Customer Reviews

LEGO Mindstorms For Dummies

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I'm usually a fan of dummies books and have several on my bookshelf. I'm also a huge fan of LEGO's. I have to say that this book is dissapointing on so many levels. There is nothing new in here that hasn't been covered in one of the many unofficial guides that dummies is shamefully trying to compete with. In fact the robots described come straight from the Constructopedia that LEGO gives away free in every Mindstorms box. Other than having a CD of some useful utilities don't bother. Everything on the CD you can get for free on the net. You should have no problem finding them. In fact if you don't know how to find LEGO related websites on your own you shouldn't be fooling around with robots in the first place. But I drift away from the intent of this review. Don't bother with this book. If you have a Mindstorms kit you have a computer. If you're reading this you're on the net. Spend the $20 on some more LEGO's or one of the unofficial books. You'll get more out of it.

This book (2001 edition) is of no use if you are trying to learn how to program your RIS 2.0 The programing is for RIS 1.5 and earlier.

If you are reading it for information on LEGO basic construction techniques, my question would be "Why did you buy a Robotics Invention System set?" Save your money. I don't know what to recommend, but this is not it.

This book was very disappointing. There is nothing new here. The RCX bots all come from the Constructopedia.

... and buy this book. The bulk of it is taken up with detailed instructions on how to build the standard robots that are already quite adequately documented in the relevant Mindstorms sets. This should be labeled as "educational material." "You buy this, we'll teach you a lesson."

Lego Mindstorms For Dummies is an easy guide to mindstorm robot making. If you get stuck turn to this book! This is a brillant book for anybody for a keen eye on Lego Mindstorms and engineering! Everything is clear and is hard to miss read so if you need a little help with your Lego robots, CONSULT THIS BOOK!