What are peripherals and what are they for?

Peripherals are an essential part of a PC, as it depends on them to have a good experience of use. Due to their great importance, we have prepared this complete guide with everything you need to know about them.

Index of contents

Peripherals are the devices through which the computer communicates with the outside world, and also to the systems that store the information, serving as auxiliary memory to the main memory, whether it is located outside or in the inside the computer. We should not confuse peripherals with information support devices, which are physical means on which information is written, for example CD, DVD, floppy disk…

The functional units of the computer and the peripherals communicate by the serial (COM, USB…) and parallel (LPT1, LPT2) buses. The connection of these to the system bus can be done directly or through circuits called interfaces. The great diversity with differentiated characteristics requires the presence of special interfaces to adapt the characteristics of the peripherals to those of the system bus.

Guides to the best peripherals on the market

Then we leave you the best guides that we have prepared (with great care and love) on peripherals and that we will update on the go:

Types of peripherals

We can classify peripherals into: input units, output units, and auxiliary mass memory units.

Input devices

The input devices are those that allow information to be entered into the computer, the most important are:

Keyboard

It is a device similar to that of a typewriter, in which each key corresponds to one or more characters, functions or commands. To select one of the characters on a key, it may be necessary to press two or more keys simultaneously. Among the technical characteristics of a keyboard, the number of basic characters and symbols stand out, the sensitivity to pulsation, the type of key contacts (membrane or mechanical), weight, size, portability, ergonomics, extra features such as a magnetic stripe reader, smart card reader and writer, etc).

The interface between the keyboard and the computer can be wired or wireless using infrared or radio frequency signals. For us, together with the mouse, one of the most important peripherals.

Mouse or mouse

The original mouse consisted of a freely rotatable ball that was operated by rolling it on a flat surface. The current ones have replaced the ball by an optical diode or infrared laser system. Activating the mouse associates its position with that of the cursor on the screen, making it follow the movements of the mouse when moving over a surface.

The concept of the mouse has been expanded with the introduction of other similar devices such as the trackball consisting of a fixed ball that is rotated with the fingers, the touchpad, which uses a panel sensitive to gentle pressure of the fingers or the pointing stick., a small vertical cylinder. All of them are used in laptop keyboards and use connection interfaces similar to those of keyboards.

Optical pencil

The stylus is one of the most modern peripherals, at least in the household sector. It is a device associated with touch screens, activating the stylus in front of a point on the screen gives the coordinates of the place where the stylus was pointed.

Touch or touch screen

They are screens that can detect the coordinates of the area of ​​the screen itself that is touched with a pointer. These types of screens can be capacitive or resistive depending on whether or not they need electrical conductivity in the pointer to function.

Digitizer

These devices allow a digital representation of graphics, figures, plans, maps, or drawings in general to be transferred to the computer. This is achieved by manually sliding a moving part over the line to be digitized that transfers the coordinates of the points that make up the image.

Reading devices

These are alternatives to the keyboard that are used when it is necessary to provide a large amount of information to the computer quickly and reducing the risk of errors. Among the most common we find the following.

Scanner

These are devices that allow the tracing of images or printed documents, which are processed with an optical character recognition (OCR) program and the original text is generated in the format of the most common text editors.

Magnetic stripe detector

It uses electromagnetic signals to record and encode information on a magnetized band, which can be read by a machine. They are present in a large number of objects of daily life such as credit cards, health cards, airline tickets and many more.

Smart card reader

Smart cards are cards similar in size to credit cards, but which incorporate an electronic circuit and a small memory capable of storing much more data than a magnetic stripe.

Mark and barcode readers

Lets you read barcodes or predefined marks. They are the typical readers that we can find in all supermarkets in the box section.

Sensors

Sensors are electronic devices created to capture measurements of physical properties, such as temperature, pressure, humidity, etc. They are widely used in industry, laboratories, medical instrumentation, and meteorology. Among them stand out biometric systems, used for access control and security applications, these use information about some physiological characteristic as a means of personal identification.

