Customer Reviews

Inside SolidWorks 2003

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

People who go to the SolidWorks user group on Deja News know Dave Murray as a regular poster who really knows his stuff; his book confirms the breadth of his knowledge, and does it in the same easy to access style that he writes with to the newsgroup. I had been a 40+ hour a week user of SolidWorks for over a year when I ran across Inside SolidWorks. Reading this book got me excited, because even after all of my time with the software (with tons of experimentation and late nights attempting to create 'challenging' parts) this book opened my eyes to a lot of stuff that I would have never thought to try on my own and would otherwise have had no real good reason to know. Every few pages I ran across a little nugget that increased my productivity, or encouraged me to try something I didn't know was possible. Though the majority of it will be review, I think that advance users will get their 50 bucks worth just out of learning a few things that will get them home a little earlier. (note to advanced users: don't expect to learn much new stuff about sweeps, lofts, or filleting. In depth details on these black arts are beyond the scope of this book)

It's beginners, however, that will realize the greatest benefit. After doing the standard 30 minute jump start tutorial, I would recommend that a new guy put aside the tutorial book that comes with the software and instead spend their time digging into Inside SolidWorks. It does a very clear job of introducing the software (especially the mindset required for modeling with a feature based modeler), with a special focus on how to avoid the standard problems and sidestep the pitfalls that new users usually encounter. I wish that I had Inside SolidWOrks when going through the steep part of my learning curve.

The big disappointment with the book? Like most SolidWorks tutorials, this book almost completely sidesteps the most challenging and potentially rewarding part of using the software: building parts in the context of an assembly (what is often called the 'top down' method). An extra chapter on 'in context relationships', good modeling practices when building parts from inside assemblies, and a good introduction on how parametric relationships can make or destroy your parts would have made this a five star book. Every user who builds from the top down knows the crushing pain of moving a component in an assembly and seeing the feature trees of some or all of his/her components turn red with rebuild errors (the guy I sit next to refers to this phenomenon as seeing his screen fill with blood); I would have liked to see the author tackle this complicated issue with the same thoroughness and competence that he approaches all of the other subjects

I have learned three CAD systems; AutoCAD, Pro/E, and SW in the past six years. By far, SolidWorks is the easiest and the finest product in my opinion. I have read numerous CAD instructional manuals, books, and taken countless instructional classes.

I have been using SW for two plus years, and I needed a hard copy of various commands and procedures for a quick reference, namely a reference book. As one reviewer stated, "This is the big fat reference book." The author stated, "this invaluable how-to and reference manual clearly marks functionality specific to SolidWorks 2006 for users who have not yet upgraded to the latest release."

The book is fairly clear and concise in certain areas, but is lacking big time in others; "under explained sections and unfriendly syntax. The way the book provides information is very bewildering and chaotic. There are few major changes between 2005 and 2006, but there was a major change in the Hole Wizard that was not captured in the book. I wonder how many other changes are missing?

I would not advise this book as a reference book, or a SW book for any serious user.

I obtained a copy of this book for free. I read the reviews:
"This book is full of errors when it comes to SolidWorks 2003".

"One feels the author was too lazy to create a real world set of examples and instead loves to hear himself expound on his CAD knowledge (which sadly is very faulty)".

"Why do people buy a book like this"?

But, it was free. I know now why the person gave me the book... It was not worth the time I spent looking through it. Do not make the same mistake I did. This was not a helpful or useful book.

Engineers are lousy authors. David Murray is an engineer. He may be a great teacher in front of a classroom - where he has the opportunity to explain and illustrate his point in great detail - but he does not get the job done in a book.

After working through this book it appears to me to be an update of an earlier version. My guess is that he has done little more than change the name to address the 2003 version of SolidWorks. His motive? Sell more books!

Furthermore, Mr. Murray glosses over over how to accomplish the more difficult tasks in SolidWorks - but is effusive and wordy when it comes the subject of CAD/CAM and simple SolidWorks operations.

Take for example lofted parts. After having beat the relatively simple operations of sweeps and revolved parts into oblivion, he leaves the reader out to dry when it comes to lofted parts. If you cannot figure lofting out for yourself using the SolidWorks Help files, the reader is dead in the water.

Bottom line, my take is that this book is a unsophisticated attempt to bleed as much profit as possible from a much earlier work. Don't count on it to carry you through the more difficult aspects of using SolidWorks for 3D applications.

Why do people buy a book like this? This was not a helpful or useful book. I wanted to learn design and software techniques using Solidworks. This book skips back and forth, is very vague in most areas and is filled with software errors. Is this a 2003 book? Someone should tell me he needs to update his software. You need to read the book cover to cover to obtain some information.

Look elsewhere to find a more user friendly book that you can pick up and be productive. I am very surprise that he has sold as many books as he has. I guess people are not that smart, "including me".

This book is full of errors when it comes to SolidWorks 2003. Not only that, it attempts to present long involved lectures about the functionality that I guess you're supposed to memorize. It offers page after page of "how to's" instead of practice in real usage. One feels the author was too lazy to create a real world set of examples and instead loves to hear himself expound on his CAD knowledge (which sadly is very faulty).

This is one of two books that I bought on SolidWorks. I bought this book on it's rating. I do NOT understand why this book has been rated so high. I read the first 89 pages and it put me to sleep. I want to use SolidWorks and design parts. I do not want to read about the history of CAD and the SolidWorks mindset. More examples, pictures, menus and less words. The book does provide good examples in the back of each chapter.

Murray organizes his book around a few types of design
applications, such as castings and molds. However, the
reader who wants to learn techniques for one of those
will soon find that he has to skip back and forth to
many other parts of the book to fill in gaps. Nowhere
in the book does Murray explain the native design
philosophy of SolidWorks itself. In general, this book
is useful only if one intends to read it in full in
the order of the page numbers. If you are looking for
a balanced introduction to SolidWorks, for a reference
guide, or for a genuinely application-oriented view of
SolidWorks, look elsewhere.

Unbelievably easy quick-start with solid model-type CAD systems. I am a typical Silicon Valley engineer who never touched a CAD system before in my life and whose employer dumped a very complex "Design it- build it- and get it running in 5 weeks" job involving a very complex chemical reactor assembly. Within three weeks of receiving Inside SolidWorks I was designing very complicated solid parts and assemblies of parts that machinists could actually understand! Actual parts all assembled just like in the computer with not even one single error!

13 chapters, 480 pages. Read the first 90 pages as an introduction to "what the software expects from the user." Then complete the design tutorial in chapter 4, 33 more pages. You actually need no more help from this point on...you'll get the hang of it by then. Use the remaining 9 chapters merely as reference as you rip through your design projects. The key to learning fast is to already have a pretty complicated design project that you have to complete when you sit down to learn SolidWorks.

This is an honest attempt to make a good, easy-to-read book about SolidWorks, however, the author does not know how to explain complex subject matter well. He overexplains many things in elaborate detail and underexplains other subjects that need more explanation. His attempt to make the syntax friendly and easily assessable fails. It comes across as condescending and not on the level of the expected typical reader of the book.

The material could have been covered in half the space, or twice as much material could have included. In other words, the book gets annoying sometimes with its explanations.

Overall, it's okay; just wastes time and is not efficient.