Rating: 
Summary: Awesome book! Get this for CCNA - period.
Review: I found this book somewhat lacking. My personal preference when "learning" the material is to have more information than is needed to allow for a thorough "understanding" of the material. Lammle's book does have the information to pass the exam, but nothing more. If you want to memorize information for the CCNA exam (or are recertifying and just need to be refreshed), this is the book for you. If you want to learn the material, I recomend one of the Cisco Press books.Additionally make sure to use the Sybex errata page as there are MANY mistakes in this book. A lot of them seemed obvious to me, but I have been doing this for a few years now. Someone just starting out may not notice many of them.
Rating: 
Summary: CCNA "Cliff Notes"
Review: I found this book somewhat lacking. My personal preference when "learning" the material is to have more information than is needed to allow for a thorough "understanding" of the material. Lammle's book does have the information to pass the exam, but nothing more. If you want to memorize information for the CCNA exam (or are recertifying and just need to be refreshed), this is the book for you. If you want to learn the material, I recomend one of the Cisco Press books. Additionally make sure to use the Sybex errata page as there are MANY mistakes in this book. A lot of them seemed obvious to me, but I have been doing this for a few years now. Someone just starting out may not notice many of them.
Rating:
Summary: One stop ccna.
Review: I have been working on my ccna for three months. i ordered the expensive cisco prep lib. started reading got confused in the middle. then i looked for something else on the net and i found this. this book covers a-z of ccna in the easiest way available in the market. cisco press books are too confusing and no matter how much i tried i could not concentrate on any of that. Whereas in this i drowned automatically. Todd's humour in the middle of the text (to lighten up things) really got me going. All I have to say that without this book my ccna training would have been nothing.
Rating:
Summary: Great Simulator, Not so great book.
Review: I never rely on a single book when preparing for a certification exam. CCNA was my 29th. Pass them all on the first try. At work I have access to some production Cisco routers so I can get some hands on. But of course I can't make any configuration changes. And I've been intimately involved with half-a-dozen Cisco installations. But to be good at configuring Cisco routers from scratch, you really as much hands on as possible. So thank you Todd for your simulator. Even though the its only good for following the built-in labs (only a subset of the CLI commands are implemented), it's the next best thing to having your own router lab. The book, on the other hand, is a waste. Todd must have been paid by the word. There were far to many screen dumps (he even tells you that two command produce the same output, then shows you the two identical screen dumps to prove it.) and far to few illustrations. And when it comes to screen dumps, there needed to be a lot more bolding or highlighting to bring out the areas of interest. I know from other posts, that people have used this book exclusively to prepare for the exam, and that's fine, if all you're looking for out of a book is passing the exam. For me getting certified is a mute point. I'll pass any certification exam I'm after. So what I'm looking for in a study guide(s) that provide a knowledge base (foundation) that I can build upon to improve my job performance. As I said I never rely on just a single book for exam preparation. Usually each book provides some benefit: a different prospective, or greater detail in one area or another. But in this case, I should have saved some money and purchased only the simulator instead of the combo. PS: Don't be fooled into thinking that the simulator and book go together. They were written as two totally separate products. You can't read the book while trying out the commands on the simulator. Too many of the commands just aren't there, or only some of the parameters are supported. And for the same reason, you can't perform the book's labs on the simulator. The commands have to be entered in exactly as they are presented in the simulator's labs. It's simply the difference between how a real router works and how the simulator works. The simulator is still a great learing tool, but as a stand-a-lone product.
Rating: 
Summary: Recommended book to pass your CCNA exam
Review: I prepared my CCNA exam with this book and I passed with 974 on 1000. Very easy and pleasant to read.
Most of the book is clear and topics are explained indepth enough for you to pass the exam. I really recommend this book as referene to prepare a CCNA because it cover exactly what you need to do it (and not more). However I would recommend to keep concentrate during your reading because there are some mistakes (I would say something around 10 mistakes on the overall). Mistakes appear more and more as long as you reach the final chapters (8-10). (Beware the "Extended IP Access List Example" on page 461. Very confusing mistake regarding the swap of permit and deny commands). Todd Lammle certainly should have had a deadline to write the book because the last chapter is written in a rush. And some topics would have require more details (such as Frame-Relay, ISDN, and DDR map command). A last remark : Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) is poorly explained and difficult to understand from this book if you never read something about it.
I would recommend to learn about STP from a different source. Personnaly I used the "CISCO certification, Bridges Routers and switches for CCIEs" book from Andrew Bruce Caslow & Valeriy Pavlichenko (Editor : PH PTR). I borrowed it from a colleague of mine, and it appeared to be a very detailed guide about anything regarding switching, though it was not as cool to read as Todd Lammle books. Oh, btw. Don't miss at any cost to read the appendix B about Catalsyt 1900, or you could miss your exam ! Don't misunderstand me.
The perfect book dosen't exist. You will always find mistakes in book or unclear topics.
But this CCNA study guide from Todd Lammle was really enjoyable to read, clear on an overall point of view, and efficient (I did it with 974/1000 successfull.) And the exam test provided and chapter review questions though different from the exam question were undoubtly very usefull to prepare the exam. Good luck ! ;)
Rating:
Summary: Complete reference for the exam and to review
Review: I think is a complete reference to pass the Cisco's Exam and reviewing your concepts.
You have virtual labs to configure different scenarios, and try many things. Nothing happen if you add a wrong line. And you can change easily everything.
You will have the entire book in electronic format and many other sources to learn in your computer.
But the exam version is not the last one. You can check in Cisco's site. However, the book is almoust complete.
Rating:
Summary: That makes two
Review: I used the 640-407 Study Guide by Todd Lammle, and passed the first time with a 897. Almost two years later and with the 640-507 Study Guide, by you guessed it, I passed with a 967. I don't work on Cisco routers, but need an understanding of what they are capable of because we use them in our network. I only say this to show that you can pass with this study guide even with no hands on. I highly recommend the Virtual Lab if you can't get your hands on the real thing. Be careful in answering the questions in the book, because not all commands that are valid will work on the simulator. Also, work all the questions, even the Appendix.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book - the CD's are worth the price alone!
Review: I used this book ONLY and passed the CCNA test on the first try...that is what counts for me. I am a true 'newbie' and had NO experience with Cisco or routing. The book was well layed out, easy to read, and obviously gave me the right knowledge to pass the test the first time. The network simulator was invaluable, I don't think I would have passed without it. Not having access to a router, and no experience, the simulator really made the concepts in the book sink in for me. Plus, knowing the comands is a must, and using the simulator made that 100 times easier than just sitting there looking at them in a book.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the money in my opinion
Review: I used this book ONLY and passed the CCNA test on the first try...that is what counts for me. I am a true 'newbie' and had NO experience with Cisco or routing. The book was well layed out, easy to read, and obviously gave me the right knowledge to pass the test the first time. I do ,however, think a bit more time should have been given to ISDN and Frame Relay...but that is really my only gripe.
The network simulator was invaluable, I don't think I would have passed without it. Not having access to a router, and no experience, the simulator really made the concepts in the book sink in for me. Plus, knowing the comands is a must, and using the simulator made that 100 times easier than just sitting there looking at them in a book.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect for the exam
Review: I'm sure you can pass the CCNA with this book even without any Cisco experiences as long as you read it through from cover to back. I passed CCNA with 956/1000 on my first try. But be careful, still a couple of typos and mistakes in the deluxe edition.The simulator lab is also helpful for the newbie, but cannot do every command you want. Good lock.
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