your notebook or port replicator has one or more of the following ports: ieee 1394 (also known as firewire(r) or i.link(r)), universal serial bus (usb), serial, and parallel. these ports are used for connecting peripheral devices such as printers, scanners, and digital cameras to your computer. for more information about port locations, see "checking out your gateway 450" on page 1 and "using the gateway 450 port replicator" on page 171.

    ieee 1394 and usb ports support plug-and-play and hot swapping, which means that your computer will usually recognize such a device whenever you plug it into the appropriate port. when you use an ieee 1394 or usb device for the first time, your computer will prompt you to install any software the device needs. after doing this, you can disconnect and reconnect the device at any time.

    parallel and serial port devices are not plug-and-play. refer to the device documentation for detailed information and installation instructions.