Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful book!
Review: After years of buying pre-configured PC's I decided it was time to look into building my own. What I really liked about this book was it's "no-nonsense, straight to the point" approach. General information is provided for each of the hardware components as well as detailed vendor specific information. What was particularly useful was the author's "picks" at the end of each chapter, including suggestions for entry level, mid level and high end configurations. If you're looking to build or upgrade a PC this book will save you hours if not days of research - highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book!
Review: After years of buying pre-configured PC's I decided it was time to look into building my own. What I really liked about this book was it's "no-nonsense, straight to the point" approach. General information is provided for each of the hardware components as well as detailed vendor specific information. What was particularly useful was the author's "picks" at the end of each chapter, including suggestions for entry level, mid level and high end configurations. If you're looking to build or upgrade a PC this book will save you hours if not days of research - highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: most helpful
Review: Don't be scared by the number of pages or smaller print size of this book. Intermittently I help a friends 13 year old daughter [to whom English is a second language] with some of her homework. She wanted to build her own PC [for brag value] With the help of 2 `Build your own pc' type books and this one which she used to figure out what to buy she did so with no help.
Each hardware area is investigated and for each alternative the pros and cons are reviewed.
Some of the most `bleeding edge' 3d gamer stuff is not here I am told by two lifeless ones.
Rating:
Summary: most helpful
Review: Don't be scared by the number of pages or smaller print size of this book. Intermittently I help a friends 13 year old daughter [to whom English is a second language] with some of her homework. She wanted to build her own PC [for brag value] With the help of 2 'Build your own pc' type books and this one which she used to figure out what to buy she did so with no help.
Each hardware area is investigated and for each alternative the pros and cons are reviewed.
Some of the most 'bleeding edge' 3d gamer stuff is not here I am told by two lifeless ones.
Rating:
Summary: awesome book, but not much modem information?
Review: First of all, this is the greatest hardware book I have ever read. However, I was confused why there was no real coverage of modems. I know most computers come with a generic modem, but for Linus users having a good external modem (not a winmodem) is vital. This is my one and only complaint about this book. Other than that it is the best (money) you can spend on a general computer reference book.
Rating:
Summary: Information-dense, error-free, and relevant
Review: I buy a lot of PC hardware books for my job as a PC manager. Most of them are me-too knockoffs of Muellers Upgrading and Repairing PCs. This one is different. It's smaller than U&R PCs, but incredibly information-rich. The authors don't waste time and space with obsolete information. Everything here is up-to-date and reflects the real world of systems based on modern Intel and AMD processors. This book has no errors that I can find. I thought I'd found a couple, so I emailed the authors. They responded within half an hour (!) and explained things. As it turned out, what I thought were errors weren't. I'd been wrong about those things all these years. I'm ordering copies for all my technicians and recommending they read it through from start to finish. If you're looking for the best PC hardware book available, get this one.
Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive PC hardware guide with no BS
Review: I came across this gem while browsing at the bookstore. I wasn't really intending to buy a PC hardware book because I already have the latest edition of Upgrading and Repairing PCs but this one caught my eye because it was from O'Reilly. O'Reilly books are usually the best of breed on any given topic and this one is no exception. It's half the size, weight and price of the monster PC hardware books but it contains more actual useful information. The authors obviously know their stuff and haven't padded the book with a bunch of useless stuff to make it look more impressive. What is there is solid information about every aspect of a PC. If you're going to buy just one PC hardware book this is the one to buy.
Rating: 
Summary: Needs to be updated!!!!!!
Review: I have not read the whole book, but I do find it useful, I like it. However, the book is in need of updating. (data 1999 and before). Things have change since this book.
Rating:
Summary: It could have been better for its price
Review: I have recently purchased this book after reading all the reviews. It is a very good book, but may not be a complete book. It is useful to someone who is planning to buy a new computer, but may not be useful to someone like me who is trying to upgrade my computer. It does not have enough illustarions to explain things like the various components on a motherboard. It would have been great if it covered peripheral devices like scanners, printers, pccameras also.
Rating:
Summary: New Proverb: "If It's Too Good to Be True - Look Again"
Review: I was exceedingly happy with the original edition and could only imagine the typical modest update. However, I am just astonished at the value added with the second edition. Pagewise, there is a substantial increase due to the need to cover the subsequent technological change. For example, the coverage of CD-R, CD-RW and DVD (ROM and (re)writabale) has been doubled as they have now become mainstream and deserve increased attention. I did notice that the "Picks" sections have been removed, the reader is now referred to their website:[] for specific component recommendations. Obviously, a good decision as those sections in the first edition quickly became obsolete. Don't let the title mislead you, all necessary and appropriate software subject matter is covered: operating systems (including XP), drivers, diagostic S/W, etc. as they interact with the H/W components to comprise the total PC pacakge. If you're inclined to loan things, you'll discover that buying just one wasn't enough and perhaps a third for the office. As the say: "It doesn't get any better than this."
|
