Customer Reviews

Microsoft® Office Excel® 2003 Step by Step (Step By Step (Microsoft))

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have a training company and we teach a lot of Excel classes. We have been using another book from Thomson Learning, but the book is not cost-effective at $55 each, the publisher is difficult to deal with, and shipping is expensive. I decided to go with Excel 2003 Step by Step.

The other reviewers have a point; there are some sloppy errors that are sprinkled throughout this book that will frustrate those who are learning Excel. For example, on page 48 the reader is told to create a simple Sum function but the author forgets the parentheses. This will result in an error and the novice will have no idea why, after carefully following the instructions, he or she is getting an error and what can be done to correct it. Furthermore, the author doesn't bother explaining the syntax of a function so that learners have a conceptual understanding of functions. Amazingly, the AutoSum button and the summary functions in the drop down menu are not even mentioned! (Or did I miss it?).

Some reviewers suggested that this book was not for beginners. I disagree. This is a beginning/intermediate Excel book, but the explanations are shallow and the errors in the exercises sabotage the beginner. Those who know Excel can easily identify the errors.

I agree with the reviewer who said that the book needs an errata page on a web site. But that will probably not happen. The reviews on the 2002 version are all very good, but a few reviewers mentioned errors in that version and one reviewer went as far as documenting the errors and sending them to Microsoft. The result? Version 2003 is riddled with errors and the reviews for this version is worse. No one is listening, unfortunately.

This book does have some good examples and exercises in it. The explanations are clear but, again, shallow, which will leave some readers confused. For example, the author teaches the Subtotal function to subtotal filtered data. He just tells readers what to type in the cell. He doesn't explain how the first argument of the function specifies which summary function of the 11 will be used for the subtotal. Then he tells the reader to change the 9 (which sums the subtotal) to a 1 (which averages the subtotal). If the author uses the subtotal function, he should fully explain it and maybe include a simple table to list each function number with the corresponding summary function that is used in the first argument of the Subtotal function. This is just one example of the shallowness of the book.

I will still use this book in my classes for now because it is structured for classroom learning. I usually write my own exercises based on the files of the book and I create handouts with important information about functions. I can explain everything that the book doesn't. But if you are learning Excel on your own, you may want to check out the O'Reilly book that another reviewer mentions: Excel 2003 Personal Trainer. I thumbed through it last night at a bookstore and the outline looked very good. Also, I believe O'Reilly (the publisher, not the idiot on Fox news) reviews its books for errors before they are published. They also have an errata page on their web site for the errors that get by the reviewers.

I bought this to teach a class and there are so many mistakes that the students cannot do it on their own. We first need to do it together. Only after they know the problems, can they begin practicing on their own. BEWARE.
For example they ask you to replace X with Y but in fact it should be Y with X. Graphs are not where they should be. It is confusing for students.

The book is definitely not for teaching beginners, it is to prepare for the MOS cetification. However, many exercises have some sort of mistakes, either instructional or numeric type mistakes so that the exercises CANNOT be assigned as home work, but have to be done with the students in class and the "BUGS" worked out before they can do them on their own. It is a real shame to release a study book without proof reading it first and correcting the mistakes. An individual who is studying for the MOS Excel certification can get some good information from the book, but a student will be very confused if not very frustrated using it. Even as an instructor I get frustrated over the numerous errors. I have one suggestion: I'll correct the errors if the author/publisher pays me for doing the work.

I gave this book 5 stars because it is a perfect text for the icrosoft Office Specialist certification and for the fact that it covers simple to advanced concepts all in one book. Included in the book are basic data entry and spreadsheet writing as well as the programming of macros and the use of XML in the worksheet. It also covers topics such as using formulas, formatyting data series and others. The practice files are invaluable in the learning of the basic to advanced skills.

There is really no way to lose with this book.

This book is great! Unlike Microsoft 2003 inside out and other Excel books, this book provides exercises that allow you to understand how you apply the functions on Excel.

This is very useful for understanding how you can apply your Microsoft Excel skills for work or personal use. As far as typos, there were probably 2 or 3...even though I'm a perfectionist, this really isn't such a big deal.

In comparing this version to earlier Excel Step by Step versions...there is no comparison! I have even contacted the author to let him know that this is the best Excel Step by Step book I have ever seen! Within the covers...Curtis puts his expertise to work...and the end result is a thorough and solid learning book that will teach you how to become an intermediate Excel user. While I prepare for my SkillSoft Excel 2003 Beginning Course...I find this book is the most ideal in terms of breaking down the different levels of study. It fits very well with my own preparation...and I have also been able to share my optimism with the Microsoft people who are interested in what someone would typically buy this book for. KUDOS to everyone involved...and I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in learning how to use Excel 2003!

Although this book is listed as being suitable for Beginning/Intermediate users, I think that their definition of beginning might be a bit different than the usual. Within a couple of pages the book has you opening a spreadsheet and making changes to it. If you have some spreadsheet experience, even just a little, then this book will take you a long ways. Far enough to get you to pass the Microsoft Office Specialist test.

Being a Microsoft book, this book is about using Excel in a Windows environment. Some of the information would be useful to Apple folk, but there are probably better books for them.

When looking at Excel books, I first look to see what they have about Pivot Tables. In this book, there is an entire chapter devoted to them. This is something that the beginning user just won't understand but which will be very helpful to someone of intermediate level. There is even a section on Pivot Charts, something not seen very often at all.

I didn't do all of the exercises, especially if I had a good understanding of that area. I did find a couple of errors that turned out to be pretty obvious. A little better proof reading would have helped. Still these were not serious enough to hurt the book.

Do NOT buy this book if you don't already know how to use Excel. There are too many prior steps that are missing that you must do in order to get you to the point that an instruction is given for. There are numerous instructions that don't tell you what or why you are doing the task; they may tell you that you are going to do this function at the beginning of the section but not when you actually perform the function along with several others so you may not understand which of the functions you are actually doing. The pictures are not correct for the tasks that are given. IE: Using the open button(picture of the open folder) on the standard toolbar can only be used when you are in a worksheet not from the file folder to get to the worksheet you want to open. The book is good for someone who has a basic or mid-level understanding of Excel and wants to learn some shortcuts, additional info they didn't know about or information that may be on the certification exam.

I had to return this book. No reflection on the book itself. This is more of a comment on how Amazon describes its books. You must have an Windows operating systems in order to use this book and CD. This isn't mentioned in the product description. Amazon quickly gave me a refund, but it's still a drag if you're on a tight training schedule. Order from Peachpit press or another other Mac-friendly series.

As with many Microsoft products, this book comes very close to being a useful tool, but fails because of the lack of attention to the little details.

The first place you see this in the book is the Microsoft Office Specialist Skills Standards section.

Each of the skills tested for on the MOS exam are identified by their Skill Number and description, and a page number directs you to that skill. That's the theory. About 20% of the time, the phrase is mentioned on that page with no detailed explanation or there is no mention at all. That is just sloppy proofreading.

As has been mentioned in other reviews, the instructions in many sections are wrong. Either there are flaws in a formula or a description of the results does not match what you see on the screen.

In at least one section, the spreadsheet used to illustrate the problem is not the one that you are instructed to open for that task.

The section on XML was useful simply because it seems to be one of the few available. But even here, there are flaws in instructions and a disconnect between what you see on the screen and what you are told you should be seeing.

The best thing you can do with this book is go to the library and photocopy the Microsoft Office Specialist Skills Standards section. At least you will know what you should be studying and you can find it in better written books or online.