A cartridge-based design for portable and fixed computers

A computer system includes a chassis and a cartridge having separate functional components that interface with one another over a common bus. The chassis includes a plurality of user interface modules, which are generally designed and packaged according to a particular application/work mode, each coupled to a first bus. The cartridge, on the other hand, includes components that can be shared among the various applications/work modes. Specifically, the cartridge has a core processor and memory coupled to a second bus, and at least one slot for housing a communication module that is coupled to the second bus. In addition, the cartridge may be designed to be configured by the user to have a first form and a second form. The cartridge of the first form may be utilized for portable computer processing systems such as laptop, notebook and sub-notebook systems. The cartridge of the second form may be designed to be narrow enough to be utilized in smaller portable computer processing systems, such as hand-held systems. In another aspect, the computer system includes a chassis having an internal connector with a first portion in electrical contact with a first external peripheral device, and second portion in electrical contact with a second external peripheral device. An adapter is coupled between an internal device and the internal connector. The internal device is associated with either the first or second external peripheral devices. The adapter has either a first portion that connects the internal device to the first portion of the internal connector or a second portion that connects the internal device to the second portion of the internal connector in order to couple the internal device to its associated external peripheral device.