Output devices

The output devices serve as a one-way window from the computer to the user.

Monitor or display

A screen is a flat, smooth, white surface made of textile or plastic, on which cinematographic or photographic images are projected. Various technologies and features are used, among which the following stand out:

• Cathode Ray Tube (CRT).Liquid Crystal (LCD: Liquid Crystal Display).Plasma.OLED.

They all have in common that the image is not continuous, but is formed by a multitude of image points called pixels. These pixels are grouped together forming a regular matrix of image points. The resolution of a screen is the number of image points that a screen has, it is an independent value of the screen size. Another key peripheral when choosing a good computer.

Printer

The screens show the results temporarily, so we need to have a printing system if we want to have a permanent copy of the data. Printers can be classified according to some of their characteristics:

Depending on print quality:

• Normal: line, wheel and thermal printers. Medium quality: some matrix printers. High quality: daisy, ink and laser printers.

According to the printing system:

• Impact printers. Traditionally widely used, but they are noisy so they are no longer in use. Among them are wheel, ball, daisy, matrix, cylinder and chain printers. Printers without impact. they form characters without the need for strokes and use other physical principles to transfer images to paper. They are the ones used today, among them the inkjet, the electrostatic, the LED and the laser stand out.
  • Inkjet printers. They are character printers and their problem is the relative slowness. Electrostatic printers. They are very fast line printers. Laser printers. They are widely used for their high speed, print quality, relative low price and being able to use plain paper. LED printers. They are analogous to lasers, with the only difference that the image is generated from a row of diodes, instead of a laser.

All printers are characterized by a series of parameters, the most important of which are the following:

• Writing speed Characters per line Paper width or carriage length in inches Line density per inch and space between them Typefaces the printer can use Color or grayscale Resolution

Printers are one of the most widely used peripherals at the office and home level.

Wireless or wired peripherals

A first question that may arise when purchasing a new peripheral is whether we choose a wireless model or a wired one. A priori a peripheral without cable is more comfortable since we will not have the problem of tangles with cables and we will enjoy greater freedom of movement.

But not everything is pink in wireless technology, these types of peripherals are more prone to interference, their autonomy is limited due to limited battery or battery capacity, and communication with the PC is more delayed., what we call latency. During the last years, all these problems have been minimized and we can already find mice and keyboards that last a year and a half with two or three batteries, have a latency equal to a wired model and do not suffer from interference.

The problem of autonomy in mice is beginning to be solved now, with mats that supply power to the mouse so that it is continuously charging, an example of this is the Razer Mamba Hyperflux or the Corsair Corsair Dark Core RGB, the inconvenience of these two is that the set of mouse + mat is around 200 euros or even more.

The wireless peripherals can work with bluetooth technology or a dedicated radio frequency receiver that connects via USB. The bluetooth models use less energy and can be used in various computers more comfortably, although they have drawbacks, such as that they cannot be used until the operating system has loaded the bluetooth driver, making it impossible to manage the BIOS with them due to example. This does not happen with radio frequency ones, since they do not depend on any driver.

What aspects to focus on a mouse

There are three types of mice in broad strokes, all with a very differentiated usage profile:

• Gaming mice: They are the most advanced mice with the best features, but they are also the most expensive for the same reasons. Most of them include buttons with programmable functions by software, a very comfortable design in the hand, and a sensor of maximum precision so that we do not miss any shot, or at least it is not the fault of the mouse if we fail. Ergonomic Mice: These types of mice are born to avoid the problem of carpal tunnel syndrome, a problem that occurs in some people who spend many hours a day using the mouse. The design of these mice makes the position of the hand during use much more natural. Mice for travelers: they are small in size and light in weight to transport them in a more comfortable way, they are also usually all wireless. The downside is that they are more uncomfortable to use, and their features are usually not the best.

Beyond the above, all mice have the following characteristics:

Optical or laser sensor: the mouse sensor can be laser or optical, although the former are used less and less. The first optical sensors had problems working on surfaces such as wood or glass, these problems have been solved as they have evolved, while offering superior precision to lasers. Today almost all mice are optical.

