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This digital document is an article from EDP Weekly's IT Monitor, published by Millin Publishing, Inc. on March 18, 2002. The length of the article is 702 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Title: SEAGATE RSS DEBUTS HORNET TRAVAN 40 TAPE DRIVE PRODUCTS FOR ENTRY-LEVEL SERVER ENVIR.(Product Announcement)
Publication: EDP Weekly's IT Monitor (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 18, 2002
Publisher: Millin Publishing, Inc.
Volume: 43Issue: 11Page: 7

Article Type: Product Announcement

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This digital document is an article from Software Industry Report, published by Millin Publishing, Inc. on March 18, 2002. The length of the article is 759 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Title: SEAGATE RSS DEBUTS HORNET TRAVAN 40 TAPE DRIVE PRODUCTS FOR ENTRY-LEVEL SERVER ENVIRONMENT.(new Seagate internal Hornet 40 and TapeStor Travan 40 tape drives)(Product Announcement)
Publication: Software Industry Report (Newsletter)
Date: March 18, 2002
Publisher: Millin Publishing, Inc.
Volume: 34Issue: 6Page: 8

Article Type: Product Announcement

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This digital document is an article from Computer Workstations, published by Worldwide Videotex on November 1, 2001. The length of the article is 636 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Title: ONSTREAM UNVEILS DIGITAL TAPE DRIVE FOR WORKSTATION.(OnStream Data's ADR2.60ide)(Product Announcement)
Publication: Computer Workstations (Newsletter)
Date: November 1, 2001
Publisher: Worldwide Videotex
Volume: 14Issue: 11Page: NA

Article Type: Product Announcement

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This digital document is an article from Federal Computer Market Report, published by Millin Publishing, Inc. on May 13, 2002. The length of the article is 1283 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: ONSTREAM UNVEILS FIRST USB 2.0 DIGITAL TAPE DRIVE.(OnStream Data's ADR2.60usb)(Product Announcement)
Publication: Federal Computer Market Report (Newsletter)
Date: May 13, 2002
Publisher: Millin Publishing, Inc.
Volume: 26Issue: 9Page: 8

Article Type: Product Announcement

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Carefully researched and written, PC Hardware in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition is packed with useful and unbiased information, including how-to advice for specific components, ample reference material, and a comprehensive case study on building a PC. To the point yet complete, this book provides an enormous amount of timeless information intended for anyone who buys, builds, upgrades, or repairs PCs in a corporate, small business, or home setting.In addition to coverage of the fundamentals and general tips about working on PCs, this book includes chapters focusing on motherboards, processors, memory, floppies, hard drives, optical drives, tape devices, video devices, input devices, audio components, communications, power supplies, and maintenance.Special emphasis is given to upgrading and troubleshooting existing equipment so you can get the most from your existing investments.Amazon.com Review
PC Hardware in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference relies on an eternal truth of the computer industry: legacy systems never die. This book focuses on the technologies that have provided Wintel personal computers with various capabilities over the years. Like most of its competitors, this book addresses the PC on a subsystem level, and deals with video cards, hard-disk interfaces, memory, and other pieces of the componentry puzzle that hardware integrators need to figure out. The authors do a great job of explaining the differences between (and relative merits of) IDE and SCSI hard-drive interfaces, various video buses, competing processors, and other technologies. They also prove themselves adept at explaining general assembly procedures and troubleshooting strategies.

This book distinguishes itself from its most popular competitors by emphasizing the authors' opinions on hardware products. It's refreshing to see authors recommend Product A for high-performance systems in which price is not an issue, Product B for economical home systems, and Product C for organizational workstations. On the other hand, the recommendations, prices, and similar values will change over time. The authors maintain a great Web site, at which you can find their current recommendations. (The Web site, on the other hand, doesn't include the book's high-quality tutorial on designing and assembling a system from zero.) Even the photographs that appear in this book--traditionally a weak point among hardware books--are clear. --David Wall

Topics covered: Personal computers that comply with Microsoft Windows and Intel compatibility requirements. The authors address processors, memory, hard disks, optical media, removable magnetic disks, video cards, power supplies, and more. Also, there are instructions for assembling a machine from scratch, and some coverage of troubleshooting problems. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (33)

Pull-no-punches opinionated and highly detailed
Robert Thompson is a man who doesn't hold back from giving his opinion on why something is good or bad, either on his website or in his books.In _PC Hardware in a Nutshell_, he tells you just what he thinks of what's good and bad about PC components in just about any category you can think of, and backs it up with all the facts, figures and personal experiences you could ever ask for.Every chapter includes historical information on the components under discussion, detailed reviews of what they do and how they do it, and recommendations on what to use (and what not to use).The final chapter walks you through building your own machine step-by-step, though, this being an omnibus book, the chapter is necessarily slightly skimpy in comparison to _Building The Perfect PC_.The writing style is clear and lively, in fact the book is well worth reading as a book even if you don't need any specific information at the time.The only real complaint I have is something the author has no control over - the fact that new PC hardware comes out so fast that it's just impossible to review every single new thing in a paper edition. (Well, that and the fact that Thompson doesn't like Western Digital because he's had bad experiences with their hard drives, whereas I've been using WD exclusively for years and never yet have had one go out on me.I think that can be chalked up, though, more to the fact that there's just so much PC hardware out there that different people are just going to end up having completely different experiences with components from a particular manufacturer.That, or I just got lucky with WD hard drives.)All in all, this book is truly indispensable.

