Rating: 
Summary: Confused and Disappointed
Review: I bought Dreamweaver 4 Hands-On Training because of the highly complementary and evidently sincere reviews I read in these pages. The tutorials, however, are sluggish and repetitive and the exercises very poorly designed and executed. It was all I could do to get through the first half-dozen chapters. Mr. Green is not as familiar with Windows as he should be, some of his links do not work, and some of his comments are just plain silly. Macromedia's Using Dreamweaver 4 at least takes itself, and the reader, seriously.New web designers, or web designers new to Dreamweaver 4, should resign themselves to studying Using Dreamweaver 4, the manual that comes with the software, which is more than adequate to get one started. Certainly they should be encouraged to do this first, before purchasing an expensive, additional, introductory tutorial, saving their money perhaps for one of the highly recommended intermediate to advanced manuals, such as Dreamweaver 4 Magic or Inside Dreamweaver 4. The main thing is graduating to web design and execution, not stalling out in grammar school.
Rating: 
Summary: Best Computer Book Investment Ever!
Review: I enrolled in a Dreamweaver HTML editor class and this was our text book--most people in the class were able to work thru about the first 15 chapters in 3 days--everything is so well explained and if you follow it step by step you'll have that instant gratification all computer junkies crave! I would highly recommend this book to anyone--I am a visual learner and this is so well laid out it will teach you Dreamweaver in a snap...We all love Lynda! I can't wait to get the Photoshop Hands on Training Book I just ordered...
Rating:
Summary: Extremely Disappointed
Review: I expected a lot more from Lynda. Her previous book was wonderful, but this book is basically just a repeat of DW4 HOT. There is only 15-20% new info. Even the exercises are the same. They just copied the old book into the new with minor changes, they didn't even spend time making new exercises. To pay that much money for a copy of the old book is just plain and simpy ridiculous, there are a lot more books that authors have spent more time writing and making new examples like DW4 Magic and Inside DW4. Consider them and leave this one behind. Sorry Lynda I expected more from you, and now I will think twice buying any of your books. I bought this book blind, just because the authors were Lynda Weinman and Garo Green.
Rating:
Summary: Superb project book for newbie/intermediate!
Review: I had already used Lynda.com's CDROM's on Dreamweaver 4 so wasn't very excited to start this book. Even though I paid close atention to the CDROM's I picked up numerous tips from the book.
I did all the projects in 2 days flat. Never once did I need to stop because what appeared on the screen was different from what the book stated. It is a project based book...so you follow through the projects and it really flows very well. There are plenty of print screens which actually is what makes the book thick and seem at first glace like it will take a while to complete.
I didn't just learn Dreamweaver...I learned the esentials of being a good web designer!
Rating: 
Summary: Get It
Review: I had the opportunity to attend Garo Green's Dreamweaver Weekend in Ojai in early '99, right about the time DW2 was released. Being more oriented towards intuitive graphics programs (ie: Photoshop, Illustrator, Quark), I found the process of using HTML editors daunting, to say the least; web authoring is a whole new ball game for the lowly digital artist. Learning curve notwithstanding, Macromedia Dreamweaver seems to be the most highly recommended web authoring application on the market, with its (relative) ease of use and superior execution of HTML code. Version 4 has introduced tools to help make the transition from conventional page layout to web page management less painstaking than it was in previous versions. Helping it along is the highly personable approach that Garo and Lynda have integrated into this book, which does, as other reviewers have stated, offer an introduction to the program that is both comfortingly simple and stimulatingly comprehensive. The frustrating thing about the tutorial that ships with Dreamweaver is that it starts you off working with already-created files rather than creating them yourself from scratch, as if just knowing how the tools function will be enough. DW4 H.O.T. offers several from-the-ground-up lessons that are never too drawn out (in fact some are over before you know it!), that are presented in plain English and are well explained when they are not so plain. This does not mean once you've read the book, you will be an instant webmaster .... there is a LOT to remember, and it is not one of those programs you can just "figure out". The material and exercises are presented in a spirit of fun and enthusiasm for learning this challenging and powerful tool, with just a few editing faux-pas here and there (which would only confuse the OS novice), which lend it that sort of folksy Ojai feel one would get from participating in an actual workshop. One thing I personally appreciated was the time they take to explain all the options you get in the dialog boxes that open for the various tools, even the ones you might never use, why you should use them, and what ones you can pretty much get along without. Not to mention how to avoid all the useless, annoying warnings that come up when you're about to execute a function. Macromedia's kinda funny that way. Overall, as a learning tool, this is an outstandingly helpful volume for those of us who haven't a lot of time on their hands to sit down and try to get a grasp on an art program that requires an almost totally different approach than what one may be used to ..... it really is like having a gentle teacher watching over your shoulder, guiding you patiently and saying "Good job!" when you complete an exercise. I may end up checking out their Flash 5 book if it can make learning that program this painless (and I thought Dreamweaver was rough ... <shudder>). Summary: Best HTML WYSIWYG editor - Dreamweaver. Number One choice to make learning it less of a nightmare than any other out there - this book. Have you read a good school lately?