Sensor sensitivity: determines how much the cursor will move for each unit of space that we move the mouse, the higher the sensitivity the more the cursor will move, although we will have less precision. The current values ​​usually go from 1, 000 to 16, 000 DPI or even more, you will hardly need more than 2000-3000 DPI, the highest values ​​are due to a marketing reason, to make believe that I count more better always, which does not have to be true.

Mouse Weight: Mouse weight is another important factor, a light mouse will be easier to slide, although it may be less accurate. In general, we tend to look for mice as light as possible, 100 grams or less.

We recommend reading our post on The best mice for PC: Gaming, wireless and the cheapest

There are three different types of mouse grips, these are; Palm grip, Claw grip and Fingertip grip.

Palm Grip (palm grip):

It is the most common grip for the mouse, the weight of the hand rests directly on the mouse. The great advantage of this type of grip is that it avoids the discomfort that can occur in the wrist in the movement of the peripheral, therefore it is especially recommended for players. Its disadvantage is that it does not allow movements as fast as the other grips. Razer DeathAdder is one of the best mice for this agrarre.

Claw Grip (claw grip):

In this type of grip , the fingers arch and the palm rests on the back of the mouse. This grip will be short or long depending on the size of the hand, since the fingers should be bowed. The advantage of this grip is that it is more precise and faster than the palm in movements, although it has the disadvantage that the wrist suffers more during long sessions. Most mice adapt very well to this type of grip, the Razer DeathAdder and the Logitech G603 are very good options.

Fingertip Grip (grip with fingertips):

It is the strangest grip of the three, its peculiarity is that the palm of the hand does not rest on the mouse, only the tips of the fingers do. This grip is the fastest of all, and allows you to react faster, since the movement is done by the wrist and not the arm. Its disadvantages are less precision and greater fatigue of the wrist. It is ideal for small mice.

Is a mouse mat worth it?

The mat is intended to offer us the best possible surface to slide the mouse. Mice have evolved a lot and are able to work on a huge variety of surfaces, this makes the mat less important than it was years ago. To be honest, I don't use a mat on a regular basis and my mouse works perfectly on the wood of my desk.

No need does not mean that a mat cannot help us improve the use of the mouse, so it is worth trying one. Currently we can find mats with sizes ranging from miniature models of 24.89 x 21.08 centimeters to XXL models of 91 x 45 centimeters or even more. The choice of the mat size will basically depend on the space you have available, The most advanced mats include wireless charging systems for wireless mice, together they form a perfect duo so the mouse never runs out of power. Some examples are Corsair Corsair MM1000 and the Razer Firefly Hyperflux, its drawback is that its price is very high, hovering around 100 euros or more.

The mat can be especially recommended if you play competitive games or use the mouse very intensively, as you could damage the peripheral or the surface below it. A standard mat can cost you 10 to 20 euros, it is not a very large outlay.

How to choose a keyboard, membrane or mechanical

The first question that arises when buying a keyboard is whether it is better to opt for a mechanical or a membrane model, the answer is not as simple as it may seem at first. It is true that mechanical keyboards are the peripherals that offer the best feeling of use and are much more durable, but keep in mind that they are much louder and much more expensive. Can you imagine typing on a mechanical keyboard in an office with ten other people? It should not be a pleasant thing. Membrane keyboards are much quieter, although their durability is less and the experience of use is considerably worse than with a mechanical one. To answer this question, you must clarify that it is more important to you, whether silence or having the best experience of use, whether to forget the economic possibilities of each one.

What type of mechanical keyboard do I buy to play?

In case of opting for a mechanical keyboard, we have the question of which switches to choose. As for the manufacturer, Cherry MX is the undisputed leader in quality, so it should be your choice if you want the best. The next question is which variant of switch to choose, since Cherry offers us the Blue, Red, Brown, Black, Silver versions and many more. Red switches are the most widely used for gaming, and Brown switches are usually the most appreciated as an off-road option.

You can learn more about the different types of switches in our guide on Cherry MX switches: Red, Black, Blue, Brown...

