The Indispensable PC Hardware Book (3rd Edition) [Paperback]

H,P. Messmer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0201403994 | ISBN-13: 978-0201403992 | Publication Date: June 17, 1999 | Edition: 3

"'I have compared this book with others and in my humble opinion The Indispensable PC Hardware Book is superior in every way...you'll definitely feel more comfortable knowing its sitting on your shelf waiting for you should a crisis arise' Bonnie D Raymond, Central Maryland Microcomputer Users Group (CMMUG) "Now fully up to date and even more comprehensive than before this latest edition of The Indispensable PC Hardware Book will continue to amaze and delight with its detailed explanation of every aspect of PC Hardware. Whether you're a newcomer to the field or a veteran systems programmer you'll relish the very latest scoop on hot topics including Pentium Pro, the PCI Chipset and SCSI III.* Detailed explanation of core hardware topics including:all CPUs; 8086/88 to Pentium and Pentium Pro all co-processors; 8087 to i387 AMD processors:Am386 to AM5k86; Cyrix CPUs:386 to 6x86 real, protected and virtual 8086 mode with Pentium enhancements addressing, segmentation and paging extended and expanded memory ports, registers and I/O address space BIOS and register programming ST412/506, AT-Bus, IDE, DI, SCSI I/II/III interrupts, exceptions and NMI RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memories page mode, static, statics column mode, serial mode, memory interleaving. *Unique coverage of upgrades and clones, overdrives and SLs. *PC architectures from XT via ISA, EISA, MCA to VLB and PCI. *Mass storage and interfaces; parallel, serial and PCMCIA. *Multimedia, concepts and programming of sound cards. *Extensive appendices to provide you with a lasting programming reference.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'An excellent reference ...especially useful for fleshing out those hazy areas where real information is all too-often, obscured by buzzwords and jargon' PC Magazine UK 'It certainly contains a treasure trove of technical facts.' Jeff Scott, Golden Gate Computer Society 'I have compared this book with others and in my humble opinion The Indispensable PC Hardware Book is superior in every way...you'll definitely feel more comfortable knowing its sitting on your shelf waiting for you should a crisis arise' Bonnie D Raymond, Central Maryland Microcomputer Users Group (CMMUG) 'It is massive, meticulous and technical...it represents a monumental achievement for a single author'. Jon Vogler, Unix News

Language Notes

Text: English
Original Language: German --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 1408 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 3 edition (June 17, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201403994
• ISBN-13: 978-0201403992
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.8 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,341,691 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best in the genre, May 10, 2002

By 

J. Turner (Minnesota United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Indispensable PC Hardware Book (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

Hands down, this hulking book is the best in its class. It expansively covers CPUs (from the 8088 to Pentium Pro), Floppy Drives, AT bus, PCI, and Hard Disk Drives (MFM, RLL, ESDI, IDE, SCSI), PCMCIA, and just about everything you would ever want to know about the PC hardware.

Unfortunately, even a book this large must leave things out. What is not covered: USB (can fill a book of its own), AGP, DMI, SMBIOS, IMPI or newer specifications. Also, portions of the book are geared towards explaining a technology rather than giving hard details about using it.

Still, it is the best overall book I have found on the PC in a while.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great reference, June 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Indispensable PC Hardware Book (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

You do, of course, need some extensive background on assembly language and basic knowledge computer architecture. If you have that, you'll be treated to quite a wide scope of material. This text is very clear, and the welth of information is staggering. From all Intel chips (alomst all, rather) to chipsets, to support chips to storage hardware. I have just this one book (in addition to some manuals from Intel) and I never needed any more sources.

Also, if you need even more info, you can supplement the book with free manuals from Intel.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars helpful key to editions - for buying used, August 7, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Indispensable PC Hardware Book (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

excellent book, later editions better

first edition, 10/1993, 985pp ISBN: 0201624249

second edition, 3/1995, 1344pp ISBN: 0201876973

third edition, 7/1997, 1384pp, ISBN: 0201403994

third edition, 5/2000, 1408pp, ISBN: 0201403994 <- current

fourth edition, 1/2002, to be published, ISBN: 0201596164