Mac 101 - System Preferences: Hardware - Part 1

Saturday, September 8th, 2007 | Mac 101

In this section of the System Preferences you can control the hardware components of your computer. These things include the display, optical drive, keyboard, mouse, printer and so on. There are seven groupings of settings in this section of System Preferences. We’ll cover the first four in this post.

Bluetooth
In this section you can control the Bluetooth functionality of your Mac. This is where you can turn Bluetooth on or off. If you’re using a wireless keyboard or mouse, this is also where you would manage the connectivity of such devices. And finally, here you can also control the sharing settings for bluetooth, including security and folders which connected devices can browse, such as your bluetooth-enabled mobile phone.

CDs & DVDs
In this section you control the behavior of CDs and DVDs that are inserted into your optical drive. You can specify what action should be taken when a blank CD or DVD is inserted or a music CD, picture CD or a video DVD.

Displays
In the Displays section of the Hardware preferences you can adjusted the resolution of your display, the number of colors displayed, the brightness and also select a color profile. If you’re an artist and you need your displayed color calibrated, this is where you would come to do that.

Energy Saver
This is where you can adjust your Mac’s power usage. You’re really not adjusting the wattage that your Mac will use to power itself, but you can adjust how long to keep the display on or when to put the computer to sleep if its idle. If you own a Mac laptop, you will want to be familiar with these settings as they will allow you to adjust power usage to extend battery life. This is where you can set up a schedule for your Mac to power up or shut down at specific times of the day.

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Next Lesson:
Mac 101 - System Preferences: Hardware - Part 2