Bay A cavity in a notebook used primarily for removable drives but also for accessories. A two-bay notebook has an internal bay for the hard drive and a second bay for a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or floppy disk drive, which typically can be replaced with a spare battery. A three-bay notebook also has a floppy disk drive built in. Some manufacturers use the term spindles, referring to the shafts on which the disks spin, so a two-spindle notebook has two drives and two drive bays.
 

Bluetooth An up-and-coming technology for wirelessly transferring data short distances (up to 30 feet) among notebooks, cell phones, Palm or Windows CE handhelds, and printers. It is built into a few current notebooks, including some HP, IBM, and Toshiba models, but it's not yet a stable standard for mainstream users. It is not a competitor to wireless Ethernet. A Bluetooth- enabled PC Card can be added to a notebook for about $100. A few systems offer it built-in.
 

CD-RW drive A CD-ROM drive that stores multimedia data on recordable (CD-R) and rewritable (CD-RW) discs. You can use the discs for creating backups on the road or for your favorite music mixes. The upcharge is $100 to $150 over a standard CD-ROM drive; a combination DVD/CD-RW drive is $200 to $250 extra, half what it was a year ago.
 

Docking station A cradle for your notebook that provides space for extra drives and attachment points for all your cables. Docking stations are popular in business but are losing favor to port replicators among individuals.
 

802.11b The emerging standard for wireless networking. With this technology, anyone within about 50 to 100 feet of an Ethernet wireless access point can connect to wired networks and the Internet at a high speed. Newer standards include 802.11a (faster but incompatible with 802.11b) and the forthcoming 802.11g (faster and compatible).
 

Kensington slot A universal connector for a physical security lock, named after the company that invented the feature. Regardless of the brand, virtually every notebook security lock you can buy fits the Kensington-style slot.
 

PC Card slot A space in a notebook where you can insert credit card-size accessories such as modems, network adapters, wireless network adapters, security cards and memory cards, as well as connection points for some external disk drives. As notebooks integrate more features (modems, networking, and wireless networking), they tend to reduce the number of PC Card slots from two to one.
 

Pointing device A built-in substitute for the mouse—either a touch pad or a pointing stick that looks like a pencil eraser stuck below the G and H keys. Some notebooks have both types. Many users still prefer plugging in a traditional mouse.
 

Port replicator A hardware device that attaches to a notebook and connects all the cables (modem, printer, power, and mouse) that you would otherwise attach one by one to your notebook's ports or connection points. It is simpler than a docking station and cheaper.
 

SpeedStep Intel technology that slows the processor when the notebook is running on battery power. It reduces performance but increases battery life by about 20 to 30 percent. AMD has a similar technology called PowerNow.
 

Travel weight The total weight of a notebook package for computing on the road, including the notebook, transformer, and external drive (each about two-thirds of a pound), a full-size battery (if the built-in battery is underpowered), and possibly an adapter module for connecting accessories to a small notebook. Unless you see the words travel weight, assume the weight you're quoted is "system weight," and add 1 or 2 pounds to get the actual travel weight. Add another 2 to 3 pounds for an expansion slice.
 

Universal Serial Bus (USB) An all-purpose input/output connector that lets you attach a mouse and printer. A notebook has one to four USB ports. Over time they'll replace single-purpose connectors. USB 2.0, which is much faster than 1.0, is due by early 2003; you can buy a PC Card adapter now for $75.
 

XGA (Extended Graphics Array) The most common screen resolution for notebooks and desktops: 1,024 pixels (dots per inch) horizontally by 768 vertically. Other resolutions are SXGA (Super Extended Graphics Array) (1,280-by-1,024), used more on desktops than notebooks), SXGA+ (1,400-by-1,050), and UXGA (Ultra Extended Graphics Array) (1,600-by-1,200). The higher resolutions make for crisp graphics and small text.