Customer Reviews

LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Hacker's Guide

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(28)

 

 

I was GREATLY disappointed, for the following reasons:

1) Most of the hacks in this book are lame. (Sorry, a board game using Lego pieces does NOT count as a hack).

2) There's very little in this book about the Mindstorms NXT. The first 79 pages of the book don't address the NXT at all, and the rest of the book only addresses the NXT tangentially, in most cases using only five or six NXT parts to build the hack. (Some hacks don't use NXT parts at all).

3) The book seems to have had a "first-to-market" strategy, in order to make a quick buck and to take advantage of the interest surrounding the NXT.

Rock-bottom message: it's a slapdash, hodgepodge assortment of stuff that will not advance your knowledge of the NXT one iota.

Save your cash and get another book.

I was too lazy to write any review. The one good thing about this book is that it motivates me to type something here.

The title is completely misleading. What NXT? More than 80% of the book talked about something else. The the few NXT examples were so simple that you don't need to be a "hacker" to do it. The book mostly contained only pictures with short captions (no text). There are often jumps between one picture to the next. So, it is hardly a "guide" at all.

What left to the title is "Lego Mindstorm", but the book is not 100% about that either. (Like, how shipping containers were used to build a building.)

Too bad Amazon doesn't offer reivew of zero stars.

If one goes by the title alone, the book might have some of what one expects: stuff you can do with a soldering iron to hack stuff with one's NXT. However, the editorial review is very deceptive; it gives the impression that this book is something a more average (non soldering-iron) type of user would find useful.

The book starts with what appears to be a history, but it's too rambling (who wants to know about "One Computer for every Child"). The part about the RIS (older sibling of NXT) goes on and on, and much of it is not relevant. The "Design" chapter has nothing to do with NXT: perhaps someone would like to build a tiny model of a container-house or the Seattle library, but what does this have to do with NXT.

The mentions of NXT Elements and NXT resources is deceptive too, there's nothing there that is both useful and not already available in the NXT package from Lego.

I'm going to list this book for re-sale immediately, and only wrote this review so that buyers know what they're getting beforehand.

All of the above reviews are accurate. I am a Lego Robotics Coach and wanted some advanced insight into NXT. Here is what I got:

Dozens of pages on how to build a shippling container.
Dozens of pages on how to build a geodesic dome (the role an NXT brick plays is to hange from a crane!)
Dozens of pages on how to build a replica of the Seattle public library.
Dozens of obscure references to science fiction.
References to AVR and other development kits (actually this may be interesting, but totally off topic.)

There is some hope: I should be able to write down some random thoughts, get it published and retire!

What a disappointment. I had expected this would be a great book to learn both the basics and some more advanced NXT programming and building. The first 1/3 is perhaps an interesting but esoteric description about the history of lego mindstorms. The programming section is terrible with a few illustrations, and there is virtually no instruction. If you want to tamper with a few pieces from your RCX set, there are a few projects, but who would want to do this! Not a useful resource at all.

As most have already stated, this book contains so little NXT material that it's a total waste of time for anyone looking for project ideas or programming advice. There are LOTS of useless sidebars and tangential discussions on non-NXT topics like the One Laptop Per Child project and the evolution of shipping containers. Save your money and don't order this book.

The author doesn't even get to NXT until page 79. Later, ten pages are devoted to describing shipping containers, and six more to how to build a LEGO equivalent. The page count is increased by 1 or 2 unhelpful photos per page of non-NXT projects. There are maybe - MAYBE - 5 pages out of 400 or so that include barely useful information about NXT.

In addition, the author can't decide on an audience. There are kindergarten-level cartoon/jokes throughout, and "shipping container" is defined. But one of the projects is is building a solar cell, and the specs of processors and clock speeds are boringly included.

If I could give this a negative rating, I would. Total waste of money, paper, and time. The author, editor, and publisher should all be ashamed of themselves for pretending this is a book.

Unfortunately I can't give this book a zero rating! How can a book with a LEGO title contain advertisments for MegaBlox? I didn't buy this book to read kindergarden jokes and be told how to store my LEGO bricks in Plano tackle boxes! I feel sorry for the trees that gave their life for the pages of this disapointment. Where are the so-called hacks? I'm sorry but I honestly can't find any redeeming quality to this book.

Given the title, I was hoping this book would contain some basic instruction on how to program NXT robots. To my disappointment, it doesn't. The focus is on a number of building projects and electronic hacks with not very clear, black-and-white photos. Moreover, a number of the projects will void the NXT's warranty.
If you're seeking programming help, look elsewhere.

I agree completely with the review given by Railrho. In fact, as I was about to write my review I was amazed to see how many points Railrho made that matched mine! The bottom line is that I am returning the book. I have never so disgusted with a book a bought. Anybody associated with the content of this book should be embarrassed.

I might also add that there is very little instruction in the book. To make the projects they have large photos that don't help much with a very small amount of text that is even less helpful.

What a waste!