mainframe  +  1017 Thu, 19 Jun 03 01:15 AM My intention is to list all the peripherals, while putting similar items into groups. "Mice" and keyboards belong to the same input device class. Tape drives and disk drives belong to the same input/output device class. Printers have a separate output class. Consoles belong to another class of output device. mainframe Joined on Wed, Jun 18 2003 New Member 09 Commas

	hitchhiker  +  1020 Thu, 19 Jun 03 01:30 AM Mainframe - That's a good idea, but the problem is tape drives and disk drives will have to be seperated due to the repetition of 'and' between the drives. Plus they are in different categories anyway, as a tape drive is 'backup storage'. Computer peripherals can include printers, mice and keyboards, tape drives, disk drives and consoles. mice and keyboards are the only 2 grouped together. hitchhiker Joined on Mon, Nov 18 2002 Richmond, UK Senior Member 4,034 Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea - massive, difficult to redirect, awe-inspiring, entertaining, and a source of mind-boggling amounts of excrement... Commas

	mainframe  +  1025 Thu, 19 Jun 03 01:46 AM Nice to learn from you people! Now as my final question on this topic, would you consider this sentence also acceptable? Computer peripherals can include printers, tape drives, disk drives, consoles, and mice and keyboards. mainframe Commas

	hitchhiker  +  1027 Thu, 19 Jun 03 02:00 AM Hehe, you're just evil! (lol!) Computer peripherals can include printers, tape drives, disk drives, consoles, mice and keyboards. You need to remove an 'and' from the end. hitchhiker Commas

	hitchhiker  +  1067 Thu, 19 Jun 03 02:52 PM Glad,to,help. hitchhiker

	Algy  +  1097 Thu, 19 Jun 03 07:23 PM The use of a comma before 'and' is rather old fashioned and known, I think, as the 'Oxford Comma'. It can be found in older text books and older editions of novels etc. Generally, the trend is to use punctuation as sparingly as possible and not to use a comma before 'and'. However, there are no hard and fast rules so if you want to use a comma do - it might just seem quaint! Algy Joined on Thu, Jun 19 2003 New Member 01 Commas, Punctuation