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Rating: 
Summary: Not bad...buy it.
Review: A fairly good book. It is a little dry, read cover to cover. It reads basically item by item through all the menus and commands. It does become a little tedious and repetitious at times. The peachtree.com website mentioned above, has chapter 11 available as a pdf download. But does not have any 'updates' etc. I do not think it is fair to buy a book that is unfinished. Why should I pay for a whole book, but have to print part of it myself? Chapter 10 (Worksheets, Reports and Presentations) is brief to say the least. It has the feel of the author running out of time for a deadline. I wish he spent much more time on producing worksheets, rendering and producing reports, not to mention producing quicktime movie presentations. He should of spent less time on self-explanatory commands (click and drag to make a square etc.) and more time on using the application. It would be nice if he had used some examples in a tutorial style. Although the commands are covered, there is precious little time spent explaining efficient strategies for their use. Most pages do have 'tips' at the side of the page, which are worthwhile.I have found the book useful as a reference I can refer to from time to time. Vectorworks comes with an excellent pdf manual. It is a bit of a coin toss whether it, or Baer's book is more useful. Throughout the book Baer makes subtle suggestions aimed at Vectorworks creators, pointing out flaws and omissions in the software. This is valuable information that does not ship with Vectorworks. I hope he has sent this information on to Nemetschek. For users of Vectorworks 8, this book for the most part still applies (VW10 too). Architectural components are quickly covered, but not landmark, spotlight, mechanical or power 3d components. Overall I would say that I like the authors writing style, but would have liked to have seen more of it in the book. I recommend buying it.
Rating: 
Summary: Longtime VectorWorks User Learns New Tricks
Review: I just recently switched over to VectorWorks from AutoCAD, at the recommendation of several colleagues. Since I just got the program a couple of months ago, I was still forced to look things up, like tools & commands, that I didn't know of hand. This book was perfect for me. Its layout and illustrations were as easy-to-learn from as the VectorWorks program, itself. I got the book right before Christmas, and have already learned an extraordinary amount. Though I have been using CAD programs for over a decade, this is the first time that I've been using a CAD program I truly enjoy. And the QuickStart guide has made a huge difference in turning a beginner VectorWorks user to a confident pro. Thank you Peachpit Press and thank you VectorWorks!
Rating:
Summary: Beginner VectorWorks User Saved!
Review: I just recently switched over to VectorWorks from AutoCAD, at the recommendation of several colleagues. Since I just got the program a couple of months ago, I was still forced to look things up, like tools & commands, that I didn't know of hand. This book was perfect for me. Its layout and illustrations were as easy-to-learn from as the VectorWorks program, itself. I got the book right before Christmas, and have already learned an extraordinary amount. Though I have been using CAD programs for over a decade, this is the first time that I've been using a CAD program I truly enjoy. And the QuickStart guide has made a huge difference in turning a beginner VectorWorks user to a confident pro. Thank you Peachpit Press and thank you VectorWorks!
Rating: 
Summary: not for beginners!
Review: I was hoping to find some sort of tutorial about starting from scratch learning Vectorworks. This book may help CAD veterans learn yet another CAD program, but it fails miserably for beginners. Many of the illustrations don't match what I see on my screen, and so far none of the instruction sets has worked without going back to the User's Guide for additional help. If there were a negative star rating for the frustration factor, I would have used it.
Rating:
Summary: Longtime VectorWorks User Learns New Tricks
Review: I've been using VectorWorks since it was MiniCad. I've completed training seminars on VectorWorks, held by Nemetschek. I've even recently purchased training CDs that Nemetschek just came out with, on VectorWorks. Even though I've been using the program for over a dozen years- there's always something else that can be learned, that will make me into a better CAD designer. This Quick Start guide has done it. I received it as a gift from my wife for Christmas, and she regrets it ever since! The things I have learned from it has sent me into my former drafting room & current computer room (where my drafting board collects dust) for hours, just trying out the new tips & tricks. It's not at all tiresome for the advanced user and if it does it repetitive- just do as I did and flip to a new section. If you want to become a professional VectorWorks user, this book will, no doubt, help you. It's easy to read, and written in a comfortable way. It's clear that Tom Baer is a seasoned VectorWorks user. I recommend it for VectorWorks users of all levels.
Rating: 
Summary: Useful but Could be Better
Review: This book has some serious editing problems which left me feeling cheated. For example there is a web address on the cover which does not take you to a VectorWorks-relevant site, even though throughout the book the reader is referred to this address for supplementary tips and tricks. Even staying within the book itself is frustrating. For example, at one point the reader is told to check Chapter 11, "Customizing the Interface" - but there is no such chapter in the book. This would be a very useful chapter to have! Diagrams and illustrations are frequently mislabeled and there are numerous typos which affect the meaning of the written directions. This book seems like a rough draft that snuck onto bookstore shelves much too early.
That said, the book was useful to me in learning the individual tools in the VectorWorks arsenal. It touches upon nearly every tool and includes examples of their uses and options. But I was disappointed that after reading this book I still did not feel immediately able to set up a whole real-life project of average complexity. Even the chapters devoted to setting up architectural projects, worksheets and presentations really do not fully explain how to use this software to organize the whole project. This is very important because VectorWorks' use of layers, classes, and sheets to organize a project is disimilar to the organizing capabilities of most other CAD packages. In fact, I found that studying the "sample" projects provided by VectorWorks in the "resources" folder of the software was much more useful in learning any of the subjects discussed in the second half of this book. So, if you are looking for a detailed, step-by-step list of tools and their functions (and you have the patience to struggle through the misunderstandings created by the lack of proof reading), then I'd recommend this book. But I'd also point out that VectorWorks has a built-in manual that goes over the same information and more. Just push the "Help" button!
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