Pictorial guide to PC sockets and cables

Without any ports or sockets a computer wouldn’t be much use ­ you couldn’t easily connect a monitor, keyboard or mouse. Today, though, just about every desktop and laptop is covered in sockets, with many different types doing much the same thing. And, annoyingly, they’re usually not labelled at all.Here, we have produced a complete pictorial guide to every socket you are likely to find on a modern, or even not so modern, computer.So the next time you find yourself wondering exactly what on earth that strange square socket on the left of a laptop is there for, or which one of the three alternatives is the best way to connect an external disk, you’ll find the answer here.