Do you guys think the quality of the textbook affects studying??

[yesyes123]

As a lot of people by second hand textbooks, for some reason it annoys me that there is like writing and highlighting in second hand books? and king off puts me off

Does it annoy you guys too?

[Ravit]

yes.

[shinny]

Yes. And the quality of the presentation of the textbook in general can affect me as well.

[xdecay]

it does, i'm generally really anal about the display of textbooks which is why i almost always get first hand ones.

i'm also very fussy about the layout. particularly, if a section of a subtopic gets mixed with a different aspect of the course, i would get frustrated. case in point - cambridge essentials business management.

[Panicmode]

I don't mind when there are notes in the margin. It doesn't really put me off. Rather, it helps me as I get to see how someone else thinks. What I do find distracting is when there are random doodles that are unrelated to the subject matter all peppered throughout the piece. That's just annoying.

[frebbb]

Both my Biology and Psychology textbooks were given to me by my friends, and to be honest, I actually find the second-hand "feel" of the books very comforting, and less intimidating. As long as there isn't writing or anything obscuring the text, it doesn't make a negative difference to me.

[paulsterio]

I don't really care it's not really that bad

[Bhootnike]

As long as it is not a mess!  If there's highlighting all over the joint then I wouldn't mind since they don't help me anyways. 
Tell you what does peev me off though.  Buying exams or booklets with answers still written in pencil! 

[nemolala]

No. I study better when things are quite messy

[Reckoner]

I can't stand highlighting in textbooks. In my second hand A+ Biol Notes for unit 3 there was a page of ~200 words where, no joke, all but 4 of those were highlighted in the SAME COLOUR. Doesn't that make the highlighting redundant?!?! Similar things occurred on just about every page.

A few words here and there I can handle and often find beneficial.

[Special At Specialist]

I hate second hand books. It puts me off learning when all I see is a massive picture of a dick on the questions page.

[Menang]

I love second hand books.

I find that the notes in the margin are often really helpful, and I love it when someone else has already highlighted useful history quotes for me. Makes life so much easier!

Like frebb said, I find brand new books really intimidating. Usually if I buy new books I'll crack into them with a hightlighter/pen straightaway just to mess things up so I feel comfortable doing proper annotations later.

[LOLs99]

Lol, If your lucky like me...you can buy the second hand book which looks really new as the firsthand one for less than half price.
But srsly I hate when the book is being used by ppl for a long time.

[Hutchoo]

I hate second hand books. It puts me off learning when all I see is a massive picture of a dick on the questions page.

It may put you off, but it turns me on .


____
@OP - Yeah, but only for maths. I don't like seeing other peoples working cause it ruins the fun.

[Wazzup]

lol the layout either turns me off or on.