Build It. Fix It. Own It: A Beginner's Guide to Building and Upgrading a PC
Binding : Paperback
ProductGroup : Book
Manufacturer : Que
Label : Que
Publisher : Que
Studio : Que
Lowest Used Price: USD $19.18
Lowest New Price: USD $18.68
BUILD IT. FIX it. OWN IT.
A Beginner’s Guide to Building and Upgrading a PC
Build It. Fix It. Own It. is the ultimate beginner’s guide to building and fixing your own PC. With a friendly, knowledgeable tone, this book shows the beginning PC builder everything he or she needs to know to build a computer or upgrade an existing one.
We step you through the parts that lurk inside a PC, from the motherboard and power supply to the CPU, memory, hard drive, video card, sound card, and networking hardware. In each case, you will learn how the hardware works, what it does, what types of hardware are available, and what to look for when buying the hardware.
Then we walk you step-by-step though a series of PC building projects. We show you how to build five different types of PC: a basic business PC, a home theater PC, a high-performance PC, a killer gaming PC, and a budget PC. And if building a new PC from scratch isn’t in your budget, we show you how to resurrect an old PC by swapping out a few key components.
When you have your PC built and running, we show you how to set up a wireless network and the BIOS and maintain your new rig.
Build It. Fix It. Own It. is the ultimate PC builder’s guide, even if you’ve never ventured inside a PC case before!
Author Bio
Paul McFedries is one of the industry’s most well known and respected technical writers and is a passionate computer tinkerer. He is the author of more than 70 computer books that have sold more than three million copies worldwide. His recent titles include the Sams Publishing books Windows Vista Unleashed and Windows Home Server Unleashed and the Que Publishing books Networking with Microsoft Windows Vista, Formulas and Functions with Microsoft Excel 2007, Tricks of the Microsoft Office 2007 Gurus, and Microsoft Access 2007 Forms, Reports, and Queries. Paul also is the proprietor of Word Spy (www.wordspy.com), a website devoted to tracking new words and phrases as they enter the English language.
Category Hardware
Covers PC Hardware
User Level Beginner—Intermediate
Save yourself 50% on your next desktop (2008-12-27)
If a 63 year old retiree can do, so can you... with this book.
Building your own desktop is only slightly more difficult than lego blocks. If you read this book, you will see that the biggest problem you will have is your own greed for speed when you realize you can do it. While this book does not cover Intel's new I7, this book has chapters on numerous "builds" that convey how the building processes are 95% identical, so you can go on to a build using the (extraordinary!) I7 with confidence.
Numerous no-name computer assembler online sites specify their exact components: comparisons using (the essential) Newegg's prices show 50% margins -- all this $$ is yours if you have patience, can do lego blocks, and read this book and "Build your own desktop" blogs carefully. Trying to figure out Microsoft Word's formatting options is 10 times more difficult. Honest.
I have purchased 20+ Dell's and HP's over the years for myself and my children, and can say that the PC companies' product designs and especially their so-called "service" fail miserably to justify their 75% margins, and things are getting worse.
"Build a PC" by Scott Mueller is good as a second book (there are no others that are remotely up to date).
For what it is worth, I do not know either author, nor have I ever corresponded with either.
Worked really well for a beginner (2008-12-23)
As a first time builder of my own computer this book was exactly what I needed. Easy to understand and very comprehensive it covers several different types of computers to build in simple stages and made my first gaming computer easy to build.
All You Need in One Package (2008-12-14)
I bought this book because I had an old computer that was pushing the limits of what it could do in order to keep up with the latest software. When I went to the store, I didn't really have any idea what all of the numbers and letters meant on all of the parts. I was totally lost! After reading this book, I could walk into the computer store with confidence and ask specifically for the parts that I needed to make my upgrade. Since I was able to do that, I didn't feel so behind the technology curve after all. The money I paid for this book was definitely well spent.
The first 40% of the book covers the parts and tools necessary for building or repairing your own computer. This was the part that I found most useful as it covers the specs of the parts. This saved me from buying parts that would not be compatible with my older computer. The next 40% covers building computers. This is broken down into chapters for different types of computers, so you'll get plans and instructions for building anything from a budget computer to a high-performance gaming computer. The last 20% covers how to repair and maintain a computer.
If you're thinking of building your own computer or ugrading an older one, this book has everything in one package. The only downside is that if you just want to upgrade a computer, you won't be able to use the 40% that covers building computers. However, it might just inspire you to build your own someday.
Helpful for first time build (2008-12-07)
Bought this because it was one of the most recently printed guides to building a computer. Gave a good idea of where to start looking and what decisions need to be made. Unfortunatly, the technology currently available far out-paces the technology in the book. Pictures and steps are helpful but not in color.
Exelent for a begginer (2008-09-01)
It is an exelent book for a beginer. Also a more experienced buyer can get updated information.
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