Wading through this book is like being trapped next to a talkative American business executive on a transatlantic flight. There's possibly a lot of useful information to be gained, but you have to struggle with the way it is presented.

A major problem is the book's confusing idea of the reader. It is intended to guide first-time buyers through the many trials and tribulations of choosing, buying and using their new micro system. Yet it also assumes familiarity with computer jargon and technical terms, and doesn't provide a separate glossary.

Novices who don't know a dongle from a kludge are, instead, recommended to become familiar with computers on their own - by visiting computer shops, reading relevant magazines, taking a programming course at night, and even buying themselves a home computer. That may be sound advice, but not too consoling to perplexed prospective buyers, especially if they are the busy business people the book aims at.

No guidance is given, either, on the merits (or otherwise) of specific equipment or on applications of interest to business buyers. The author defends these omissions, pointing out that there are far too many applications to do justice to them all, and that machine recommendations quickly become obsolete in such a fast-moving technology. Again, while he is probably right, it might have been helpful to offer novices at least some insight into typical uses along with the kind of hardware and software such applications require.

As it is, the reader's first choice is to plough through all manner of chatty advice about User-Vendor Relations (translated: how to go about buying your micro system) and the System Environment (how to save it from various kinds of disaster once installed).

These chapters account for over half the book. Patient readers who get this far are rewarded in the next two chapters, which actually get down to explaining what hardware and software are, how they work, etc, in language that only claims to be jargon-free.

If you have a high level of tolerance for Americana and good orienteering skills, you stand to gain some useful tips from this book. But calling it a complete guide is a bit much, as is its price.

Harriet Arnold