<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Update to my previous review: CD (2-5); Book (5)
Review: Having re-read the entire book now, I must say that it continues to be a solid 5-Star work.The CD, however, is another matter. It has severe problems. It is unusable on some systems. The difficulty with the CD is the need for the QuickTime 5 or 6 web browser plug-in to be installed in order for the videos to play properly in the HTML pages that make up the CD. I am one of those people with many computers, both at home, in transit, and at work. I first used the CD on one of my portable computers - which did not have QT installed at all, so there was no problem with allowing QT6 to install, and the CD worked fine. The QT installer on the CD requires administrative privileges - though why these should be required for a browser plug in is a mystery to me (Except that the installer also installs a stand-alone QT version, which is likely not really needed by the browser). I do not have administrative privileges for the computer system where I work. This is an Army MS-NT3 network with only QT2 installed. For security reasons, they are very conservative and certainly are not going to install QT6 just for me! The book says that QT 5/6 is required to run the videos. I have not found this to be true - as the stand-alone QT2/4 versions run them just fine: however, neither QT2, nor QT4, will run them properly within the browser. Unfortunately the publishers used the old 8.3 DOS file naming conventions - for reasons that really are not clear: as I think the only DOS browser is the text-only "Lynx", which would not show videos anyhow. Since they did this, and as the web pages have no mouse-over or ALT tags that give the names of the videos, it is essentially impossible to locate the appropriate file to run on the stand-alone QT2 - without examining each page's source code. Plus, there is the annoyance of the browser asking if I want to install QT each time a new page loads. Non-starter. For use at home, I was finally forced to assemble a special computer from old parts simply to use for the CD, as I did not want the QT installer to overwrite the QT4-Professional version on my other home computers (which is what would happen), as I have no interest in, or need to upgrade to, a newer QT-Professional version, and I certainly don't want it replaced by the crippled freeware version on the CD. Conclusion: On some computers the CD is a definite 2 (no video capability); on others, including the purpose built computer I was forced to construct, it is a 5. If you hope to view the videos on the CD (the text and stills are not a problem) make certain that you will be able to install QT 5/6 on the system that you will be using.
Rating: 
Summary: Notable
Review: Outstanding. Superb. Wonderful. This is the first Echo book written with a focus on perioperative trans(o)esophageal echo. It is tightly integrated, clearly written and illustrated, with excellent video on the included CD (PC/Mac). It should provide the background to pass the Echo Boards (I certainly *hope* so), and is of immediate and practical use in the operating room and ICU. The only problem that I have with the book is that (probably to keep the cost down) it was printed using what seems to be a fish-based ink or paper coating: the book has a quite noticeable odor. Odd. Unpleasant. Nauseating. Possibly capable of triggering an asthma attack. ...
Rating:
Summary: A great guide to TEE !
Review: This concise book provides a clear overview of TEE with lots of clear illustrations and nice tables. Highly recommended for cardiac anesthelogists and for cardiologists involved in intraoperative echocardiography. Comes with a CD with illustrative cases for further learning and review.
<< 1 >>
| 
