A number of different styles of system chassis are in common use today. The main types are the desktop, tower, mini-tower, laptop, notebook, and palmtop. They serve as a housing for the main components of the ~computer~. These include the power supply, |motherboard|, |drives|, etc.
The size and style of chassis depends on the use of the system. Laptops, notebooks, and palmtops provide different degrees of portability, but sacrifice expandability. Desktop and tower systems are stationary, but can support a wide variety of peripherals.
Desktops, towers and mini-towers typically have several drive bays and expansion slots. The monitors and keyboards are separate in these configurations. A laptop system is a smaller, portable chassis, with a hinged monitor and integrated keyboard. They typically weigh 12 to 14 pounds. Notebook systems are smaller still. Roughly the size of a three-ring binder, they weigh four to seven pounds. A palmtop system is the smallest of all, weighing less than two pounds. Palmtop systems usually have an integrated monitor and keyboard.
