Following his success with 30 Hour Basic, Clive Prigmore has appeared again to torment us with his 30 Hour Useful Home Computing book.

Prigmore starts by introducing the components of a computer system, including disc drive, printer, monitor and - unlikely as we are to forget it - micro. The perennial subject of ROM and RAM is brought up but the author has kept excitement down with the use of only one simile in that section - and no, he does not use the pigeon hole analogy.

The most informative sections of the book are those on word processing, spreadsheets and databases. Using a non-committal approach Prigmore does his best to show you how to choose software which will suit your needs and provides shallow explanation of how typical packages work. His advice is basic but it is the sort of information which a businessman who does not want to know about computers will need to know.

Interspersed between the general information chapters are sections for those of you who want to know what goes on behind the keyboard. Prigmore distinguishes between the types of data involved in data processing, the types of Operating System you can purchase and what type of hardware is available for business computing.

The checklists at the end of each chapter will help you remember what was covered in the proceeding text but if you expect the book to be as useful as Prigmore's 30 Hour Basic you will be disappointed.