<p>Greetings. (I'm asking a LOT of questions these days. Ha ha.)</p>
<p>I am currently purchasing textbooks for my class. Unfortunately, I am now stuck in an interesting situation.
I visited Barnes & Noble to purchase books for PHYSICS 218. They gave me the "University Physics Volume 1 Technology Update" one. Strangely, it also said that it was a "Custom Edition for Texas A&M University - College Station".
Are there any differences between the original version and this custom edition? Which one is better for me to use?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I would not buy any book whose ISBN number did not match the one specified in Howdy. Seems like DD’s physics books have to come from TAMU - Howdy link to buy textbooks. Couldn’t find that particular ISBN number elsewhere.</p>
<p>The ISBN number of the textbook matches with the number on Howdy. Guess this textbook is alright. Thanks for the info.</p>
<p>I still would like to know what are the differences between the Custom Edition and the original version.</p>
<p>The way that it works is that custom editions are the EXACT same as the normal ones except without some chapters that the professor has chosen to not go over. I am about to be a senior at A&M and would NEVER recommend purchasing textbooks through the bookstore unless you’re ready to spend hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of dollars! I would suggest shopping around the other bookstores in College Station and even renting them from those bookstores or online. So basically, never buy the book, even if it’s custom because the only difference is missing chapters and a binding done at the bookstore with an A&M themed cover page. So not worth it. For example, my prof for an upperlevel class wanted me to buy a custom textbook for $125 that was literally only like an inch thick. I rented the full text online for $40 for the entire semester and learned everything I needed to know and got an A. I definitely recommend waiting until your professor tells you on the first day of class about your book so you know a little more info about it.</p>
<p>Thanks, Cottage123!</p>
<p>Well at least you don’t have to panic.</p>
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<p>Lol, it isn’t lost on everyone then like I thought it might be.</p>
<p>Custom editions also are hard to resell after you’re finished with class. We are stuck with that “custom” edition and can’t sell it to amazon or anywhere else. Hopefully, one of her friends or somebody in the dorm will buy it.</p>