Test Equipment Books

This book shows the basics of the subjects involved. However, it receives 2 stars because of so many mis-spelled words, blocks of text inserted into the wrong places, and simply wrong answers in numerous places.

Great review book. Covers all the basics! I'm using this to help study for the ASCP exam, I wish I would've purchased it sooner. However, I have noticed that there are some typos and even a mistake. The book is in an outline format, as the title states, so it does not have and pictures or charts.

I am studying for an ASCP certification as an MLT and decided to buy this book even though it seems geared more toward MTs. While there is a lot of usful information there are also very many typos, many of which make the reading very confusing. For example, when the book gives the formula for creatinine clearance it mislables one of the variables. If it wasn't for an MT I'm working with helping me decipher the typos I would be completly lost. So, if you only have a little experiance make sure you have someone to ask about the typos. Otherwise it seems like a decent investment.

I must admit I was a bit disappointed with this book. The first chapter is meant to be for complete beginners to electronics and it covers basic electronic components (resistors, capacitors, etc) but I don't think it was basic enough for a complete beginner. For example this capter mentions that you can use a multi-meter to test various components, but then it doesn't give you the step-by-step instructions on how to do it (i.e. what setting to put your multi-meter on and what values to look for).

The rest of the book continues in a similiar fashion; it's quite high-level and doesn't really delve into the nitty-gritty practical side of things that you need to know to make real repairs.

There is plenty of sound advice on how to trouble-shoot and what to look for to identify the problem, but then it falls down on the "how to fix it" side of things. This is probably because there's so many different electronic devices out there that the author can't possibly cover all of them in any real detail.

Coupled with a manufacturer's service manual for the item you want to repair and a good guide to practical electronics, this book may be of use to people that want a pointer as to where to start looking for the problem.

I must admit I was a bit disappointed with this book. The first chapter is meant to be for complete beginners to electronics and it covers basic electronic components (resistors, capacitors, etc) but I don't think it was basic enough for a complete beginner. For example this capter mentions that you can use a multi-meter to test various components, but then it doesn't give you the step-by-step instructions on how to do it (i.e. what setting to put your multi-meter on and what values to look for).

The rest of the book continues in a similiar fashion; it's quite high-level and doesn't really delve into the nitty-gritty practical side of things that you need to know to make real repairs.

There is plenty of sound advice on how to trouble-shoot and what to look for to identify the problem, but then it falls down on the "how to fix it" side of things. This is probably because there's so many different electronic devices out there that the author can't possibly cover all of them in any real detail.

Coupled with a manufacturer's service manual for the item you want to repair and a good guide to practical electronics, this book may be of use to people that want a pointer as to where to start looking for the problem.

This book is a great help in preparing you for tests during the class and also the state test. The explanation of each question lets you understand why an answer is correct.

WELL, TO BE HONEST... I AM A PARAMEDIC WHO WORKS IN THE LA AREA, AND THE NUMBER OF PARAMEDIC BOOKS THAT I HAVE READ IS ALMOST INCOMPREHENDABLE. AFTER HAVING THE CHANCE TO READ THIS PARTICULAR ONE, I WAS VERY DISAPPOINTED WITH THE QUALITY AND LACK OF KNOWLEDGE IT POSSESSED. WHAT I WOULD RECOMMEND IS THAT IF YOU ARE REVIEWING FOR THE PARAMEDICS FINAL EXAMINATION, YOU NEED TO GO INTO THIS TEST COLD WITHOUT A REVIEW. WHAT I HAVE FOUND IS THAT REVIEWING FOR THESE TESTS ONLY CONFUSSES INDIVIDUALS LIKE YOURSELF EVEN MORE THAN WHAT YOU ALREADY ARE, THUS COMPLICATING COMMON SENSE MATERIAL BY ALMOST TEN TIMES. THIS IS UNNECESSARY, AND IT IS UNNECESSARY FOR YOU TO HAVE YOUR MIND INFLUENCED BY SUCH REDICULOUS MATERIAL.

I have three other PSE 2.0 books, but this is by far the best one. Plotkin takes you through every element, tool, method, etc. He has two chapters (52 pages) on layers alone, which to me was especially important. Although he doesn't have a lot of color pictures (using less expensive black and white), the explanations and effects are quite clear and easy to understand. I was really only scratching the surface of PSE 2.0 before I got this book.
I highly recommend it. It is also very reasonably priced as compared to some others I considered.

I found the book well-organized and quite lucid. The author clearly understands the program well. The book's Achilles heel (and probably the reason for its relatively inexpensive price) is that there are only a few color illustrations in the center. All of the other illustrations are done in low resolution B&W, making it nearly impossible to appreciate the techniques or changes in images. If the publisher had raised the price a few dollars and done the illustrations in color, the book would be vastly more valuable.

The only well printed page (in color) is the cover. The book is printed in material that is virtually newsprint -- extremely hard to read and illustrations are poor as a consequence, some to illegibility. The book is in no way an improvement over the original Adobe manual -- or rather, it is in no way comparable. A waste of time and money.

Digital photography is all about color. Why would any publisher release a book on the manipulation of color images in Photoshop with mostly black and white examples?

Save your money

Both book jacket and the book say you can download images from the sybex.com site which are used as samples in the book lessons. Unfortunately that is not true. The Sybex site only has images from a couple of chapters. Three out of 27 chapters!! You need to have your own catalogue of all kinds of pictures available which match the book lessons in order to use the book. What a waste of money. The publisher should refund everyone's money who bought this book under false pretenses.

This is the absolute BEST book I've seen on Photoshop 6. I reviewed what feels like 100's of books on the subject and NONE of them told me how to do everything I needed to do - except, Photoshop 6 Complete by Sybex. The price of the book can't be beat either. Other books that didn't have half as much information in it cost 2 and 3 x's MORE! I love this book and recommend it to all my friends. This book has taught me how to do things that I needed to know how to do yesterday.

A 900 page Photoshop book for a really low price. Seems like an unbeatable bargain. Forget the fact that it seems to be printed on paper three grades below newsprint. Pay no attention to its external dimensions, which are smaller than most hardback novels. Although it's natural to be skeptical about any book that has "complete" in its title, lets ignore that. The key question is: What's inside the book?

Why did I get such a déjà vu feeling when I started to thumb through the it? Turning to the table of contents I soon realized why some of the material seemed so familiar. The entire book is made up of chapters from other books! Do you own the book Mastering Photoshop 6? Well six chapters of that book show up in this one. All in all about 8 books were raided in order to compose this one volume.

Now if you don't own any of those 8 books, then by all means consider buying this one. It does have a lot of useful information in it, and it certainly won't require you to take out a three-year loan to pay for it. I do own a couple of the other books, however, and so I feel a bit cheated.

They shouldn't be allowed to call it a book. It should be called a magazine. I was was expecting to see a book with practice questions and solutions, but this is not what it is. It just gives the most basic definitions of technical terminology and medical equipment. If you work as a biomed you already know it and this book is a waste of money.

When you compare Plotkin's book with those written by David Kay and Diane Koers for Paint Shop Pro, Plotkin simply does not measure up. Some descriptions and instructions are very good, but the photo examples are of poor quality -- in a book about photo editing! While there is definitely a need to supplement Microsoft's meager instruction manual, this book on Digital Image Pro 9 does not do enough to fill that void.