Rating:
Summary: The best Dreamweaver tutorial out there!
Review: I have checked several DW books, and I found DW 4 H.O.T to be the most efficient and organized DW book that I have seen. It is an excellent introduction to a very robust software. The tutorials are very easy to follow, and they work real well with the CD. I highly recommend this book to someone who is new to DW, as well as for an intermediate user. Once you go through this book, it'll make sense.
Rating:
Summary: If only all technical books were this good
Review: I have known HTML for a while now and had the attitude that since you can do everything in notepad why pay for anything else. Well I am here to tell you why... Speed. If you want to learn how to quickly format webpages and acheive the look you want not settle for something else then dreamweaver is what you need, and this is the way to learn dreamweaver. I was able to read the book from cover to cover in about 25 hours and made my first site within 6 days of getting this book. All I can say is WOW this book really teaches you what you need to know. If you are a beginner who is serious about learning Dreamweaver 4 get this book and hear it out. I had purchased the Sybex book on Dreamweaver and Fireworks only to return it to purchase Dreamweaver 4 HOT. Keep up the good work at Lynda.com and I hope the rest of their books are this good
Rating:
Summary: Good for beginners
Review: I have read all the reviews before I bought this book from Amazon. I was fairly confident this would be a good book to start learning dreamweaver. I have a fair amount of html and javascript knowledge along with graphics programs but have never used dreamweaver before. I actually took the book with me on a trip out of town. I didn't have a computer to see the examples off of the CD or to test the theories mentioned in the book. This was not a problem! If you're like me you learn visually rather than just reading a lot of words. This book has many screen shots that are very helpful in reinforcing the topic (especially if you're not at a computer). It also has a classroom feel to it but the chapters don't feel like they go on forever. It covers subject by subject, step by step, using screen shots in the book and a lot of examples off of the CD (if you're at a computer). It's pretty comprehensive in covering the capabilities of dreamweaver, it just doesn't go in depth to an advanced level. This book is definitely for beginners. You will probably be disappointed if you want an intermediate to advanced book. I think this is more of a beginners to an intermediate book. In conclusion, when I returned from my trip I was able to do all the things I learned in the book and I feel I'm at an intermediate level now. I'm looking for my next dreamweaver book and hope to find one that is layed out as well as this one.
Rating:
Summary: Best Dreamweaver Book I've Read
Review: I have taken two on-line courses for Dreamweaver, attempted to figure out Macromedia's book, but when I had "Dreamweaver 4 H.O.T." in my hands, the world of Dreamweaver came alive. Quick success, easy to understand and comprehend, drove me to finish the lessons in this book in less than a week during my free time. It speaks English and makes learning fun.
Rating:
Summary: Made learning Dreamweaver a snap, even for a novice
Review: I just finished up with Dreamweaver 4: Hands On Training. The book proved to be the best investment in my Internet education to date. I have often seen people with large, intimidating computer books and thought I would never have the patience to go through one. Lynda makes simple work of this book with very easy to follow instructions. I started this book knowing just enough to confuse myself. The book made everything seem easy. HOT covers all the basics of Dreamweaver like tables, layers, fonts, etc... It also goes a little into DHTML, Flash, and plug in's like Quicktime and Director. The chapter on DHTML made me feel especially competent and ready to tackle some animation projects of my own. I did have a couple of problems with some of the exercises. But, I suspect that may have more to do with the fact that I'm working on Dreamweaver UltraDev, not just plain Dreamweaver. Also, the final chapter that walks through developing a Geocities page has become a little outdated. But it's nothing that can't be worked around in a couple of clicks. When I move onto needing more information on Flash, I'll be buying Flash HOT. I'm a new Lynda convert. If you're new to Web design, this is the book for you.
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