The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group PC Hardware in a Nutshell - for the bookshelf Major Keary |
The third edition of O'Reilly's PC Hardware in a Nutshell is a further expanded, and updated edition of this classic reference. Linux hardware issues are included along with those of WinXP, and there is information about SATA (serial ATA) hard drives. The authors provide more than technical detail, for example, informing the reader of SATA/PATA future trends. They also make firm best buy recommendations. The book is described as a 'desktop quick reference', and that is what it is. The information is concise, but most comprehensive. It does not cover scanners, printers, or digital cameras, but does include mice, keyboards, sound equipment, and all varieties of storage devices.
PATA is a new acronym (Parallel ATA) to distinguish SATA (Serial ATA) hard drives from ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) hard drives, which are more often called IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics). ATA is the formal engineering name for the IDE interface. There are distinct advantages in SATA: it uses less power (0.5V as against 5.0V for standard IDE or 3.3V for ATA-100+); connectors and cables are simplified: SATA uses a 7-wire cable that can be as long as a metre (.45 metre max for IDE), the connectors are more robust than those of IDE, and thinner cables mean better air circulation; improved error correction makes for robust data transfer; and SATA devices don't have to wait in a queue to read/write data. Modern mother boards have SATA connections, but SATA adapters are available for older equipment. The authors opine that IDE drives will be phased out, but not until about 2007, and replaced by SATA drives.
Of course, SCSI is the other, well proven, alternative to IDE, and the book discusses that form in considerable depth.
If you want to understand the hardware that makes up your PC, this is the reference to have. If you are thinking of upgrading components, or even to a new system, this is the definitive reference; a supporting Web site maintains updated information. If you want to build a system, this is an invaluable source of information for both planning and execution.
Anyone who runs a hardware help desk, or who is responsible for presentations on hardware-related topics, should have this as a primary reference.
PC Hardware in a Nutshell is not just a catalogue of components, it contains a broad range of information about how various systems work and their relative merits, and background discussion of hardware-related topics that won't be found in other literature.
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Robert Thompson and Barbara Thompson: PC Hardware in a Nutshell 3/e ISBN 0-596-00513-X Published by O'Reilly, 850 pp., RRP $85.00 incl. GST |
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Reprinted from the June 2004 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
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