Portable Device

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What Does Portable Device Mean?

A portable device is any device that can easily be carried. It is a small form factor of a computing device that is designed to be held and used in the hands. Portable devices are becoming an increasingly important part of personal computing as the capabilities of devices like laptops, tablets and smartphones continue to improve.

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A portable device may also be called a handheld device or mobile device.

Techopedia Explains Portable Device

Portable devices are primarily battery powered devices with base computing resources in the form of a processor, memory, and storage and network access. The latest portable devices are thin and lightweight, making them easy to carry and hold. This was not the case for earlier attempts at portable computers.

Small plug-and-play devices such as USB drives, external hard disks and webcams can also be called portable devices.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist
Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.