Robert Bruce Thompson makes it look SO easy... that it actually WAS easy.
I've got 25 years of experience in using and maintaining my own PCs, since my first Apple II+ and all through the PC/DOS and Windows days. I'm pretty good with software, but my wife knows to stuff her ears with cotton whenever I'm about to crack the case on the machine. Incompatible hardware, the spider's nest of wires in there... how can a person possibly understand all of that stuff? But I needed a new powerful PC and could only afford a low-end box. This book convinced me that I could build one easily and get a high-end system for a low-budget price.
"Build the Perfect PC" is a cookbook for computer builders. In the first couple of chapters, RBT discusses WHY to build your own PC, how to select suitable components, and some pitfalls to avoid. Then in the following six chapters, he and wife/photographer Barbara demonstrate in exhaustive and excruciatingly clear detail the step-by-step process of putting the theory into practice. The "Mainstream" PC, the SOHO server, the gaming machine, the "Home Theater" system, the cigar-box .. excuse me, "Small Form Factor" PC, and the all-important budget PC; each one painstakingly detailed.
Yes, but does it work? CAN you build a powerful machine cheaper than a Big Box store? You bet! And it WAS easy. And here I am, typing this review on the machine I built this weekend. And no cuts, scrapes, bruises, and I didn't turn the air blue with frustration, because there wasn't any. With apologies, to GEICO, it's so easy that a caveman could do it.
I gave this book a "5" rating only because O'Rielly doesn't have a choice for "6" - but it deserves it. If you are interested in building the ultimately PERSONAL computer for yourself, step one is to buy this book, read it cover-to-cover, and take lots of notes. You won't be sorry.
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