Customer Rating: 
Summary: Very good book for the novice....
Comment: I was a complete, absolute novice knowing nothing at all about PCs. This book is not just about instructions on how to make your own PC. It gives really important history and background information which is absolutely vital and fundamental to any novice trying to get a good grasp of the subject. By the time it came down to actually building my own PC, I had as good a grasp of the subject at this level as the author himself without having read any other book on the subject. It gives you all the information YOU need to be able to make your OWN judgement about what YOU WANT to build. Best of all, the author has written it in such a personal fashion that you will feel he is actually talking to you and you can imagine him working away in his garage - enabling you to see and appreciate things in a crystal clear way. It left me absolutely mesmerised. Every technical book is only valid for as long as the technology mentioned in it is also valid when you read it. Since computer technology moves really, really fast, the reader should consider some information that was current when the book was written to look at it from a historical point of view - this does not negate the validity of the information in any way. The author makes this fact clear by mentioning phrases like "By the time you read this...." followed by his comments about how things might have changed when you are reading the book at your time - and quite often he is spot on about his predictions, which I am sure needed a bit of digging. The flow of his language is wonderful and I feel sorry for those who criticise it because their first language isn't English - mine isn't either. The only matter you should be careful of is when you read about binary numbers but thats really to do with software at a core level - something that really did not concern me at this level. I have now made 2 PCs, connected to a third, made my own network, and studying MCSE to change my career. Congratulations on a book well conceived, thought out, planned, executed and written!!!!!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Author Gives His Own Book 5 Stars ?!?
Comment: The book itself is so-so; it has some good information in it, nothing great, and you will certainly need to consult other sources, in print or on the Web, or get help from an expert, before you're able to build a fully functional computer.........
Customer Rating:
Summary: History and intent
Comment: I have grown up with the author's books, on building a PC. Considering that from 386/486 there was not much around. I have still his 486, Pent II, when I get around to it get his Pent III.I gave my son his earlier works to get started, and with a 2 week "intern" in a PC shop, he is now proudly showing me stuff. Granted his books are for the beginner/intermediate but there is just not many books out there who even attempt this. By the time they get printed, we see the next generation pent IV/giga herz which I hope the author deems to do that as well. Based on his start with some hands on and books like this and starting college he now can understand what is going on. In fact he was looking at Aubrey's Pent II book, so I will put the printout rating for Aubrey's Pent III book out, and hope there will be a similiar book on Pent IIII/AMD gigahertz forthcoming including the new memory, getting harddrives that are now 40-60 gigs.
His pent II book was discussing sub 10 gig drives. Anyway keep up the great work. Perhaps I will get a copy of the pent III and let my sone review it, since he is now overclocking his pent III putting cooling fans everywhere. Carey
Customer Rating:
Summary: Since when do authors get to rank their own books?
Comment: This book was a major disappointment, but I can only blame myself for this. I looked at the star ranking, but didn't read the reviews. I should have, because it would have helped me much better after reading the reviews. I am somewhat savy, but I was disappointed by this book because it didn't talk to me on a level of what type of product (or brands) would be best for me depending on my budget. For example, besides price, what makes the difference in components I pick? Is it speed? Will they work better? Some products that I buy might not work better if I buy the wrong companion component... this book didn't tell me that. His writing leaves much to be desired. I should have never strayed from Upgrading and Repairing PC's by Scott Mueller. I just bought ISBN 0789723034 and it's great.
Who does the author think he is giving his 1-star book 5 stars?
Customer Rating:
Summary: Build Your Own Pentium III PC
Comment: As with most of the "build your own" books on the market, this one is pretty out of date. Also, the book supplies you with very little information which would help you select which components will best meet your needs and which components work best together (ie- which motherboards, video graphics boards ...). Basically this book just explains in very breif detail how the system all works together. The most difficult thing in building your own system IMHO is deciding which components will best meet your needs and will work well together. I did not get any helpful info from this book along these lines. In fact the author does not even seem particularly knowledgeable about the subject matter in the book. I think I could have wrote a better book and I do not even consider myself a computer geek.
Bottom line, I waisted my money...
