T.J. Lee and Lee Hudspeth's Absolute Beginner's Guide to PC Upgrades

This book is great. I wanted to add memory to my tower: it had diagrams and talked me right through it. There are good tips in the margins on computer repair, and it is also easy to navigate with a clearly organized Table of Contents and Index. I was able to find answers immediately to my questions to get the job done. I looked at quite a few on-line when I was thinking about doing repairs myself and this book truly worked miracles for me. I highly recommend it for everything you want to do on your home computer!!!

Do you know whether to buy SRAM, EDO RAM, SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, RDRAM or SLDRAM?Do you know the difference in IDE, EIDE, and SCSI?Do you really know whether it's worth forking out your hard-earned cash at this stage for a DVD drive?Okay, Okay, of course you do! But until I'd read this book I didn't. Don't let the title put you off. If you are an "Absolute Beginner" then this book is for you, but you would have to be pretty high up the PC Knowledge food chain not to pick up at least half a dozen absolute gems of information.Like most of us I plough my way through the magazines, e-zines, etc. looking for the pearls of wisdom that will make my system bigger, better, faster and tuned to that peak of perfection. Then I do nothing. This is usually because I have either lost the cuttings or I have lost my nerve.The first time you "open the box" it is a fearful sight, full of wires and ...er, whatever they are. With this book by your side, they all make sense. Every card, slot, socket, port, chipset...(think of any widget you want!)... is fully explained.If your question is anywhere between "What is a 3.5 inch floppy disk drive, do I need one and how do I add/change it?" to "What is everything I need to know to be able to build a PC from scratch?" then the answer is in this book.The authors certainly don't talk down to you, but somehow they have managed to crack that difficult of problem of writing in a style that makes a potentially complex subject seem easy. They actually make you feel that they have written the book specifically with you in mind, and if things do get tough, there are lots of sidebars and an excellent glossary and index to fall back on. Even if your idea of an "upgrade" is to add a printer or plug in some speakers - it's in the book. Too simple? You want to be at the leading edge and flash the BIOS - it's in the book.On the other hand, maybe you're not sure whether to take any risks at all, and another thing, is it worth it? Should you just buy a new system? The authors have covered that too - if it's not worth upgrading then that's what they'll tell you.Everything is organised in a logical linear way. What are the merits of the upgrade, the cost, the degree of difficulty, where to source the parts, what equipment do you need, is there a comprehensive checklist...???(you get the drift). The references and URL addresses alone are priceless and however did I manage for so long without knowing about "SANDRA".BUT, I nearly didn't buy this book. I was one click away from cancelling my order. The problem? - The title. Maybe "Absolute Beginner..." would be too simple for me. I agree that it's not an advanced book, but I can't for the life of me see why the publishers didn't call it "The Absolute Beginners or Beginners or Intermediate Type of Persons Guide to PC Upgrades". I think a snappy little title like that would have described the book perfectly.

I am an IT professional who writes software on a PC all day long. Although I once added a tape drive and CD-ROM to my PC (which is now almost ready to be upgraded or replaced), I don't know much about the internals of a PC or things like the difference between the types of slots or kinds of RAM but have always wanted to learn. So when I read about a book that claimed to explain all these things and more such as slots, USB ports, hard drives and CD-RW in a way I could understand, I was very interested. And as soon as I learned it was written by the publishers of an excellent electronic newsletter (TheNakedPC) which I've received for quite some time, I ordered it immediately believing it would be full of useful information presented in a clear and readable way and I am happy to say I wasn't mistaken.The book is full of all kinds of useful information from web sites that have lists of motherboard and BIOS information to where to find utilities to analyse and tell you what is in your current PC. Each chapter covers a different part such as hard drives and video and, after explaining the options available, goes into step by step instructions on how to add, replace and upgrade the items.Although I may decide to just order a new PC instead of upgrading mine, this book will help me determine which is the better road to take. I will also be able to make more intelligent decisions about what to look for in a new PC since I now know more about what the parts do and how they work together. And if my PC ever breaks, this will be the first book I grab off the shelf. I feel is was certainly worth purchasing.

Whether you're a novice or semi-literate PC user with the desire to either figure out how your system works or desire to upgrade, this book is perfectly simple to read and understand. The subject matter will not go out of date and the authors are reader friendly. If you send them an email, they will respond quickly. I don't have a lot of time to spend reading a book from one end to the other just to figure out a simple process. With this book, I don't have to. This is a lot of book for [the price] and we consumers are lucky it's on the market. Thanks TJ and Lee for making our lives a little easier!

This book is excellent. It arrived yesterday and I sat down and read the "build it yourself" chapter first (I'm thinking of building an ATX system from scratch). Went back and started at the front and by the end of the Monday night game I had read through to chapter 7. Will plow through the rest today (it's that good). I found that the text is clear, the admonitions on point (especially regarding my previous mistakes) and useful todo's abound. The only thing I would have preferred is for the book to be spiral bound so it would lay open while I work on my system.