<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Sybex CIT book - extremely disappointed
Review:
I had a chance to use and compare two books when preparing for the new CIT exam (642-831). One was by CiscoPress, another by Sybex.
Well, what can I say... I am very disappointed with Sybex. I think the guy is "criminal" - Todd Lammle that is... I'll try to explain why...
I have nothing personally against him - he may be quite a nice person, he may even know his stuff but I have a feeling that he is not in a business to help us pass the exams... He may be in a business of making money or promoting his Router Simulator software...
The book is infested with errors. Also a LOT of irrelevant information - yes, it may be useful to know but irrelevant for the exam.
It contains old material reprinted under new cover -- that's the impression I'm getting.
For example, first 2-3 chapters - troubleshooting methodology - I think is based on a previous version of CIT exam which had more steps. Compared with current 3 steps Cisco methodology tested on the exam.
The book gives you just too much detail (like LSA types for OSPF -- that's useful for BSCI but not for CIT exam! -- Ciscopress book doesn't have this kind of information at all). It looks like the authors are paid based on the number of pages they write - so they would write whatever just to make it bigger but not directly relevant to the exam. Just look at the size of margins on the pages.
Another thing and this is why I think the guy is a "criminal" is chapter 9 - Troubleshooting Switched Ethernet - total waste of time because all commands presented are not IOS but CatOS!!! I couldn't believe it - Cisco is not testing for CatOS for more than a year now.
Yet the Sybex book still gives you set-based commands - how mean it is! I think they've just copied chapters from the previous version of the book. Besides, in CiscoPress book there is no mention of Troubleshooting Switched Ethernet - what they focus on - is methodology and terminology. And the exam questions directly reflect that terminology!
To be fair I enjoyed reading some chapters (i.e. ch 5, 6) with output of debug statements. Also ch 7 about Frame Relay. It's interesting to learn all of these and may be useful as a work reference but... You don't need to know so many commands for the CIT exam - Cisco Press book for example has much less commands. What they test the most is methodology not the commands - but methodology is somehow wrong in Sybex.
There were a few simulations on the exam where you had to troubleshoot the problem - still those Sybex chapters were not of any help.
I have passed all CCNP exams now with the help of CiscoPress books and Boson tests. And I didn't have much experience at all with Cisco.
If you are considering between Ciscopress and Sybex - Ciscopress is definitely the way to go.
Yes, I think some of you can pass exams with Sybex but IMHO it would be much more difficult. So, please do yourself a favor - buy Ciscopress books. They are sold for the same price as Sybex.
Personally I lost my confidence in Sybex (particularly in Todd Lammle as an author, which is unfortunate). I don't think I will ever buy any of Sybex books. Why bother when there are better (and even cheaper) alternatives on the market.
All the best with your exams.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book for CCNP
Review: Excellent book for exam and subject review. It covers the objectives for each exam in detail independently for each of the exams in CCNP. Practice questions, excellent examples, and lucid laguage are the best qualities of the book set. I gave four stars, as this set covers only objectives for the certification, but not for real life indepth touch of hte subject matter. Cisco Press books do an excellent job for these qualities. But, Lammle rocks as usual for "to the point" approach. Good Job! Keep it up! And, Good luck to all of you'll going for the certification!-- Pankaj Patel BSCS, CCNA, MCDBA.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed!
Review: I studied sybex ccna book for my ccna exam. It was amazing. I scored 935 without taking a course etc. Just 2 weeks of study with that book, boson router sim and boson exams. So I bought this set to study for those ccnp exams. I read the routing book first and tried some boson exams in order to evaluate myself. I was awful! and I assure you that was not my fault! I could not efford to buy another book about routing so I switched to the switching exam. And I wasted 2-3 weeks with that book too!! At first, that book seems to be satisfactory but if you read the exam topics on cisco web site, you will see that some of them are not even mentioned in that book. Today, I am going to start reading a cisco press book for that switching exam. I suggest you do the same and save money!
Rating:
Summary: CCNP Study Guides
Review: I used all four books and the Boson prep testing software to complete my CCNP tests. The books have many errors that are not mentioned in the errata sheets. In my opinion, the Switching book is the strongest, Remote Access is acceptable, Support is lacking in key areas (ISDN) and the Routing (especially access lists, OSPF and BGP topics) is unacceptable. I purchased the Cisco press books for Routing and Support. The Cisco books cover the material more accurately and in greater detail. If you are already familiar with the material and just need to refresh your memory, these are probably sufficient. If you are learning a specific topic like BGP for the first time or want to have a better understanding of the material, get the Cisco books.
Rating:
Summary: Bot covering all topics of the exam
Review: I was quite unhappily surprised that, after reading the book for the BCSI exam, I was far from ready. I costed me quite a lot of extra work to properly prepare. Lots of topics are not covered and even worse with the BCMSN exam, where even more topics are not covered. Very unsatisfactory!!
Rating: 
Summary: Great book for passing all your exams
Review: One thing I have learned over the past 14 years is that when you find something that works stick with it. I have found that Todd Lammle is the go to man for Cisco. I used both his CCNA and CCDA books to pass my exams and now that I am working on CCNP and CCDP I am once again looking to him for study guides. Being that Cisco has retired the 640-603 exam, it was a good idea for Sybex to hold the release of this set until the 640-901 or BSCI or was ready, making the kit as up to date as possible. Each book does have a number of labs, in fact the BSCI book has over 55, plus there are case studies, review questions and other exercises throughout each book. Lammle certainly gives you every thing you need to work with. There is one thing that could be added and that is a simulator or virtual lab to work with in case you do not have access to the hardware. Although you could go to his website and pickup the Router Simulator CCNP Suite and Sybex also has their own Virtual Lab as well. Each book comes with a cd that has 2 full practice exams and other handy study utilities like the PDA flash cards. If there was something to increase here it would be more practice questions or a test center for all exams. I found that the books may have some errors but there isn't a book out there without a few grammar or spelling errors. As for technical accuracy, I compared the previous set to this set and a whole host of updates were done. Overall Todd Lammle has once again proven to be right in the forefront of the Cisco Certification arena and this study guide kit is a shining example of his latest work. Excellent job and well done once again.
Rating:
Summary: Some help, but...
Review: The books cover all of the topics in all of the four exams for the CCNP, yet still they are a 'base level info'. If you want to understand fully the topics required for the CCNP and be able to enter the exams with confidence, be sure to pick up the recommended titles from Cisco Press. They may be considered in-depth and more than what is 'required knowledge' for the exam pass, but 'full knowledge' is what certification is really all about. These books should really be seen as a 'cram revision'.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect books for the CCNP!
Review: This kit has all four CCNP exams covered in one kit. You can't go wrong here. The writing is excellent and covers the exams perfectly. We actually used this kit in a CCNP boot camp I attended. It is a really nice kit for the CCNP. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A good enough review book...
Review: Which was getting the CCNP as quickly as possible. I believe I was taking one exam per week at the time, and using only these books. Never cracked the CD's. I have some experience, though. I assume at this date nobody who isn't working in the industry is still wasting their time trying to get in with certs but no experience, so I presume if you're trying to get your CCNP you already use routers and switches. If you do, these books are certainly enough, I passed all the exams fairly handily and in rapid succession. This was back in 1999 with these same books (I bought them individually).
<< 1 >>
| 
