Rating: 
Summary: Good value. One book for both R3 and R4
Review: As a student in industrial design I found that this book do has a good balance on both concepts and tutorials, especially on all those parametric solid modeling, assembly modeling, and sheet metal modeling. The free-of-charge online companion is the best I ever found. It's free and it's user friendly. The Pack and Go, epicyclic mechanism and adaptive assembly tutorials are especially interesting and useful. They help me solve a lot of real world problems when I am doing my part time job. I recommend to save your money and use this book for both R3 and R4.
Rating: 
Summary: Another step-by-step
Review: Don't know zip about Inventor? This is your book. It's a great collection of lessons. However...it just doesn't cut it for the user who's got a specific question. For instance, I've got a multi-part drawing with a lot of external references such as fasteners and commercial parts that are stored in a variety of locations. I need to send the whole thing to an associate. How? I can't just copy the top assy drawing because it doesn't have the associations, that's in a wholely different file. The answer is to use a command called packngo. It's located, however, in Windows Explorer! And I just couldn't find any reference whatsoever to this command in the book.Several other similar instances tell me that this is good book for the beginning, working alone, never-used-Inventor student but not the on-the-job engineer. As to the on-line R4 update, it's the same format, i.e. lessons. But there's no index so locating the relevant info is a dicey proposition and knowing what the differences are between R3 and R4 is nigh-on impossible. I would recommend waiting for the R4 edition if you plan on using that software.
Rating:
Summary: Another step-by-step
Review: Don't know zip about Inventor? This is your book. It's a great collection of lessons. However...it just doesn't cut it for the user who's got a specific question. For instance, I've got a multi-part drawing with a lot of external references such as fasteners and commercial parts that are stored in a variety of locations. I need to send the whole thing to an associate. How? I can't just copy the top assy drawing because it doesn't have the associations, that's in a wholely different file. The answer is to use a command called packngo. It's located, however, in Windows Explorer! And I just couldn't find any reference whatsoever to this command in the book. Several other similar instances tell me that this is good book for the beginning, working alone, never-used-Inventor student but not the on-the-job engineer. As to the on-line R4 update, it's the same format, i.e. lessons. But there's no index so locating the relevant info is a dicey proposition and knowing what the differences are between R3 and R4 is nigh-on impossible. I would recommend waiting for the R4 edition if you plan on using that software.
Rating:
Summary: Teaching - Using Autodesk Inventor
Review: I plan to use "Autodesk Inventor" as an instructional textbook in my Advanced CAD Class during the 2001-2002 school year. I have been exploring the material in this text during my free time (during this summer of 2001). I feel that the upper level high school students using this text will not only be able to construct the 3-D models detailed in this book but will enjoy learning the use of the Autodesk Inventor software. I wish to thank Mr. Ron K. C. Cheng for writing this book. My hat is off to you. Although the "Food Grinder" took a good deal of time and patience on my part (to work through), it was a great exercise. I highly recommend this book for any educator who wishes to instruct 3-D modeling with the use of AutoDesk Inventor.
Rating:
Summary: Teaching - Using Autodesk Inventor
Review: I plan to use "Autodesk Inventor" as an instructional textbook in my Advanced CAD Class during the 2001-2002 school year. I have been exploring the material in this text during my free time (during this summer of 2001). I feel that the upper level high school students using this text will not only be able to construct the 3-D models detailed in this book but will enjoy learning the use of the Autodesk Inventor software. I wish to thank Mr. Ron K. C. Cheng for writing this book. My hat is off to you. Although the "Food Grinder" took a good deal of time and patience on my part (to work through), it was a great exercise. I highly recommend this book for any educator who wishes to instruct 3-D modeling with the use of AutoDesk Inventor.
Rating:
Summary: Teaching - Using Autodesk Inventor
Review: I plan to use "Autodesk Inventor" as an instructional textbook in my Advanced CAD Class during the 2001-2002 school year. I have been exploring the material in this text during my free time (during this summer of 2001). I feel that the upper level high school students using this text will not only be able to construct the 3-D models detailed in this book but will enjoy learning the use of the Autodesk Inventor software. I wish to thank Mr. Ron K. C. Cheng for writing this book. My hat is off to you. Although the "Food Grinder" took a good deal of time and patience on my part (to work through), it was a great exercise. I highly recommend this book for any educator who wishes to instruct 3-D modeling with the use of AutoDesk Inventor.
Rating:
Summary: Found ZIP "Pack and Go" Wizard in the online companion
Review: The specific question on ZIP can be found in Chapter 1 of the online companion. It is the Pack and Go Wizard that zips the entire directory into a compressed file. Besides, the R4 new features and tutorials on the new features are also found in the online companion, which has six chapters corresponding to the chapters in the book.
Rating:
Summary: Save Yourself Some Grief, Buy This Book
Review: This book is a very comprehensive tutorial for the fledgling solid modeler. The exercises are well developed and always preceeded by a thorough introduction. The tutorials and documentation included with the Inventor 3 software are barely adaquate to introduce real-world modeling. In contrast, Cheng's book is a great tool for getting up to speed. The cost of the book is a small price to pay for the time it will save you!
Rating:
Summary: Save Yourself Some Grief, Buy This Book
Review: This book is a very comprehensive tutorial for the fledgling solid modeler. The exercises are well developed and always preceeded by a thorough introduction. The tutorials and documentation included with the Inventor 3 software are barely adaquate to introduce real-world modeling. In contrast, Cheng's book is a great tool for getting up to speed. The cost of the book is a small price to pay for the time it will save you!
Rating:
Summary: Update to Inventor R4
Review: This book is written to R3. Now you may download appendices from Autodeskpress online companion website to update the book to R4.
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