These were generally expensive specialized computers sold for business or scientific uses. The IBM 5100 in 1975 had a small CRT display and could be programmed in BASIC and APL. The Wang 2200 of 1973 had a full-size cathode-ray tube (CRT) and cassette tape storage. The HP 9800 series, which started out as programmable calculators in 1971 but was programmable in BASIC by 1972, used a smaller version of a minicomputer design based on ROM memory and had small one-line LED alphanumeric displays and displayed graphics with a plotter. 1970 saw the introduction of the Datapoint 2200, a "smart" computer terminal complete with keyboard and monitor, was designed to connect with a mainframe computer but that did not stop owners from using its built-in computational abilities as a stand-alone desktop computer. It was not until the 1970s when fully programmable computers appeared that could fit entirely on top of a desk. Minicomputers, on the contrary, generally fit into one or a few refrigerator-sized racks, or, for the few smaller ones, built into a fairly large desk, not put on top of it. Early computers, and later the general purpose high throughput « mainframes», took up the space of a whole room. Prior to the widespread use of microprocessors, a computer that could fit on a desk was considered remarkably small the type of computers most commonly used were minicomputers, which, despite the name, were rather large and were "mini" only compared to the so-called " big iron". As the majority of cases offered since the mid-1990s are in this form factor, the term desktop (or pizza box, for compact models) has been retronymically used to refer to modern cases offered in the traditional horizontal orientation. Personal computers with their cases oriented vertically are referred to as towers. The case may be oriented horizontally or vertically and placed either underneath, beside, or on top of a desk. The most common configuration has a case that houses the power supply, motherboard (a printed circuit board with a microprocessor as the central processing unit, memory, bus, certain peripherals and other electronic components), disk storage (usually one or more hard disk drives, solid state drives, optical disc drives, and in early models a floppy disk drive) a keyboard and mouse for input and a monitor, speakers, and, often, a printer for output. Computer designed to be used at a fixed locationĪ computer lab with desktop PCs with flat-panel monitors A stylized illustration of a desktop personal computer, consisting of a case (containing the motherboard and processor), a monitor, a keyboard and a mouseĪ desktop computer (often abbreviated desktop ) is a personal computer designed for regular use at a stationary location on or near a desk (as opposed to a portable computer) due to its size and power requirements.
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