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Rating: 
Summary: Good read, but lots of errors...
Review: Don't waste you money on this one. To many opinions in the first two chapters turned me off right away. I continued on to find most of the book is about stamp technology. The chapters could have dealt with one topic at a time rather than just touching on various things. Theres alot of information but its rather bombarding to someone who is tring to learn. Its too many ideas to study as once, it does make a fine reference for the bookshelf. But not practical to learn with.
Rating: 
Summary: This book has changed my life.
Review: I bought this book with the humble desire of creating a simple companion. After I finished, the Creation turned on me and my family and reprogrammed my VCR. It then proceeded to change the message on my answering machine. It somehow convinced my Nissan truck not to allow me inside. I fear for my life. How could I have let it go this far? All I really wanted was a cute little Furby but I ended up with a cyber-monster with dreams of wiping out humans and creating a robotic Utopian Hell.....other than that, the book was pretty cool.
Rating: 
Summary: Very stimulating ideas in this book
Review: I have purchased numerous books on mobile robotics to satisfy my hobby interest. This book is one of my favorite because it had a lot of great ideas, each one much different to stimulate my mind in other areas such as underwater, and aerial. It was also very low in costs. Lots of fun to read.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting and worthwhile
Review: Robots, Androids and Animatrons covers a lot of bases. It provides tantalizing information and commentary on technology currently under development and envisioned for the coming few decades. The text is clear, and the projects are straightforward, creative and interesting. Iovine provides a taste of a variety of technologies, and ideas about where to go for additional, related information outside the scope of the book. This is not the consummate 'bot hobbyist's manual that McComb's Robot Builder's Bonanza is, but it will make a valuable addition to many an enthusiast's library. The style of the text is geared toward younger and less experienced readers. For example, Iovine discusses the BASIC Stamp, and does not discuss any other microcontrollers. He does not go into much detail or depth on any particular topic. I'd say that Iovine's audience is probably best represented by scientifically-inclined high-school students. However, there is an interesting section on employing DTMF (touch-tone dialing) for remote control which I think would tickle the fancy of any hobbyist. There are also sections on speech control, telepresence, pneumatics, and a robotic fish that contain information I haven't seen duplicated elsewhere. Not all of Iovine's projects are cheap. Some of the required parts are a little exotic, and may only be available through Images Company, to which John constantly refers. Readers seeking less expensive or alternative sources may have to get creative. But this is a minor inconvenience. Robotics isn't a cheap hobby, exotic parts are sometimes unavoidable, and Iovine's projects are super neat. His book is interesting and worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting and worthwhile
Review: Robots, Androids and Animatrons covers a lot of bases. It provides tantalizing information and commentary on technology currently under development and envisioned for the coming few decades. The text is clear, and the projects are straightforward, creative and interesting. Iovine provides a taste of a variety of technologies, and ideas about where to go for additional, related information outside the scope of the book. This is not the consummate 'bot hobbyist's manual that McComb's Robot Builder's Bonanza is, but it will make a valuable addition to many an enthusiast's library. The style of the text is geared toward younger and less experienced readers. For example, Iovine discusses the BASIC Stamp, and does not discuss any other microcontrollers. He does not go into much detail or depth on any particular topic. I'd say that Iovine's audience is probably best represented by scientifically-inclined high-school students. However, there is an interesting section on employing DTMF (touch-tone dialing) for remote control which I think would tickle the fancy of any hobbyist. There are also sections on speech control, telepresence, pneumatics, and a robotic fish that contain information I haven't seen duplicated elsewhere. Not all of Iovine's projects are cheap. Some of the required parts are a little exotic, and may only be available through Images Company, to which John constantly refers. Readers seeking less expensive or alternative sources may have to get creative. But this is a minor inconvenience. Robotics isn't a cheap hobby, exotic parts are sometimes unavoidable, and Iovine's projects are super neat. His book is interesting and worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: Projects can be a bit pricy.
Review: The illustrations and text I found to be very helpful for a project I was working on, but the supplies the book recommends can usually de difficult to find, and can tend to be a bit pricy.
I recommend visiting a local toy store after deciding on a project, and buying toys with the parts you need. Its more fun to make one thing into another anyway.
Rating:
Summary: Very good book!!
Review: This book is great for the beginner. Iovine explains the subject matter in a way that makes it exciting and fun. He has a way of getting the exciting vision of building robots across to the reader. The book makes it easy to get parts needed for the projects from the authors web site. I'm really looking forward to his new book, Pic Robotics!!!
Rating: 
Summary: ...
Review: This isn't a "hands-on" projects book as the title would suggest. Poorly written. Useless. I could summarize each chapter as such: "Ok, go buy a RC car, buy some components, attach the components to the car... and you're done. You have a robot! Isn't that cool?" Sheesh. What a waste of paper. I just bought Robot Builder's Bonanza. I've heard good things about that book - so I'll give that a try now. It certainly can't be any worse than John Iovine's book. Buyer beware on "Robots, Androids, and Animatrons".
Rating:
Summary: I'm glad I finally found a decent book on pics!
Review: This was the 3rd book I purchased on pics. The other 2 books - one by Myke Predko (awful), the other by David L. Benson (dissapointing.)I wish this had been the first. Although not geared specificly towards pics, that was my reason for buying it. I was interested in pics and robotics; so this book was right up my alley. Admittedly the book has numerous plugs for a company the guy obviously works for, owns, or gets kickbacks from! And he wants you to put out a considerable about of cash from the get go to purchase items he wants you to use in order to follow along with him. However, that doesn't bother me. I never build any projects I see in these type of books. I only use them for learning - I build my own projects. This book did teach me quite a bit about pics. Which was my goal. He didn't bog you down with the history or innards of pics like other books. Which I am not interested in. The book was a great mixture of hardware and software topics... I would recommend this book to anyone interested in pics... Subsequently I purchased another book by him simply because I saw his name on it and I wasn't dissapointed! I'm looking forward to other books by John Iovine in the future...
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