Haynes Build Your Own Computer book review

Re: £15.39 on Amazon

... but it's only actually worth £1.54. The review fails to notice the copious mistakes, the ineptitude with which components are handled and tools used. I'm very surprised that "Haynes" put their name to this turkey!

The problems with a book of this sort include the fact that it's out of date before it's even published.

I think it's time for a really good "Build Your Own Computer" website, including reviews of components, suggested modifications and improvements, a one-stop-shop for drivers for the hardware reviewed and plenty of links to suppliers....

Done right, it would be a fabulous resource and could easily be self-financing!

Re: Wow an anti-static strap!

"isn't wearing a pink shirt?" - I've read this as "isn't wearing a pink skirt"

Re: Everyone...

That is genuinely creepy... My first computer was an Epson QX-10, second was a 386DX, which is now an AMD Phenom quad-core. The last (semi-) original component was the 5 1/4 drive that got pitched in 2004. (Semi- because it got replaced in '95, but only the once).

My definition of a "new" build is if you swap out more than 50% of the parts.

Re: Everyone...

Ah yes, the "Trigger's broom" of the PC world. Mine started as a P100, changed case 3x, CPU/motherboard countless times (but switched from Intel to AMD and back again at least once). It's definitely still the same "upgraded" PC though in my head :-)

My favourite Haynes text....

35 steps to do a procedure....

36. Reassembly is the reverse of the procedure.

Happy days. Glad I don't do my own car servicing any more.

Some of us can do both.

Not at the same time though. Computer components tend to react badly to greasy fingers, swarf and being repeatedly belted with a hammer........

",...build there own?"

*shudder*

Re: AT Powerswitches

The answer is no, unless there is an internet connection to The Register's forums from beyond the grave.

Re: AT Powerswitches

Yes, and not because it was badly insulated, but because the wiring and the case front switch arrived 'unconnected' and the only guide to the correct pin-out was written in Chinese.

These days, the most you have to do is get the HDD LED cable the right way round on the motherboard, but back in the 90's, you'd have to wire up the LCD 'speed' display correctly so that it showed both the correct 'standard' and 'turbo' speeds. Otherwise you were nothing!

Oh, it was all ships and giggles back in them days.

Re: AT Powerswitches

I remember years ago showing my GF at the time how to build her very own PC

She looked me in the eyes & asked "there's nothing in here that can hurt me?"

I said no; Cue a very LOUD Zzzzattt and one very unhappy GF

She had managed to short the PWS switch in the front of the case to the case itself

The screwdriver took most of the damage

I took the rest as she tried to beat the living daylights outa me while was laughing my arse off

Ahhh, the good old days

*sniff*

@handle - Re: "Finally, there’s a short guide on free software"

Wrote :- "The type of person .. to build their own computer is also likely .. to want to install something other than Windows on it."

Indeed. One good reason for building your own is to avoid sending more money to Microsoft.

Re: Roll your own, keep your sanity and your checkbook safe (maybe)

Sing it, brother! I was raised in a family that had a total fear of anything as complex as a screwdriver. There was no getting anything fixed, it was break it and buy a new one. My folks' notion of "teaching me money" was to give me $100, put it in a savings account, then deny me access to it.

So I was a right mess when I went off to college. I had no idea how to even shop for a car mechanic, so I got screwings that would make a New Orleans hooker proud. I couldn't afford to keep the car running, so I bought a bike, and when it died, I couldn't afford to have it fixed, so I got a Clymers (cheap US ripoff of Haynes) and fixed it myself. When I put it back together and it fired up, I was on cloud 9 for a week.

Hell, I took a front tire to the bike shop a couple years ago, and they couldn't even line up the arrows on the rim & the tire to fit the damn thing on in the proper direction. How can you mess that up?

My ex-roommate just spent $1600 to have the local car shop swap parts out until they discovered the $20 power supply wire to the ECU was bad. Does he get a refund on all the extra parts he now owns? No.

A neighbor just bit the asphalt because that intermittent ignition coil the bike shop "fixed" killed the engine while he was leaned over in a corner. That's what he gets for buying a Harley.

Back to the book however, this is useful as something to give a noob. He'll at least look at the pretty pictures, and if he doesn't have halfway intelligent questions afterwards, then I know not to waste my time with him.

And speaking of building PCs: I just built one, and which part was bad out of the box? The only American-made part, the CPU.

Re: Warning!

this. seriously. spot on

so much i have so much cack that might one day hgave a need., IDE cables, SD Ram. a floppy drive (just in case dad / old person / luddite girlfriend) wants an old file recovered. A loud crappy PSU. just in case my current one blows and i need a short term stopgap. A DX486 66 chip just for the happy memories of my first upgrade.

most can probably go, but will probably stay, just in case. I'll just keep slowly expanding the box of "dad's spare stuff".