Rating: 
Summary: Very informative - precise and up to date in all areas
Review: A timely and needed book that covers all subject matter in great detail. Well priced and should be a great help to the industry.
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Summary: This is more "overview" than "guide"
Review: I am very disappointed in Tom's Guide. Don't buy this book if your looking for anything similar to a comprehensive tech reference. This is a very basic overview of computer hardware, only slightly more in depth than the reprehensible "dummy" books. Lots of errors. I think there's actually better info on Tom's website. If you're looking for a pure "technical data" book, the best I'm aware of is Messmer's "The Indispensible Hardware Guide".
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Summary: Null and Void
Review: I find it very deceptive and amazing how Amazon allows the third party book providers to display old books that are VERY time sensitive when it comes to computer technology. Why would any person purchase a book that was copywrited in 1998, think it would actually apply to todays 2003-2004 computer technologies? Yes, A book basically six years outdated I purchased, not because I wanted it for historical reasons, but that I assumed it was relatively current and applicable to todays computer industry. Yes, it was wrong of me to assume this book was current to todays technologies, however Amazon would be best served if it would mandate that all time sensitive technology books like this one be required to post(or otherwise disclose) the publishing or copywrite date on the website so that an informed consumer can make an inteligent decision without performing an archaeological dig with a customer service representative. I believe this negligent practice by Amazon will over the long run discourage long time dedicated customers such as myself and persuade me to shop else where. For all you other people out there, be very suspicious. Oh!, the book does not even qualify for an honest review.
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Summary: Bridges the gap between those too technical and too simple
Review: I found this book was able to bridge the gap between those books that I found too difficult and "techy" to read and those that were just too simple. I am a Ph.D. student in Instructional Technology and my hardware systems professor had not been able to find just the right book to use as a text for his class. After I showed him my copy of this book, he ordered it for the next semester's text for that class.
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Summary: Great Book From A Great Source!
Review: I have read Tom's reviews for years and know about his reputation. If you dont think he is creditable check out the top 100 web sites in the world stats. Great Job Tom!!!!!
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Summary: An out dated Joke!!!
Review: I just got this book & it is so out dated that nothing in it even applies to today's standard's. If you want a nice paper wieght laying around the house. Go a head & buy it. If you want to Upgrade your PC look at PC Upgrade Magazine or Maximum PC. Stay away from out dated stuff like this... I had to give it a star, but I would take that one away also.
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Summary: Sloppy and superficial
Review: I made the mistake of buying this book, and I can't believe how bad it is. I was expecting a technically competent, insightful, no BS book about PC hardware. What I got was an outdated, error-plagued, superficial book that's not much use to anyone, novice or expert. Here are just a few amazing facts I found in Tom's Hardware Guide:* 30-pin SIMMs are 16 bits wide, and so must be installed in pairs in 386 and 486 systems. [30-pin SIMMs are 8 bits wide, and must be installed four per bank in 386/486 systems, and eight per bank in the few Pentium-class systems that use them.] *DAT stands for Digital Analog Tape [DAT stands for Digital Audio Tape, and anyway the proper terminology for a "DAT" tape drive is DDS, not DAT] *xDSL throughput varies according to how heavily other users on your xDSL line are transferring data [xDSL is a point-to-point service, and does not use shared media] *"A 7GB DAT cartridge costs only about $12 per unit, for an incredible value of 597.3MB per penny. That's half a gig for each penny you spend." [When I do the calculations, I get (7 GB*1,024 MB/GB)/1200 cents = 5.97 MB/penny. This isn't isolated, either. Anywhere this author does math, you'd best check it yourself.] *Most telephones use Category 2 cable [there is no such thing as Category 2 cable, and never has been] *No video is available during a flash BIOS recovery procedure [the author apparently doesn't realize that this is true only for PCI video cards, which is an excellent reason to keep an old ISA video card around.] *TCP/IP doesn't do "transfer checking" and is therefore less reliable than IPX/SPX. [Huh? From his garbled explanation, it appears that the author is referring to UDP rather than TCP. What this author doesn't know about network and transport layer protocols could fill a book.] And it goes on and on. Every technical book I've ever seen has at least a few errors, but this one has so many mistakes that it's not worth reading. If you want a good hardware book, buy Scott Mueller's Upgrading & Repairing PCs. Steer clear of Tom's Hardware Guide.
Rating: 
Summary: Timing?
Review: I'm sure it is a great book, as is Tom's Site; however, I am concerned with one thing. What use is this book 6 months from now? Everything will have changed in the computer industry. If you are purchasing a computer now, or would like to learn about hardware in general, I'm sure it is a great book; however, Tom's Hardware Guide will be a history book in a year.
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Summary: ABSURD
Review: If I had bought this book in a retail store I would have returned it the day I purchased it. Nothing in the book is a secret, and the information it contains is highly inaccurate. As it is, it's not worth my time or money to maket the effort to mail it back to amazon, so I use it under my monitor base so the monitor is level with my eyes. I wonder how the author swindled QUE into publishing it, as he provides very little information that would be useful to consumers or high performance computing enthusiasts.
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Summary: Tom's hardware guide falls between the "Dummy" books and ...
Review: If this is an effort to reach the "average" computer user and help them to better understand some of the mysteries of the hardware and operating system Tom Brandt has succeeded admirably. Tom's Hardware Guide falls between those offensively named "Dummy" books and the multi hundred page manuals that only someone with a computer science degree can understand. The narrative is readable and fairly easy to understand and in those cases where the information gets somewhat technical every effort is made by the author to break it down into simpler concepts and explanations. It is written and organized is such a way that one is left with a thorough understanding of how each piece of hardware used in today's PC works and how they integrate to form the whole. I think it would be a mistake for the person who wants to have a better understanding of a computer to ignore this book simply because technology books by their nature are obsolete even as they are being written. With the widespread availability of information on the Internet it is a fairly simple task to keep oneself informed as changes take place. Whether your want to do some serious upgrading, tweak your computer for better performance or simply educate yourself about the "how and why" of a computer, Tom's Hardware Guide will not disappoint you. As one who uses my computer a great deal I found this book to be just the answer to the question....what makes it all work? Each hardware component (and 1 piece of software, the OS) is meticulously described, examined, shown how it works and then explained how it fits into the overall system. The pros and cons of the various technologies available are discussed and refreshingly one is left with the impression that Tom has neither an axe to grind nor a favor to repay. By far my biggest gain after reading this book is coming away with the knowledge that I am no longer at the mercy of the "hype" so prevalent in most of the computer hardware sold today. Kudos Tom!
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