The Art of Electronics X-Chapters

[worsthorse]

I ordered mine from Amazon, cancelled the order when I found out that I could order it from CUPS. Received it about ten days ago; in perfect condition. 

Fourteen pages, just on resistors. What more do I need to say?   

[SiliconWizard]

I have got mine yesterday from Amazon, came in good condition, even though it was just in a normal envelope style carton, without padding. I guess if yours got smashed, it depends both on the warehouse which did the expedition (they don't pack the things the same way) and the Post not playing football with it.

It was delivered by an Amazon delivery guy directly. Dunno about all the intermerdiaries there is before. But the package itself didn't show any sign of damage. I think it's just the packaging step itself that slightly damaged a corner because it was just a bit too tight.

[janoc]

..., it depends both on the warehouse which did the expedition (they don't pack the things the same way) and the Post not playing football with it.

Sorry, I couldn't resist...

Yay duh, sorry, English is only my third or fourth language.

Even worse, I live in France atm, where the verb "expédier" and the derived noun "expédition" don't mean only Livingstone's trip but mostly someone dispatching a package/order from a warehouse.

 

[janoc]

It was delivered by an Amazon delivery guy directly. Dunno about all the intermerdiaries there is before. But the package itself didn't show any sign of damage. I think it's just the packaging step itself that slightly damaged a corner because it was just a bit too tight.

Here in Picardy they use mostly contractors, there is nothing like an "Amazon delivery guy" here. Always an unmarked white van, driven by a private contractor that likely does deliveries also for TNT, Mondial Relay and who knows who else when he doesn't drive pizza or a taxi around. But maybe that's because I live only about 10km from a large Amazon depot. Otherwise they ship by Post.

[Cerebus]

..., it depends both on the warehouse which did the expedition (they don't pack the things the same way) and the Post not playing football with it.

Sorry, I couldn't resist...

Yay duh, sorry, English is only my third or fourth language.

Even worse, I live in France atm, where the verb "expédier" and the derived noun "expédition" don't mean only Livingstone's trip but mostly someone dispatching a package/order from a warehouse.

 

No foul, it kind of, sort of, works in English as well but is (1) a very unusual construction, (2) too good a pun to pass up.

[wohali]

Just got my copy from amazon.ca ("Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca.") I'm worried this is a counterfeit. Can anyone who ordered theirs from CUP, or amazon.com  help confirm? I'm seeing:

• Paper is extremely thin, as compared to my copy of AoE 3rd ed (1st printing). I can easily see through the paper to the other side's printing, and the page beneath that. I can barely see through the page in AoE 3rd ed, and only to the printing on the other side; I can't see the page below that.
• Skewed printing on many pages. For example, measuring from the top of the paper to the top of the grey box on the table of contents header, the left side is ~1mm lower than the right side. It's minor, but visible.
• On every page, the top margin is a lot smaller than the bottom margin. Typical top margin is about 1.4mm, typical bottom margin is about 2mm.
• 2 blank white pages after the last index page (don't know if this is normal or not

Most of the other "tell-tale" signs as posted at https://artofelectronics.net/the-book/counterfeit-editions/ are not present. The "fi" ligature on the title page is present, the cover on the spine is not wrinkled, pages are not stuck together at the edges, pages do not extend into the gutter, the black end-pages are smooth and not glue-smudged, the photographs are clear, and the price was CDN$ 68.95.

If this is how the book is - that's fine, I can live with thin paper and a bit of skew. But if it's not how it should be, I want to be sure this goes back to Amazon (and I'll order a replacement directly from CUP!)

[gnavigator1007]

Sounds ok. Ordered mine from CUP and is same as you describe yours though I had not really noticed other than the pages being a bit see through. Perhaps some of these things are intended to help distinguish the legit item from counterfeits   

[ebastler]

Just got my copy from amazon.ca ("Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca.") I'm worried this is a counterfeit. Can anyone who ordered theirs from CUP, or amazon.com  help confirm? I'm seeing:

I didn't order the X-chapters yet, but have just received a new copy of the main 3rd edition volume. (The "improved" version, whch Amazon.co.uk currently sells at a low price, as discussed in another thread here. I wanted a copy with the known errors corrected.)

Compared to my 1st printing of the 3rd edition, I can confirm that the paper of the new printing is indeed thinner. The book is a few mm thinner than the original printing, and more noticeably the printing on the reverse side is indeed much more visible with the new paper.

The top margin is smaller than the bottom one; that's probably intentional. (It's 1.4 cm, not mm, right?). But no skewed printing that I would have noticed.

So I guess the new choice of paper is a general CUP decision. Not an improvement. The new book is certainly usable, but the original printing is more pleasant to read. I am torn which of the two copies I should make my main go-to book now...

