Rating: 
Summary: Not good for written preparation
Review: I was having a wonderful life until I read this book. Who is this knucklehead? Did he work for Quatitude? Jesus H Christ.
Rating: 
Summary: A Wonderful life
Review: I was having a wonderful life until I read this book. Who is this knucklehead? Did he work for Quatitude? Jesus H Christ.
Rating: 
Summary: Accurate thumbnail sketches of topics in the blueprint
Review: I would really rate the book a 3.5. The book does a good job of giving you a 1500 foot view of all of the topics covered in the blueprint (although cisco pulled Token Ring and IPX from the blueprint just this week so ignore those parts).The fact is of course, you have no hope of passing the exam using this as your only source of information. However, if you go through each chapter, and then fill in with supplementary reading on the topics presented and run some quick labs, it does serve as a good middle ground between the exam blueprint and the low level knowledge you'll need to pass the written exam. Much like the caslow book it makes for a good roadmap. Ok, now for the bad. 1. Book is worthless for lab preperation. skip the lab oriented chapters, there are better resources elsewhere. 2. Section on MPLS is awful!!!!!!! find another resource. 3. Multicast section was lacking as well. I mean really, really lacking. 4. with a given protocol, cisco wants you to understand how the state machine functions. the book does a great job of explaining the nerd knobs and the theory, but it doesn't really explain how the state machine works and why it was designed that way. knowing this kind of information really facilitates retention of the material and the ability to think through a question. a perfect example would be the chapter on BGP. yes the info is there, but without the "why is it like this" the material is very difficult to understand. Overall the quality of the book is quite high, and it will help you pass the written exam. Good luck!
Rating:
Summary: Accurate thumbnail sketches of topics in the blueprint
Review: I would really rate the book a 3.5. The book does a good job of giving you a 1500 foot view of all of the topics covered in the blueprint (although cisco pulled Token Ring and IPX from the blueprint just this week so ignore those parts). The fact is of course, you have no hope of passing the exam using this as your only source of information. However, if you go through each chapter, and then fill in with supplementary reading on the topics presented and run some quick labs, it does serve as a good middle ground between the exam blueprint and the low level knowledge you'll need to pass the written exam. Much like the caslow book it makes for a good roadmap. Ok, now for the bad. 1. Book is worthless for lab preperation. skip the lab oriented chapters, there are better resources elsewhere. 2. Section on MPLS is awful!!!!!!! find another resource. 3. Multicast section was lacking as well. I mean really, really lacking. 4. with a given protocol, cisco wants you to understand how the state machine functions. the book does a great job of explaining the nerd knobs and the theory, but it doesn't really explain how the state machine works and why it was designed that way. knowing this kind of information really facilitates retention of the material and the ability to think through a question. a perfect example would be the chapter on BGP. yes the info is there, but without the "why is it like this" the material is very difficult to understand. Overall the quality of the book is quite high, and it will help you pass the written exam. Good luck!
Rating:
Summary: errata galore
Review: This book has been extremely useful to me in my preparation for the CCIE Lab. I find the scenarios point out the areas that trip up the unsuspecting CCIE candidate. Some of the same Gotcha's from this book are what "got me" the first time I attempted the Lab. I believe I am much more prepared this time around thanks to this resource. I have also used this resource to create training presentations and improve on several network design issues that have popped up during the deployment of a Nationwide ATM/Debit processing Network. This is the best Routing/Networking book I have read since the Jeff Doyle Routing TCP/IP Vol I book.
Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding resource for CCIE Lab preparation.
Review: This book has been extremely useful to me in my preparation for the CCIE Lab. I find the scenarios point out the areas that trip up the unsuspecting CCIE candidate. Some of the same Gotcha's from this book are what "got me" the first time I attempted the Lab. I believe I am much more prepared this time around thanks to this resource. I have also used this resource to create training presentations and improve on several network design issues that have popped up during the deployment of a Nationwide ATM/Debit processing Network. This is the best Routing/Networking book I have read since the Jeff Doyle Routing TCP/IP Vol I book.
Rating:
Summary: errata galore
Review: This book is just filled with errors. The errata list on Sybex's website doesn't even cover half of what I found. This is tolerable for people who know the stuff and use the book as a refresher before taking the written, but it will just confuse everyone else. The solution: don't take everything literally and assume that there's a typo every other sentence. If you can do that, you should be able to pass without too much trouble.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Resource for CCIE Prep
Review: This book rates up there with the best. It covers all the topics for CCIE preparation. All routing protocols found in the CCIE lab are covered, including an excellent reference for BGP. LAN switching as related to the 3550 switches is covered. Includes study material regarding the topics covered in the latest requirements for CCIE on the Cisco.com website. I use this book also as a reference for daily work activities as needed.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT Book, but has errors
Review: This is a GREAT book, as I first used the Cisco Press R&S Written exam guide by Anthony Bruno, but the Cisco Press book does not provide any in-depth information, it only provides an introduction then points to a URL on the Cisco website. The Sybex CCIE Study Guide provides extremely in-depth coverage of the material, and it is written in everyday language so that it is easy to comprehend. I defintely recommend the Sybex book, and although there are errors in the book, go to the Sybex website and get the FREE Errata for this book, and you will have a great CCIE study guide and on-the-job reference.
Rating:
Summary: Just passed the written exam today.
Review: Took and passed the CCIE written exam this morning. This book is the best one out there for a sole source preparation guide to the CCIE written. When I was studying for the written I did not want to have to buy five books to study, and what this book offered was a great reference/study guide that followed the written exam blueprint extremely well. I strongly recommend this book for anybody that is seriously preparing for the CCIE written exam. Also, based on the content of the book, I think it will be a major resource for my lab preparation as well.
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