Customer Rating:  
Summary: There Are Much Better Books On The Subject
Comment: Hendrik Olaerts is 100% correct in his review (19 May 2006), when he describes this book as "outdated." But I feel more needs to be said, and my opinion of this book differs greatly from most of the earlier reviewers. What I fear is that someone might be looking for a good technical book on legacy PCs. Gilster's book would NOT be a good choice!
I've spent most of the last eleven years traveling in third world countries, after leaving a long-term job running and maintaining a PC lab at a community college. I fear that someone working in these more remote places might want to buy this book as a technical introduction to legacy PCs, because such PCs are common in much of the world outside the U.S. and a few other industrialized countries. One can still find PC ATs and even XTs.
Having read the whole book, I feel the author has made a number of technical errors, used misleading and confused explanations for many technical subjects, glossed over numerous important nitty-gritty configuration topics, and dwelt much too often on unnecessarily detailed treatment of relatively trivial matters. For anyone new to PC technology (i.e., anyone without enough technical knowledge to be able to recognize the mistakes and misconceptions), this book would be a very poor choice.
For only about $6 more, you can buy the latest edition (currently 17th) of Scott Mueller's excellent book: Upgrading & Repairing PCs, which I highly recommend. For those interested in legacy systems, Mueller's book has always included a CD with earlier editions in PDF format. You can go as far back in PC history as you like.
Let the uninitiated be forewarned. There's probably a good reason why Wiley Publishing, Inc., has never issued a second edition of this book. I'm used to expecting better than this from Wiley.
Customer Rating:
Summary: out dated
Comment: Well, this is a book for and from the previous millennium ; talks about A:/fdisk ; disks smaller then 512 Mbyte. Pages all about IDE-hard disk, their connectors with photographs and all; in short : out of time.
Customer Rating:
Summary: More than a tech manual is this book.
Comment: Being involved with computers for over 15 years now, I have learned that there is always something new to learn. Everyday this industry changes and keeping up it can and is a full time job. The book is written by someone with over 35 year experience and the material covered is nothing short of great.When I started reading this book I thought is was another text for the A+ Exam, and while you could use it as a study tool, the book is more in line for the technician. What the book covers is hardware mostly, from the motherboard through printers and everything in between. There is coverage of C3 and Itanium processors, binary conversions, AT Commands, video and monitors and so much more. Ron Glister has given you a real reference manual and a great addition to my technical library. The text is technically and material wise up to date with the latest information. Also there is a cd included with a host of utilities, most of which a trialware or shareware. About everyone should find a few of them useful in some way and overall if you are serious about fixing and repairing than you have a first rate source to work with.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book
Comment: Agreeing with the previous review 100%. This is an excellent book, and I can lift it over my head, so it won't be such a pain in the butt to drag around with me. At around 800 pages, it's still a hefty reference, but a little more manageable than some of the bigger books out there. The language is plain. The organization is sensible, and I appreciate the many genericized diagrams in addition to photos. Photos are nice, but the diagrams make it easier for me to figure out what I'm looking at from machine to machine. I wish more hardware books were put together like this one.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Gilster is the Greatest!
Comment: This is the second book by Ron Gilster I have used to learn more about computers. I thought at first I may have made a mistake with this book in that it may be too advanced for me, but that was not the case, for the most part. My husband, who works in computing, says that this book covers all of the basic problems a repair technician would need help with, which is what worried me, since I am not a technician by any stretch of the imagination. I am an office manager stuck with the job of supporting our computer network. The background and explanation of how things work and why they can go awry is very helpful to me in understanding what a problem may be, how to explain it to the serviceperson, and in knowing if the right things are being fixed. Thanks, Mr. Gilster. I am a devoted fan!
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