How to Build Your Own PC

Produced by cable's Tech TV and hosted by the smiling faces you see on The Screen Savers (Leo Laporte and Patrick Norton), this lively, entertaining and informative guide to building a PC from raw components reminds viewers that creating a computer from scratch is not necessarily a money-saving move (at least not in the modern era of sub-$600 PCs), but you do end up with the machine you want (not to mention pride of workmanship). After coaching viewers on proper workspace setup and necessary tools, the guys build PCs--from preparing the case and installing the motherboard to hooking up cables--in real time, so minor gaffes (like accidentally installing a drive backwards) are recorded and shared (which should help relieve the stress of first timers). The two-host format is also perfect for the topic: it's hard to get a pair of computer geeks to even agree on which components to use, but by the end of this video, both hosts have constructed operational computers that arguably are neither inferior nor superior to each other's, just different--a good point for beginners, geeks, and zealots alike to bear in mind. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. [Note: Also available, at the same price, Computer Basics.] Aud: H, C, P. (C. Block)