Customer Reviews
PCs for Dummies - By: Mr. Terrence Jowle, 22 Sep 2008 
First computer book that I bought & still comes in useful after 5years. Dan Gookin takes some beating as an author.
Don't even think about buying this book - By: Mr. C. O. Jones, 08 Jul 2008 
My wife bought this book some years ago when we got our first PC as we're both pretty computer-illiterate (or were then). I can honestly say that over the years I have consulted this book on numerous occasions when things have gone wrong, & not once has it been any help. In fact, I would go further, it has never failed to complicate a problem rather than simplify it. Consult the index? What you are looking for is never there. Seek a simple explanation to a basic problem? You'll be given a facetious & unintelligible answer (if you can find any answer at alll). Worst of alll, it is done in the unfunniest, most relentlessly jokey, matey tone that I have ever encountered. Don't waste your money.
What's a Start Menu...............!? - By: DangermouseZilla, 27 Dec 2007 
The first thing you notice bout this book - is that it is funny. But after a while it starts to get a bit annoying as the book seems more like it's `trying' to be funny than actuallly being funny.
Anyway - I am pretty good with PCs (messed around with them for years) & decided to flick through this book that my mum-in-law has recently acquired.
It does a good job of separating the technobabble from the technology & gives good steady walkthroughs of what it deems to be the essentials. I'm sure though that everyone has their own idea of what is `the essentials' & so the book may never satisfy everyone.
The good thing about the non-reliance on techno-speak is that the book doesn't date too badly. I've seen an old edition of this book (2001 edition) & it is still pretty relevant today. It gives an example of a fast PC with 256MB of RAM which is laughable these days - but the book is still handy.
It isn't just the software side of things either that this book tackles - it deals with adjusting your monitor settings, what the various ports on your PC are for, what various components do. I'm not a massive Windows user myself, but the author explains at the beginning of the book that this covers only PCs running Windows based operating systems.
In a nutshell - This is a brilliant book for a PC novice. It doesn't make the reader feel daunted, & it should help inspire confidence. It is funny (even if it does grate after a while!), & even if you can only get your hands on a copy of an old edition - much of the information will still be relevant (unless you are using the ultimate PC slower-upper: Vista! In which case you'll probably need a more recent version as the others may only cover up to XP).
Maybe for dummies, but probably not for beginners - By: Steve Burrow, 07 Jan 2003 
I bought this book for my mother who, with no prior experience of any kind, recently bought a computer.
The concept of 'windows', 'files', 'folders' & 'programs' were entirely alien to her & this book didn't help much in providing the answers. She found much of the content repetitious, & the loud humour off-putting. This book wasn't the answer to her absolute beginner needs.
So could nothing help? Was it my mother or was it the book?
Well she's since gone on to buy two other books, supposedly for beginners, & these have helped her progress to the stage where she is now teaching my father how to use the PC.
In short, there are better solutions out there.
The Best Introduction to Computers You Could Have - By: , 21 Jul 2002 If you're a complete beginner or, like me, you have a just a smalll amount of knowledge & experience of computers then I don't see that you could find a better guide book than this one. I would strongly recommend it especiallly to people who have got a computer for the first time & find the whole business of what you can & can't do on it bewildering. The author has a degree in communications & it shows. Every aspect of using a computer is dealt with in turn & explained in a very effective way that gets the meaning across without being technical.
