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Rating: 
Summary: Inadequate
Review: I have taken two semesters of classes using this text, and I have to say that the book is largely non conducive to learning circuits. The chapters in the book seem to have no grand direction that ties all the specific details together. Also, the examples are not helpful in understanding the concepts of circuit analysis or in completing the homework problems at the end of the chapters. I would recommend working with the Schaum's guide to Electric Circuits, it is much more concise and effective in its teaching.
Rating: 
Summary: Gives You a Strong Foundation
Review: I wish I had this book when I was studying EE some years back. It is by far the best and most solid introduction to electric circuits I have ever seen. It goes the extra mile to strengthen the reader's foundation in circuits, even in things which may seem trivial or unnecessary to some people (e.g. meticulous attention to passive versus active sign conventions). The explanations are clear, precise, and unambiguous. The breadth of topics is commendable. It is well balanced, e.g., it is up to date on computational techniques (MATLAB and Spice), yet does not weaken its presentation of traditional circuit principles. The book is attractive, the print is sharp, the two-tone diagrams look professional. The CD contains real stuff, including a Laboratory Manual and additional MATLAB problems.To some people, the extra care taken to explain things (especially in chapter one) may make the book seem wordy. This probably accounts for the low ratings given by my fellow Amazon reviewers who seem to prefer a more concise approach. A good supplement to this book is Schaum's Electric Circuits, which covers the same topics but does not go as deep as DeCarlo and Lin. If you go through both books from cover to cover, I am confident you will gain a strong foundation for further studies. This is vital because a weak or incomplete foundation in circuit theory is perhaps the MAIN cause of difficulties that people encounter in their future engineering studies or engineering practice.
Rating:
Summary: Lagging
Review: The tedious repititions and the incomprehensible garrulousness makes this book what it is. It took the entire chapter of THIRTY FIVE pages to explain simple relations between voltage, current, and resistance. The book is simply a random cacophony of words and diagrams. It is incoherrent with absolutely no order and random pieces of information are spread throughout its entirety of 1008 pages. The information you need for problems of the first chapter aren't covered until chapter two, several examples hardly relate to what's going on in the chapter. You'd be better off learning the things covered in this course...
Rating:
Summary: Lagging
Review: The tedious repititions and the incomprehensible garrulousness makes this book what it is. It took the entire chapter of THIRTY FIVE pages to explain simple relations between voltage, current, and resistance. The book is simply a random cacophony of words and diagrams. It is incoherrent with absolutely no order and random pieces of information are spread throughout its entirety of 1008 pages. The information you need for problems of the first chapter aren't covered until chapter two, several examples hardly relate to what's going on in the chapter. You'd be better off learning the things covered in this course...
Rating:
Summary: Depending on your point of view
Review: This book is certainly not a list of equations explaining how to and when to use them. It includes a lot of theory and derivation which can seem useless when all you want to do is solve V=IR. But I think one of the objectives of this book is to include the complexity behind the equations simply because there is complicated theory behind linear circuit analysis. That is why at times Decarlo will say, 'I will not go into the derivation, that is for more advanced topics' and of that sort. If you want to learn the subject to the fullest understanding, this book will do a pretty good job. That is why it has been published by Oxford publisher like it has. It didn't make it that far for no reason. I have almost finished summarizing the book on my website which can easily be found by typing in the text name and the author followed by notes in a serach engine. In the end though the most important tool that will help you learn the material is practice of course.
Rating:
Summary: Inadequate
Review: This book is less than spectacular in explaining linear circuits. The examples bear almost no resemblence to the homework problems prospective ME students (yes MECHANICAL engineering, not electrical) are forced to do. For instance, no Thevenin equivalence problems in the text refer to op-amp circuits with multiple dependent and independent sources. Attempting to figure out these concepts on one's own leads to frustration. Please talk to R.C. Hibbeler about writing textbooks, and get back to teaching 208 to those helpless EEs.
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