to notebooks converging with laptops in the late 1990s. Today, the terms laptop and notebook are synonymous, with laptop being the more common term in most English-speaking territories. Since

4536-432: The size of mainstream laptops has gone down and their capabilities have gone up; except for niche models, laptop sizes tend to be distinguished by the size of the screen, and for more powerful models, by any specialized purpose the machine is intended for, such as a " gaming laptop " or a " mobile workstation " for professional use. The latest trend of technological convergence in the portable computer industry spawned

4608-511: The size of the screen. There were in the past a number of marketing categories for smaller and larger laptop computers; these included "notebook" and " subnotebook " models, low cost " netbooks ", and " ultra-mobile PCs " where the size class overlapped with devices like smartphone and handheld tablets , and " Desktop replacement " laptops for machines notably larger and heavier than typical to operate more powerful processors or graphics hardware . All of these terms have fallen out of favor as

4680-418: The system RAM on laptops (as well as on desktop computers) was physically separate from the graphics memory used by the GPU. Apple's M series SoCs feature a unified pool of memory for both the system and the GPU; this approach can produce substantial efficiency gains for some applications but comes at the cost of eGPU support. Since around the year 2000, most laptops have used SO-DIMM slots in which RAM

4752-497: The third region includes all of Asia outside of Russia, plus Australia and New Zealand . This latter region is the most populous one, since it includes China , India , Pakistan , Japan , and Southeast Asia . The Radio Regulations of the International Telecommunication Union allow amateur radio operations in the frequency range 5.650 to 5.925 GHz, and amateur satellite operations are allowed in

4824-502: The time, but has since come to mean the same thing and no longer refers to any specific size. Laptops are used in a variety of settings, such as at work (especially on business trips ), in education , for playing games , web browsing , for personal multimedia , and for general home computer use. They can run on both AC power and rechargable battery packs and can be folded shut for convenient storage and transportation, making them suitable for mobile use . Laptops combine many of

4896-446: The toroidal plasma current. Common frequencies include 3.7 GHz ( Joint European Torus , WEST (formerly Tore Supra) ), 4.6 GHz (Alcator C, Alcator C-Mod , EAST , DIII-D ), 5 GHz ( KSTAR , ITER ) and 8 GHz ( Frascati Tokamak Upgrade ). The band 4.2–4.4 GHz is currently allocated to the aeronautical radionavigation service (ARNS) on a primary worldwide basis. RR No. 5.438 notes specifically that this band

4968-402: The upper 200 megahertz of the band, from 4.0 to 4.2 GHz, and there is a 20-megahertz guard band at 3.98–4.0 GHz. Licenses to use the 3.7–3.98 GHz band were auctioned in December 2020. Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile are main winners of the auction . Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile spent approximately $ 45 billion, $ 23 billion, and $ 9 billion respectively during

5040-464: The user's lap ; while the word notebook refers to most laptops sharing a form factor with paper notebooks . As of 2024 , in American English , the terms laptop and notebook are used interchangeably; in other dialects of English , one or the other may be preferred. The term notebook originally referred to a type of portable computer that was smaller and lighter than mainstream laptops of

5112-455: Was allocated for commercial telecommunications via satellites. The same frequencies were already in use for terrestrial microwave radio relay chains. Nearly all C-band communication satellites use the band of frequencies from 3.7  to 4.2 GHz for their downlinks , and the band of frequencies from 5.925 to 6.425 GHz for their uplinks . Note that by using the band from 3.7  to 4.0 GHz, this C band overlaps somewhat with

5184-798: Was the Epson HX-20 , invented (patented) by Suwa Seikosha 's Yukio Yokozawa in July 1980, introduced at the COMDEX computer show in Las Vegas by Japanese company Seiko Epson in 1981, and released in July 1982. It had an LCD screen, a rechargeable battery, and a calculator-size printer, in a 1.6 kg (3.5 lb) chassis, the size of an A4 notebook . It was described as a "laptop" and "notebook" computer in its patent. Both Tandy/RadioShack and Hewlett-Packard (HP) also produced portable computers of varying designs during this period. The first laptops using

#531468