Rating: 
Summary: A Standard Physics Textbook
Review: This is one of the most standard texbooks around. It has all the standard topics. It has the standard modern "important formulae in boxes" appearance. It has those pesky "problem solving tactics" boxes basically designed to turn the act of learning Physics into an immensely dull, insipid process of inculcation with an emphasis on applying it to problems involving" leaping Armadillos", monkeys and Tarzan's tree habits. True,the authors are justified in trying to make the text "interesting" - but my humble opinion is that all they've managed to do is earn the resentment of any self-respecting Phyiscs student in the world who has ever been forced under the yoke of this terrible tome (so far I don't know anyone who likes this book).Then again, I'm just bitter. Alternative readings that I could suggest (if you happen to be one of the aforementioned students) include the Feynman Lectures and the first parts of Slater and Frank's "Mechanics."
Rating: 
Summary: A brief, cluttered primer of calculus based physics.
Review: Essentially, the book offers few descriptions of the fundamental problems encountered in everyday physics and assumes that the reader know most of the material already. I used this book in a calulus based course and did well, but I was forced to use other textbooks to gain a clearer understanding of the subject.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad for a textbook...
Review: This book is really pretty good. It has a lot of cool pictures (like one of the author sticking his hand in molten lead). It is hard to learn physics just by reading a book. The more important thing is how well the teacher teaches.
Rating: 
Summary: Great introductory text to general physics with calculus.
Review: This textbook covers a wide variety of subjects clearly and competently. However, where this text shines is in its ability to capture student interest through side-bars, special sections, and problems that show how the real world situations are affected by the topics being covered. Also of interest are special sections that describe fascinating work being done by scientists around the world. A basic knowledge of calculus is necessary to understand formula derevations and to solve certain problem questions. This is the text book of choice for not only learing physics, but in expanding one's view of where science can take us
Rating: 
Summary: Highly overrated
Review: Alright, so of course this is the book required by just about every college in the country these days in their introductory physics courses---well, it shouldn't be. The authors certainly provide mathematical motivation for the concepts they cover, but certainly don't give adequate real-world motivation for concepts. Oh yeah, so, as one idiot reviewer who thinks he's some kind of precocious student said, this book helped him and his high school buddies get fives on the AP Test---WELL BIG DEAL IDIOT!!! GOOD FOR YOU!! I only managed to do that in my freshman year of highschool so I guess it must be really hard or something--*cough* Well, in the real world of people who actually know anything about physics or math or any field, getting a five on the AP exam in highschool isn't anything special. Basically, this book will prepare you to pass exams and standardized tests--it won't give you understanding. For that, go somewhere worthwhile---for example, the Feynman Lectures on Physics, all three volumes of which cost about half as much as Halliday and Resnick's book.
Rating:
Summary: pretty good, beginners may need extra help with it
Review: i'm using this book as a main source for preparing for the physics GRE exam, and i'm finding that it is getting me up to speed for the exam. my previous academic background is actually math/german/finance, but i can tell you that the math background is what makes working with this book fairly successful. i'm pretty much a sucker for big, pretty books anyway, but i really can tell that this one is definitely helping me learn basic physics- fairly good examples, lots of problems, and interesting introductions to each chapter to captivate your attention and motivate you to continue studying. if you're a freshman taking using this book for a course, i would suggest you consult your professor regularly and get help whenever something is not quite clear- it's probably a royal pain in the neck to take physics I/II and calc concurrently, so i can totally understand those of you without the complete math background having trouble with this material- i know i did 20 years ago as an undergrad, and it made me really dislike physics at that time. i don't know what calc classes are like these days, but i would strongly recommend at least 3 semesters of calculus before embarking on a course that uses this book- it'll make your learning experience much more intense, and you'll get a lot more from the book and will be able to appreciate it much more. Oh, and you may just want to try and order the international edition from abroad (Europe, for example)- it's about $100 less than the U.S. price and still has the same content!
Rating:
Summary: NEGATIVE 5 STARS
Review: For those taking advanced highschool or introductory physics in college, this is a great text to get started with. Advanced enough to be somewhat challenging to a new student, it has very good problems at the end of each chapter to test how much you've learned and usually a few of them are somewhat tricky. If you're an advanced physics student, you will no doubt find this to be a tad on the basic side, and if you want to see the derivations of every equation you use, again, this isn't your book. I've kept this text from my university work, and I still reference it occasionally. It was definitely of help for looking up stray concepts while I prepared for the MCAT exam. A useful reference for science students not specializing in physics.
Rating: 
Summary: Good for Physics
Review: I used this book in high school for AP Advanced Physics for mechanics and electromagnetics, but unfortunately did not take the AP test. So now that I am in college and am taking physics - only the second semester electromagnetics and optics, guess what, it is the exact same book. I can see how people find the book not very easy to read. I didn't understand much of it in high school. Now that I am taking it for a second time in college though, I can read the book and it makes perfect sense. I skip lecture about 50% of the time, and have a 97% in the class. Problems at the end of each chapter aren't that difficult.
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