Building the Perfect PC by Robert Bruce Thompson, Barbara Fritchman Thompson, Robert Bruce Thompson, Jerry Pournelle (Foreword by)
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(Paperback)
- Pub. Date: December 2006
- 402pp
- Sales Rank: 418,419
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Product Details
- Pub. Date: December 2006
- Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Incorporated
- Format: Paperback, 402pp
- Sales Rank: 418,419
- ISBN-13: 9780596526863
- ISBN: 0596526865
- Edition Number: 2
Synopsis
This popular Build-It-Yourself (BIY) PC book covers every step in building one's own system: planning and picking out the right components, step-by-step assembly instructions, and an insightful discussion of why someone would want to do it in the first place.
Annotation
This popular Build-It-Yourself (BIY) PC book covers every step in building one's own system: planning and picking out the right components, step-by-step assembly instructions, and an insightful discussion of why someone would want to do it in the first place.
More Reviews and RecommendationsBiography
Thompson buys, builds, upgrades, and repairs hundreds of PCs for himself, employers, customers, friends, and clients. He is the author of numerous online training courses and computer books.
Thompson worked for 20 years as a librarian before starting her own home-based consulting practice, Research for Authors, She has been a PC power user for 15 years.
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Building the Perfect PCby Anonymous
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January 14, 2007: [lack or paragraphs courtesy of this site, any way to create them?] Cordwainer Smith's telepathic Martian Scientist politely introduces himself to his American visitor as a Lotan, among other things. And, answering the obvious question, that a Lotan was an Arhat. To many people the workings of a computer, hardware or software, are equally transparent as our exiled Martian's answer. The Thompson's 'Building the Perfect PC' aims to clarify what the some of Computer industry's hardware Arhats are. The book's chapters (Fundamentals, Choosing and Buying and building 6 types of PC) take the reader from the asking the most important question, why build a PC yourself, to closing up the Budget PC case in the last chapter. Each chapter progresses the same way, clearly showing the reader *a* method to determine what one wants, how to select components to meet that need, alternates or restrictions and slapping the thing together. The writing style is *not* corporate-speak. The Thompson tell you what they thinks and why but also gives marginal room (literally, you'll see) to advice from others and a few dissenting opinions. The book is written (surpirse) and photographed entirely by the authors. Assembly was done on the kitchen table on a sheet, just to show the reader one can assemble a PC at home. And that if you get one's Wife to do the assembly for the photos she can't complain about the use of her sheets. There is inevitable repetition, one learns how to open the case 6 times. Repetition is necessary if the chapters are to stand alone so don't worry about it when you come across it. The text is descriptive as text can be (how many ways are there to write 'take the screwdriver in your gripping hand, unscrew the screw and drop it in the most inaccessible crevice of the case'?) and there are plenty of pictures (see below). One clear mistake is the Thompson's opinion that once the voltage of the power supply is set correctly you can't, really, hurt anything. This opinion could stand some revision. We recently set fire, *accidentally set fire*, to a hard drive by shorting the contacts on the drive behind the Molex power plug. This prevents the PC from booting and should be avoided. And, no, we did not use a screwdriver. Which brings us to the best photo in the book, one lone Phillips screwdriver in figure 1-1. The entire arsenal of tools one needs to assemble a PC. Minus the explosives needed to open blister packaging, but that activity is not assembly. It would have been better to show one with a bent blade and a scorched handle, just to make a point, but one can't have everything. The screwdriver on the cover is not the same one illustrated in figure 1-1. The one on the cover is fancy. The author's own photography is excellent in terms of content and there are many photos in each chapter showing all stages of assembly. And, surprisingly to this reviewer, all are in colour for a book of this sort. Maybe we are just out of date. Most are on the same page as the relevant text, very Tufte-like. Well done. But. Exposure problems make some of the illustrations close to unusable. The content is there but many are too dark to make out clearly. Cameras are very good at making a white sheet look 18% gray! Chapter 8 seems to be affected most, figure 8-52 shows a black SATA plug being attached to a black drive. All we can see are fingers and a bit of green motherboard. Channeling Hotblack Desiato are we? C'mon O'Reilly, give...
Building the Perfect PCby Anonymous
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January 12, 2007: This is the 2nd edition of 'Building the Perfect PC'. This book is primarily geared toward those building a computer from scratch for the first time. That being said, there is still a great deal of good information for even experienced builders to glean from this volume. The book is loaded with numerous clear, color photos that show the detail at each step of a given build (there are six different pcs that are built in the book). Although they list each component they used for every build, components quickly go out of date in the computer world. Be sure to check the authors' website for the latest recommendations. The best book out there for those that are toying with the idea of building their own pc but afraid to get their feet wet. Use this and you will not be disappointed!
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