Instant AutoCAD®: Essentials Using AutoCAD LT® 2000

Rating:
Summary: Close, but no cigar.
Review: I used this book in my beginning AutoCAD LT 2000 technical drawing course. I liked the approach, topics covered, and drawing exercises. However, mistakes were abound. I ended up having to make handwritten notes on each of the pages so the student's could get through the hands-on problems. Without my personal notes, the student's frustration levels mounted to a point where they shut down. Once the notes were distributed, the students did enjoy the text.

Rating:
Summary: Best I've found
Review: I've been meaning to write a fair review of this book for almost a year, but sometimes life gets in the way. Now I intend to make the time.

I very much enjoy the format of these Instant AutoCAD books - I also have the non-LT version and I use both in my teaching. My students find the style easy to read and understand and extremely clear, needing a minimum of coaching from me to do an excellent job on the assignment items and the mini-labs. As well, unlike other books I've ordered in the past, they don't seem intimidated by this one. I get the sense that they truly believe that they will get mastery of the skills in a short order and that becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

I hope to see more from Ethier and Ethier. Great Job.

I have not noticed any real errors in my version and feel that it handles the topics in as much detail as I wish to present. I only use the book with students who have been schooled in the fundamentals of drawing - it certainly won't do the job of teaching the student what it means to hatch and dimension but it tells the basics of how those are accomplished with the software.

My students particularly like the graphics in the book - finding that any questions that they have after the book's explanations are often answered by the graphics in the text.

All in all, since I don't like to assign a perfect score to anything done by fallible man, I comfortably give the book four out of five stars.

Rating:
Summary: Best I've found
Review: I've been meaning to write a fair review of this book for almost a year, but sometimes life gets in the way. Now I intend to make the time.

I very much enjoy the format of these Instant AutoCAD books - I also have the non-LT version and I use both in my teaching. My students find the style easy to read and understand and extremely clear, needing a minimum of coaching from me to do an excellent job on the assignment items and the mini-labs. As well, unlike other books I've ordered in the past, they don't seem intimidated by this one. I get the sense that they truly believe that they will get mastery of the skills in a short order and that becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

I hope to see more from Ethier and Ethier. Great Job.

I have not noticed any real errors in my version and feel that it handles the topics in as much detail as I wish to present. I only use the book with students who have been schooled in the fundamentals of drawing - it certainly won't do the job of teaching the student what it means to hatch and dimension but it tells the basics of how those are accomplished with the software.

My students particularly like the graphics in the book - finding that any questions that they have after the book's explanations are often answered by the graphics in the text.

All in all, since I don't like to assign a perfect score to anything done by fallible man, I comfortably give the book four out of five stars.