The next question is if we opt for a full-format keyboard or a TKL model, the latter eliminate the number block on the right to offer a more compact product. TKL keyboards are better for playing, since the hands are closer together and a more natural position.

We recommend reading our post on The best keyboards for PC (Mechanical, membrane and wireless)

Different types of headphones and which one interests me

To choose new headphones, we first have to differentiate the different types that exist:

• Earbud: The most common and cheapest are the so-called earbuds, and they usually come with mobiles and other inexpensive devices. This design has the disadvantage that it lets out a lot of sound, so you will need a higher volume level. In-ear: They are very popular today, their most important feature is that they include a silicone pad that is inserted into the external ear, which produces a good seal and better isolation from external noise. They offer a higher quality sound than the previous ones, although they put more pressure on the inner ear, so they can be more harmful if we use a high volume. Supra-auricular: they are called helmets, headphones that are placed above the head and cover the entire ear. They are the most comfortable to wear and the ones that offer the best sound and insulation, although they are large and heavy, they are ideal for use at home, but not on the street.

USB or 3.5mm connection

Having decided on the type of headset, we must think of other characteristics such as the type of connection. Current headphones can work with either a USB connection or a 3.5mm Jack connection. USB headphones carry their own sound card and do not use the PC's, so if we have a high-end sound card in our computer, we will be wasting it.

The headphones with 3.5mm jack connect to the PC sound card, so they will make use of it. These are ideal if we have a high-end sound card, since those that integrate the USB headphones are usually of low quality.

Is a headset or a combination of headset plus microphone worth it?

The next question is whether a headset is worth it. The headphones are headphones that integrate a microphone, they are models focused on players, since they allow them to communicate with playmates in a much more comfortable way. Its drawback is that with all the gaming fashions that exist today, most manufacturers focus more on daring designs than on what really matters, the sound quality.

In general, a combination of headphones + a desktop microphone will give you a much better sound quality than that of a headset, and often even for less money, the problem is that it takes up more space. Another of the super important peripherals and that many times we do not take

To help you choose new gaming headsets, you can read our guide on the best Gamer PC headsets

Most important features of monitors

Finally, we talk about the B most important characteristics that you should take into account in a monitor when choosing one. The first thing we should look at is the type of panel it mounts, the main determinant of its properties and characteristics. The main types of panels on PC monitors are as follows.

Different types of panels:

• Twisted nematic (TN): They are the fastest panels and the most suitable for games or videos with a lot of movement. The downside is that the color gamut is the poorest and the viewing angles are low. Vertical Alignment (VA): They were developed to alleviate the weaknesses of the TN, making the representation of colors much higher and the viewing angles much wider. IPS (In Plane Switching): They emerged after VA to further improve the representation of colors, and this is their main strength, in addition to perfect viewing angles.

A good panel on a monitor, which is a fundamental peripheral in our PC configuration, is key. We always recommend choosing very good quality IPS.

Size and resolution matter

Having chosen the type of panel, we have to think about the size, generally the most common are the 27-inch ones that have become very popular over the last few years for offering a fairly large viewing surface and its size on the desktop is not excessive.

The next step is to choose the resolution, something that depends on the size of our monitor. The larger the size of a monitor, the higher the resolution that we will need to maintain the sharpness of the image. On a 22-inch monitor it will be difficult to see the difference between a 1080p resolution and a 2K or 4K resolution, a situation is very different from what we will have on a 27-inch monitor, because there the difference between 1080p and 2K or 4K already it is very appreciable.

Soda rate is the last important ingredient

Finally, the refresh rate represents the number of times the monitor updates the image per second, measured in Hertz (Hz). The higher the refresh rate, the more fluid feeling a monitor in games with more movement will offer us. 60 Hz is the minimum to demand in a gaming monitor, although if we are going to play shooting games a lot we are more interested in going to a 120 Hz monitor, the 240 Hz ones will be very difficult for us to take advantage of.

Here ends our guide on PC peripherals, if you have any questions you can leave a comment.