Customer Reviews

TechTV Leo Laporte's 2004 Technology Almanac

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

A book I'm having fun reading this year is Leo Laporte's 2004 Technology Almanac. This is one of those books you may not get something from every day, but on many occasions you'll find a gem that will make your life a lot easier. There's a page for each day of the year, and each month covers a different area of technology. Those areas are Make Your Computer New For The New Year; Games And Entertainment; Stay Safe Online; Manage Your Life Online; Merry Month Of May; Weird And Wonderful World Wide Web; Family Photography; Work At The Beach; Back To School; Control Your Email, Battle Spam; Troubleshooting; Leftovers; and Index. And in case you're wondering, the tips include both Mac and PC...

For instance, on January 3rd the coverage is on must-have system diagnostic tools. The four tools they feature are PC Pitstop, SiSoftware Sandra, WCPUID, and Motherboard Monitor. I was unaware of any of these package, and the SiSoftware Sandra package would help me clean up some things on my machine. If I had been looking for something like this, I might have been able to find it. But having a gem drop onto your path makes each day's reading something to look forward to. Heavy-duty geeks might think too much of this is "I already know that" material, but for average users and developers like myself, it's nearly as fun as a Dilbert calendar (and more useful to boot).

I have been buying Leo's Tech Almanac for 3 years now, and I have to say I am really disappointed in this year's edition.

When you look through the book, it's attractive enough - big images, large photos of the TechTV authors on each page, huge sidebars - but thats the problem - there's hardly any content! Instead they have decided to make the insides light and fluffy, but no real meat to most of it.

While I was waiting on this book, I purchased the PC Magazine Technology Almanac, and I think its much better - heavy on useful content, and light on silly images and icons. Plus I got a free subscription to the magazine.

If you like redundant lists of writer's favorite dinosaur video games, you will like this book. If you are looking for a daily update on stuff you can really use, look elsewhere.

In response to the folks that have bombed this book. You are missing the point of the book and don't understand Leo's appeal. Leo, and his book, aren't for the Geeks or the Web savvy, both are for everyone else. Leo's whole career is about being inclusive of people that need help understanding the world of computers. This is a great book for those that need:

a. A hard copy reference. There are many of us out there that still prefer to read from paper.

b. A more direct source for useful information. Many people don't have the skills or the patience to search all over the internet for what they need.

c. An easy to read and understand writing style.

Buy this book for Mom and Dad, family members who need some technical help, or anyone that is more interested in learning to use a computer as tool rather than making the computer their life.

I read the book from cover to cover. I have all of Leo Laporte's books, listen to his podcast This Week in Tech (TWiT), and watch his cable TV show.

I got this book in 2005 and 99 % of the things in here are still valid today. Even though the daily format is not needed after 2004 has passed, it doesn't matter how you read it anyways. Its great as a reference, and is an easy read. There is a great variety of facts and tips in here. Mostly Windows related, but most technology related things are. I really recommend this book.

If you've ever seen "The Screen Savers" on TechTV, then you're probably familiar with the type of content offered in this very interesting book. If you don't have TechTV, then let me explain. The TV show "The Screen Savers" discusses various tips, tricks, and tools for improving your computing experience. This book is really just a collection of some of the best tips and tricks, which has been put into a tip of the day format.

Some of the tips you might expect include what you should look for in a DVD player, information about the CD-ROM burning tool "Alcohol 120%", and where you can get star charts for your PDA. While "The Screen Savers" always has something interesting to discuss, what makes this book great is that it's all written down. Rather than hearing about something cool on TV and forgetting about it a few minutes later, you can refer back to something you read earlier.

This was a surprisingly interesting and useful book. It was very entertaining to read and I was able to even use some of the tips! While it's definitely not a reference book, it is a fun book to have alongside the computer.

After all the annoying hype Leo gives this tome, you would think there would be something special in here. Instead, it's rehashed filler that you can find just as easily on the web for free. If you are fan of Leo's (for whatever reason) buy this book. If you're looking for a way to learn PC tips, tricks and in-n-out's, there are a million other more worth books with title worlds like "tips, hacks, steps" etc. If you are looking for a gift for the geek in your life, sadly, this is not worth the price of admission. You'd do better to look at the Amazon bestseller list here and see what people here really want.

Leo Laporte, host of Techtv's The Screen Savers, and collaborator Megan Morrone (formerly of TSS and now of Microsoft) have a wonderful book. It is full of tips and tricks about the technologies (not just computers) covered on the Screen Savers. Like his previous two books, the 2004 edition has daily pages about various topics. It is written in the simple style one has come to expect from Leo and his Techtv friends. Buy this book now.

I love Leo's new book. It's has so much great information in it! A must buy!!!

I read this book because I enjoyed Mr. Laporte's show. I must say this book is nothing like the show. It did not help me use the computer. Instead it tells people how Mr. Laporte feels a computer should be used. I emailed Mr. Laporte to ask for help ,but he has not answered to this day.