Rating: 
Summary: Comprehensive
Review: A big book which covers huge area of computer hardware!! Essential for all computer user!!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: As it says on the title "Indispensable". Must have reference for anyone in Computer Science.
Rating:
Summary: helpful key to editions - for buying used
Review: excellent book, later editions better first edition, 10/1993, 985pp ISBN: 0201624249 second edition, 3/1995, 1344pp ISBN: 0201876973 third edition, 7/1997, 1384pp, ISBN: 0201403994 third edition, 5/2000, 1408pp, ISBN: 0201403994 <- current fourth edition, 1/2002, to be published, ISBN: 0201596164
Rating: 
Summary: Good but a bit outdated now (4th edition)...
Review: Hands down, this hulking book is the best in its class. It expansively covers CPUs (from the 8088 to Pentium Pro), Floppy Drives, AT bus, PCI, and Hard Disk Drives (MFM, RLL, ESDI, IDE, SCSI), PCMCIA, and just about everything you would ever want to know about the PC hardware. Unfortunately, even a book this large must leave things out. What is not covered: USB (can fill a book of its own), AGP, DMI, SMBIOS, IMPI or newer specifications. Also, portions of the book are geared towards explaining a technology rather than giving hard details about using it. Still, it is the best overall book I have found on the PC in a while.
Rating:
Summary: Best in the genre
Review: Hands down, this hulking book is the best in its class. It expansively covers CPUs (from the 8088 to Pentium Pro), Floppy Drives, AT bus, PCI, and Hard Disk Drives (MFM, RLL, ESDI, IDE, SCSI), PCMCIA, and just about everything you would ever want to know about the PC hardware. Unfortunately, even a book this large must leave things out. What is not covered: USB (can fill a book of its own), AGP, DMI, SMBIOS, IMPI or newer specifications. Also, portions of the book are geared towards explaining a technology rather than giving hard details about using it. Still, it is the best overall book I have found on the PC in a while.
Rating:
Summary: Good content, horrible translation.
Review: Hans Messmer does a great job of arranging this vast body of knowledge into one book. I do agree w/the other reviewers on that point. However, TransScript Alba, which is the company that translated this fourth edition, should have their heads slapped for their absolutely abhorrent use of the English language. You must put your linguistic sensibilities on the stack while your brain processes the text in this book. I'm actually suprised when I find a page that doesn't have incorrect punctuation, misspelled words, or incomplete sentences. And as a final note, I disagree with the other reviewers that the old architecture info should be trashed to save room, because you can't appreciate change w/out a knowledge of history, and there are plenty of systems still using old PC technology. Until the fundamental architecture of the PC changes, every bit of information in this book is relevant.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books on Hardware I have ever read
Review: I have been working on and with computers for them for 15 years now and this is the only book that I have ever bought every single edition of. If you want to understand how your computer components really work and how all of the pieces come together then get this book and set aside a couple of weeks to read it. It is without a doubt the best and most accessable book I have read on the subject.
Rating:
Summary: "The One Book", for me at least, on PC Hardware
Review: I have not been using this book so much recently, but in the past it has been absolutely invaluable. Definately the best single reference for technical specifics for the PC. There seem to be dozens if not hundreds of "upgrade your PC", "Fix your PC" and so on - nearly all light weight and I consider not worthwhile. It has tables on pretty well everything, and the information is quite dense. I have not found it to be inaccurate. Not merely factual tables (Addresses, IRQs, layouts of structure, PCI) it contains good descriptions of of what is going on. Now in its fourth edition - and I think I have owned all of them, it has stood the test of time and continues to be updated.
Rating: 
Summary: The complete hardware?
Review: I was amazed by the fact that one author can put so much about the PC hardware in one single book. However, recently I have been playing with the PC keyboard and have expected useful info from the book only to discover, that the chapter on the PC keyboard is at least incomplete regarding the scancodes. More accurate info can be found on the Web.
Rating:
Summary: Deserves to be the standard text on PC Hardware
Review: I'm at a loss as to why Messmer's text hasn't become the standard text on PC Hardware. It's amazingly well-written. The bookshelves in Sydney, Australia don't seem to give this text its due credit ... there's PC textbooks of equivalent content, but not as clear and concise. For anyone considering a PC Hardware book, make sure you include this one in your comparisons.
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