By Robert Bruce Thompson, Barbara Fritchman Thompson
October 2000
Pages: 524
ISBN 10: 1-56592-599-8 |
ISBN 13: 9781565925991
(Average of 5 Customer Reviews)
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PC Hardware in a Nutshell is a comprehensive guide to buying, building, upgrading, and repairing Intel-based PCs. Written for novices and seasoned professionals alike, it features buying guidelines, how-to advice on installing, configuring, and troubleshooting specific components, plus ample reference material and a complete case study on building a PC from components.
Full Description
PC Hardware in a Nutshell is a comprehensive guide to buying, building, upgrading, and repairing Intel-based PCs, presented in O'Reilly's concise "In a Nutshell" format. The three major thrusts of the book are:
Browse within this book
- Buying guidelines. In supplying advice on how to choose optimum systems and components, the book focuses on teaching the reader how to evaluate alternatives rather than on recommending specific products.
- How-to advice. The book is loaded with practical, hands-on information about how to install, configure, and troubleshoot specific components.
- Reference. Numerous tables and the topical organization let novices and professionals alike consult the book for the specifications and steps they need in order to perform discrete tasks.
- A depository of obsolescent or arcane material that didn't make the book but may still be useful to some
- New and updated material that will appear in updated editions
- Errata
- A Mail drop for reader feedback and suggestions
Cover | Table of Contents | Index | Sample Chapter | Colophon
Featured customer reviews
PC Hardware in a Nutshell Review, May 07 2002
Rating:
Submitted by Joe Pellerin
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Let me start out with a huge thanks to O’Reilly. I’m not a big fan of large corporations or publishers – but I have come to trust O'Reilly implicitly wherever technical issues are concerned. Although I'm certain that they are not the "perfect" publisher, nor in the business for wholly (ha!) altruistic reasons, I AM amazed by the remarkable originality, diversity, range, quality, accuracy, and honorable business practices of this publisher. Oftentimes I wonder how they manage to maintain such a level, when their current library is so chock-full of tough-to-follow acts.
That said, PC Hardware in a Nutshell does not fail to meet up to these high expectations. Let me get the review portion of my review out of the way – simply put, this is the book I have been hunting for a couple years. That I did not immediately search the O’Reilly library only shows that I am a bit silly. I should have known better. End of review.
But I would like to carry this a bit further, and go out on a limb to discuss the only complaint prior reviewers have voiced: that the book is too "Microsoft-centric."
Rather than a weakness, I believe that this is actually a strength. Let me offer big kudos to the authors and publisher for realizing that a serious, yet accessible, compendium of computer hardware knowledge was necessary. The folks who register such complaints are those least in need of an in-depth introduction to PC hardware. These are the high priests of hi-tech, who rule the roost by virtue of their knowledge-monopoly on all issues technical. They would have you believe that if it was not hand-crafted from spare parts, duct tape, and copious amounts of solder and configured with the most obscure version of Linux, then it's only fit for a 4-year-old. They are, quite simply, dead wrong. Let them compile their own "PC Hardware for Only the Most Serious Tech Gurus", I say!
Thompson’s very first point is that he intended the book to be of the most practical usability possible. The practical reality is that the people who desperately need such a compendium are poor fools, like Yours Truly, who are too technical to be satisfied with tutorials on how to use Microsoft Office, yet are not quite knowledgeable enough to get right under the hood of their PCs (never mind build a Linux box from spare hatpins and Reynolds Wrap). We, the “psuedo-techies”, often do not come equipped with enough experience, knowledge, or confidence to take ourselves to the next level. We are the crowd who are using Microsoft products, yet would love to learn enough to understand exactly WHY Microsoft means "mush-mind" and Linux is God - but will never get there without a guide. This book is the guide, and to me it says, "Psuedo-techies unite! Power to the people!"
PC Hardware in a Nutshell Review, March 10 2002
Rating:
Submitted by Lee
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Concise, straight to point and comprehensive.
PC Hardware in a Nutshell Review, April 03 2001
Rating:
Submitted by Joe Splace
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I own many O'Reilly titles pertaining to Unix and I bought PC Hardware in a Nutshell as an afterthought. What a suprise! While it is MS-centric, it is still a very good read. It is hard to put down. This book has really changed the way I think about hardware in ways that I never even considered in my 20 years of messing around with computers. Come out with one for Unix and I'll snap that up, too.
I recommend this well thought out book to anyone upgrading, building or buying a computer. Thank you.
PC Hardware in a Nutshell Review, February 06 2001
Rating:
Submitted by Frank Wood
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For the many people who are using MS software, this is a great book. It is extremely readable. I buy many books and manage to finish few of them. This one I have both enjoyed and finished. I look forward to the possibility of other books by the Thompsons -- either covering other PC related areas like net work adapters, DSL, etc. that they couldn't cover and keep PC HARDWARE IN A NUTSHELL to a reasonable length or possibly -- or some other area of consumer electronics.
PC Hardware in a Nutshell Review, November 24 2000
Rating:
Submitted by Darren Remington
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Overall, the book was worth the price. While much of the technical information about the hardware and architecture are available in other books, the case studies are unique to this book.
One thing I did not like was the MS-Windows centric view in designing the systems. Many of the readers who are going to bother building their own PC are going to be GNU/Linux users (like me.) It is apparent from the first chapter that the author is NOT anti-Linux, nor is he ignorant about its potential. I just would have liked to see more OS-neutrality throughout the book.
My approach to recycling PC hardware is just the opposite to the author's: When I build myself a 'bigger and better' PC, I load it with GNU/Linux and recycle the old one for my four-year-old son with MS-Windows 95. The only reason I do that is solely for the learning games that he has.
Other than that one complaint, I say again, this book is well worth the price.
Good job.
Media reviews "The authors combine years of experience working with PCs
to create this guide to buying, building, upgrading, and repairing
Intel-based PCs...accessible to both beginners and experienced
professionals."
--SciTech Book News Set 2001
"I am confidant that you will be as pleased with
the book as I am"
--Bill Klutz, PC Alamode, August 2001
"I you want to buy a new computer or component, this book will help you decide what to look for...I've looked through, used, and reviewed many hardware volumes, but this is the best I've seen to really explain all that stuff under the hood, and how it works, in Standard English...an outstanding addition to the library of anyone who wants to better understand hardware. " --Babette Bloch, GGCS Newsletter, July 2001
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