[tggzzz]

My copy from Amazon UK...

• my copy is like that; I hadn't noticed until I explicitly looked for it. Book's weight is 1140g
• there is a slight effect like that, but nowhere near 1mm
• my copy is like that. It is consistent, easily seen by riffling through the pages and observing the top horizontal line barely moves. I imagine a counterfeit would be less consistent
• my copy is like that. Many books are like that, it being a characteristic of book binding

Overall, I wouldn't worry, and I doubt decent counterfeits would be available so quickly. In a short time, maybe.

[rdl]

The last new book I bought from Amazon had very thin pages. It also had a solid color sticker on the front cover that seemed rather pointless and I wondered why it was there. So I peeled it off. Under it was printed:

     Indian Edition
----------------------
For Sale in India Only

[wohali]

Thanks everyone - false alarm. Glad to clear that up.

[Cerebus]

Casting my ex-printer's and book binder's eye over the book I'd say the following.

• Yes, the paper is thin but I think that's a feature. The paper a nice smooth, strong coated stock and is, I suspect, quite expensive. The coating (china clay) is there to improve the opacity; without it this would be what's known in the trade as 'bible paper'. It's a 500 page book but is only 17mm thick (excluding covers). By happenstance I've got another hardback next to it that's exactly the same depth but only runs to 240 pages. The X-chapters book printed on the same stock as that book would be unwieldy at twice the thickness in my opinion.
• Not seeing any evidence of skew on my copy. I'd have expected any signatures with this fault to have gone in the bin at the printers, they normally literally stick out of the pile as they are being printed and are the result of a sheet misfeeding with a slight yaw. (The signatures are printed as flat sheets called an imposition, 16 pages to a side in the case of this book, and then folded repeatedly down to make a signature of 32 consecutive pages.
• Top margin being narrower than the bottom margin? That's pretty much the standard book layout.
• Yes, there are 2 blank white pages after the last index page. This is to make the number of pages in the last signature up to 32 pages.

[thm_w]

Seems like there is nowhere to buy the ebook or PDF yet. Or some sort of direct donation to the authors.
I have no interest in owning the physical book.

[julianhigginson]

Just saw this new thread activity now.

Ordered!

It's a really nice feeling to be able to order direct from the publisher without using amazon.

WOW that was fast.

Less than 72 hours from placing the order to receiving the book.
Looks like my CUP order came from the Australian CUP office... Australian tax invoice and everything.
They must have had it ready in stock here, and sent it straight out. (despite only having it on their site as a preorder..)

Now to get some time off projects to actually read it.. :-)

[Black Phoenix]

Seems like there is nowhere to buy the ebook or PDF yet. Or some sort of direct donation to the authors.
I have no interest in owning the physical book.

Yes that is my gripe about it too. The Art of Electronics exists in eBook, but both the Learning the Art of Electronics and this new one X-Chapters they don't exist in electronic format. Release and I will buy them in a flash.

[julianhigginson]

How is AoE in eebok format? what device do you use to read it?

I've had terrible experiences with kindle format technical books... To the point where I just won't buy them any more.
Graphs and diagrams pixellated to the point of being useless,  having to constantly pinch in and out and lose what I'm up to....

[Cerebus]

Seems like there is nowhere to buy the ebook or PDF yet. Or some sort of direct donation to the authors.
I have no interest in owning the physical book.

There isn't an ebook yet, but if the demand is there then they'll 'print' one. Go to the CUP website, find the book and there's an "I want this as an ebook" link, click on it to signal that there's a demand for an ebook version.

[tomeo.gonzales]

I really like the laboratory DC power supply (page 454).
I want to build one for myself but designing a PCB for it is well beyond my knowledge.
If some PCB guru on this forum can design and publish Gerber file for this power supply it will be a nice gift for all beginners.

[KE5FX]

I really like the laboratory DC power supply (page 454).
I want to build one for myself but designing a PCB for it is well beyond my knowledge.

Step 1: Do it anyway.

If some PCB guru on this forum can design and publish Gerber file for this power supply it will be a nice gift for all beginners.

Step 2: Post your board design here for criticism.  That, you will get for free.  

[worsthorse]

I didn't realize counterfeits of AoE were a thing until I read this thread. I checked and yeah, I got a rip off version, shipped through Amazon but not by Amazon. Unfortunately, I didn't figure it out until it was too late to ship it back.

I still don't know how I managed to miss Paul's last name being spelled wrong on the inside title page. 

[Caliaxy]

Unfortunately, I didn't figure it out until it was too late to ship it back.

I would still try to contact Amazon and inquire them about swapping the counterfeit for a legit version (and paying for the difference, if the counterfeit was cheaper). The might not care, but they might - it’s worth a try.