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Rating: 
Summary: P's and Q's
Review: Overall a good book; however, it is filled with small, yet significant, errors in the solutions, study manual and a few theorems. These errors though not major may cause confusion serious confusion.
Rating: 
Summary: excellent text for self-learners and non-freaks
Review: Right after high school, I enrolled in a d.e. course at the local junior college (ok, I was a masochist). We used the Zill text, although not the boundary value problem edition. Needless to say, that book was a godsend b/c the instructor was horrible, so after awhile, I only showed up for class for exams, and self-studied on my own from that book. I recall that the book was fun and easy to understand. Why is it good? It explains things in clear language. The proofs are laid out clearly. There are lots of example problems with solutions. This was critical in the portion of the book where he explains how to solve d.e.'s with variable coefficients. The book makes differential equations look interesting, which is important to capture readers. Zill also has a calc book, and mygoodness, that book was sort of repulsive b/c of the 70's style printing and the nasty brown colors. Looks are always a big thing, back then and now. I'm not sure how applicable this text is for hard-core math majors, but definitely, if you are in engineering and don't require any weird esoteric understanding of the proofs that math people might need, this is text worth referring to. I can't comment on the BVP, though... However, it helped me to earn an A+ at Cal that first semester as a freshman, so he must be doing something right.
Rating:
Summary: P's and Q's
Review: The problem sets for each section were good. I used this book for Penn State's distance education ODE/PDE class. However, book should be supplemented with lectures, though. The chapter on Cauchy-Euler equations was lacking because it didn't tell you "why can we use this approach to solve these types of equations" (I had to ask my prof to show me why). On the plus side, it did have an intro to PDE's in the latter chapters, and was fairly thorough in the number of techniques covered for solving various types of DE's.
Rating:
Summary: Good book, for the most part.
Review: The problem sets for each section were good. I used this book for Penn State's distance education ODE/PDE class. However, book should be supplemented with lectures, though. The chapter on Cauchy-Euler equations was lacking because it didn't tell you "why can we use this approach to solve these types of equations" (I had to ask my prof to show me why). On the plus side, it did have an intro to PDE's in the latter chapters, and was fairly thorough in the number of techniques covered for solving various types of DE's.
Rating:
Summary: Old, but good
Review: This is a good introduction to DE without alot of the unnecessary textual pollution often found in math texts. It's been around awhile (I used this one some years ago) but I found it was among the simplest, clearest, and best-written math texts because its approach assumes no prior knowledge of DE. From basic equations such as the famous Bernoulli to more complicated boundary-value issues, I was able to gain a solid and more complete understanding of the multivariable calculus I had just attended as well as preparation for higher math. Although it's been awhile, I do recall some errors in this book (as another reviewer has mentioned), so be aware.
Recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Dense; Not for Self Study.
Review: VCR directions. Especially how it explains variation of parameters (2.3). If you are a math whiz, this text is for you. If not, try to get a copy of Dr. Kapoor's _Differential Equations: Step by Step E-Z Math Cards_. By the way, Zill's Solutions Manuel simply omits explanations for many odd-numbered problems, so good luck.
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