Power to the People!
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!"

A bit dated
This is a great book that covers every aspect of building a PC. However, as of August 2004, the 3rd edition of this book is a bit dated. For example PC3200 memory is considered the newest memory and both Pentium 4 Prescott processors and Athlon 64 processors were not out when this book was published. If you are buying this book, you may want to wait for a 4th edition, unless you are looking to assemble an old computer.

I would not accept the author's hardware recommendations as the final word. For one thing, the components they review are in many cases no longer manufactured. Magazine reviews and PC hardware Web sites are going to have different opinions on what the best components are.

All you need for PC hardware
This book is amazingly concise and thorough, yet also very easy to read. It contains many helpful photographs, and the authors maintain a great website that is tremendously useful and is a great addition to the book. I am not a big fan of the "In a Nutshell" computer books published by O'Reilly, but this book is definitely an exception. It's great for both beginners and experts.

A Gem of a PC primer!
O'Reilly's an up and coming publisher of computer related books. Maybe a kingpin already. This selection is a true quick reference guide. Written by the Thompsons, this selection gives you a thorough look into buying, assembling and operating computers. You do need a basic understanding to get anything out of this book, but if this is the case, you won't be disappointed. I have a first edition copy, and it's still current. That says a lot, a first edition published four years ago is still not too outdated! Think about it. How many computer related books can you think of that's relatively current after four years? Huh? ... Read more

Product Description
The history of general purpose CPUs is a continuation of the earlier history of computing hardware. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Software Industry Report, published by Millin Publishing, Inc. on May 21, 2001. The length of the article is 433 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: ADIC DELIVERS SCALABLE AIT LIBRARY.(Product Announcement)
Publication: Software Industry Report (Newsletter)
Date: May 21, 2001
Publisher: Millin Publishing, Inc.
Volume: 33Issue: 10Page: 8

Article Type: Product Announcement

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Product Description
This digital document is an article from Federal Computer Market Report, published by Millin Publishing, Inc. on June 11, 2001. The length of the article is 855 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: ADIC LAUNCHES INDUSTRY'S FIRST SAN-ENABLED ENTERPRISE LIBRARY.(Product Announcement)
Publication: Federal Computer Market Report (Newsletter)
Date: June 11, 2001
Publisher: Millin Publishing, Inc.
Volume: 25Issue: 11Page: 8

Article Type: Product Announcement

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Product Description
This digital document is an article from EDP Weekly's IT Monitor, published by Millin Publishing, Inc. on May 21, 2001. The length of the article is 433 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: ADIC DELIVERS SCALABLE AIT LIBRARY.(Product Announcement)
Publication: EDP Weekly's IT Monitor (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 21, 2001
Publisher: Millin Publishing, Inc.
Volume: 42Issue: 19Page: 5

Article Type: Product Announcement

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Product Description
This digital document is an article from EDP Weekly's IT Monitor, published by Millin Publishing, Inc. on June 11, 2001. The length of the article is 855 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: ADIC LAUNCHES INDUSTRY'S FIRST SAN-ENABLED ENTERPRISE LIBRARY.(Product Announcement)
Publication: EDP Weekly's IT Monitor (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 11, 2001
Publisher: Millin Publishing, Inc.
Volume: 42Issue: 22Page: 1

Article Type: Product Announcement

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This digital document is an article from EDP Weekly's IT Monitor, published by Millin Publishing, Inc. on April 8, 2002. The length of the article is 489 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Title: ADIC SCALAR STORAGE NETWORKING LIBRARIES ARE NOW ALL 2 GB FIBRE READY.
Publication: EDP Weekly's IT Monitor (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 8, 2002
Publisher: Millin Publishing, Inc.
Volume: 43Issue: 14Page: 8

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This digital document is an article from Software Industry Report, published by Millin Publishing, Inc. on April 8, 2002. The length of the article is 489 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: ADIC SCALAR STORAGE NETWORKING LIBRARIES ARE NOW ALL 2 GB FIBRE READY.(Advanced Digital Information Scalar 100, Scalar 1000, and Scalar 10K)
Publication: Software Industry Report (Newsletter)
Date: April 8, 2002
Publisher: Millin Publishing, Inc.
Volume: 34Issue: 7Page: 1

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