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Madtowntripper
Sun-Beams out of Cucumbers



Registered: 03/06/03
Posts: 21,287
Loc: The Ocean of Notions
Last seen: 5 months, 23 days
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What is this "Infrared Port" on my laptop for?
#7982787 - 02/05/08 01:46 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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So I bought a used Alienware laptop a few weeks back.
I am incredibly happy with it and it serves all my purposes well. I would like to stick some more RAM in it, but that is a story for another day.
Today, I want to know what purpose this infrared port serves? I am a bit confused over whether it is for peripheral devices, like keyboards and mouses (Mice?), or if it is some kind of high-speed data transfer system. I seem to read conflicting things, and it seems entirely possible to me that there are infrared ports that do both of these things.
So what is this, what is it for, and how can I use it.
Thanks.
-------------------- After one comes, through contact with it's administrators, no longer to cherish greatly the law as a remedy in abuses, then the bottle becomes a sovereign means of direct action. If you cannot throw it at least you can always drink out of it. - Ernest Hemingway If it is life that you feel you are missing I can tell you where to find it. In the law courts, in business, in government. There is nothing occurring in the streets. Nothing but a dumbshow composed of the helpless and the impotent. -Cormac MacCarthy He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God. - Aeschylus
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im_on_a_boat
Stranger

Registered: 04/06/06
Posts: 3,950
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Re: What is this "Infrared Port" on my laptop for? [Re: Madtowntripper]
#7982833 - 02/05/08 01:59 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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it's so the government can keep track of you at all times.
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PoisonedV
Fuming Shrooming




Registered: 09/13/07
Posts: 398
Loc: Hell
Last seen: 9 years, 1 month
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Re: What is this "Infrared Port" on my laptop for? [Re: im_on_a_boat]
#7982840 - 02/05/08 02:02 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Various stuff. You can use software that makes it into a remote
-------------------- Lazy...
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Diploid
Cuban



Registered: 01/09/03
Posts: 19,274
Loc: Rabbit Hole
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Re: What is this "Infrared Port" on my laptop for? [Re: Madtowntripper]
#7982921 - 02/05/08 02:39 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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That's the predecessor to BlueTooth. It's has no practical use any more that I'm aware of.
-------------------- Republican Values: 1) You can't get married to your spouse who is the same sex as you. 2) You can't have an abortion no matter how much you don't want a child. 3) You can't have a certain plant in your possession or you'll get locked up with a rapist and a murderer. 4) We need a smaller, less-intrusive government.
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bongoboy2000
Bongoboy2000

Registered: 02/07/04
Posts: 403
Loc: Seattle
Last seen: 11 years, 6 months
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Re: What is this "Infrared Port" on my laptop for? [Re: Diploid]
#7982954 - 02/05/08 02:50 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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It's a wireless connection that older (and some newer) devices use to communicate. For example, a printer might have an IR (infrared) port. You'd just sit the printer next to the computer and line up the two IR ports to print without hooking up a cable. Remote controls use IR to control your TV. I used to have a cell phone that had an IR port and could transfer pictures back and forth to my computer. As Diploid said, now most newer computers use bluetooth, which is a radio frequency used for wireless communication, and can be anywhere within 30 feet or so. IR needs to be in direct line of sight. It's a cool feature to have but you may never use it unless you buy a device that is IR capable.
-------------------- ...I got nothin..
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Madtowntripper
Sun-Beams out of Cucumbers



Registered: 03/06/03
Posts: 21,287
Loc: The Ocean of Notions
Last seen: 5 months, 23 days
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Re: What is this "Infrared Port" on my laptop for? [Re: Diploid]
#7983239 - 02/05/08 04:16 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
Diploid said: That's the predecessor to BlueTooth. It's has no practical use any more that I'm aware of.
That's what I was looking for.
-------------------- After one comes, through contact with it's administrators, no longer to cherish greatly the law as a remedy in abuses, then the bottle becomes a sovereign means of direct action. If you cannot throw it at least you can always drink out of it. - Ernest Hemingway If it is life that you feel you are missing I can tell you where to find it. In the law courts, in business, in government. There is nothing occurring in the streets. Nothing but a dumbshow composed of the helpless and the impotent. -Cormac MacCarthy He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God. - Aeschylus
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Visionary Tools



Registered: 06/23/07
Posts: 7,953
Last seen: 1 year, 7 months
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Re: What is this "Infrared Port" on my laptop for? [Re: Madtowntripper]
#7983304 - 02/05/08 04:36 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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wow, those things were old, but cool in a way. I remember one on the printer in school, but that's a way back now. Wifi does the job better, as it's not dependant on light levels, or line of sight.
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PoisonedV
Fuming Shrooming




Registered: 09/13/07
Posts: 398
Loc: Hell
Last seen: 9 years, 1 month
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Re: What is this "Infrared Port" on my laptop for? [Re: Visionary Tools]
#7983395 - 02/05/08 05:01 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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My laptop could interface with TV's and gameboys. Sigh, those were the days
-------------------- Lazy...
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero



Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 2 months, 20 days
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Re: What is this "Infrared Port" on my laptop for? [Re: Diploid]
#7983678 - 02/05/08 06:02 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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> It's has no practical use any more that I'm aware of.
Hacking your laptop to control the neighbors TV is a fairly practical use.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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SmokenBabyJesus
Smoker of Religious Figures


Registered: 04/13/05
Posts: 1,217
Loc: Maryland
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Re: What is this "Infrared Port" on my laptop for? [Re: Madtowntripper]
#7985362 - 02/06/08 12:44 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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you can use it in with a motion sensor to act as a burglar alarm. might need a little coding but it would be cool..
-------------------- "Where?
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HELLA_TIGHT
Madge the Smoking Vag


Registered: 08/19/03
Posts: 84,387
Loc: Afghanistan
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Re: What is this "Infrared Port" on my laptop for? [Re: Diploid]
#7985779 - 02/06/08 07:49 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
Diploid said: That's the predecessor to BlueTooth. It's has no practical use any more that I'm aware of.
A lot of printers still use it.
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Baeosistine
ڜڭۑۄڴڡڟژۻۼئٹ



Registered: 12/23/07
Posts: 902
Loc: England
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Re: What is this "Infrared Port" on my laptop for? [Re: HELLA_TIGHT]
#7986527 - 02/06/08 12:43 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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IR was seriously annoying. I remember trying to upload from my cell phone - if I moved the laptop or the phone by 0.000001mm the transfer would crash and I would have to start again.
-------------------- jesus
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Diploid
Cuban



Registered: 01/09/03
Posts: 19,274
Loc: Rabbit Hole
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Re: What is this "Infrared Port" on my laptop for? [Re: Baeosistine]
#7986588 - 02/06/08 12:57 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Yeah, my first digital camera had a IR interface and a tiny memory, so whenever I went on trips, I'd have to download to my laptop several times a day. The two has to be lined up just right and you couldn't touch them during the transfer or you'd have to start all over again.
-------------------- Republican Values: 1) You can't get married to your spouse who is the same sex as you. 2) You can't have an abortion no matter how much you don't want a child. 3) You can't have a certain plant in your possession or you'll get locked up with a rapist and a murderer. 4) We need a smaller, less-intrusive government.
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