Rating: 
Summary: Not a good study guide
Review: I must admit I was also disappointed by this book. The material does not reflect the changes in the PMP certification exam, even though the author refers to the fact that the exam has changed. Minor detail, but there were a number of typographical errors, which is unacceptable to me for a professional publication.Two of the most aggravating points for me: 1. There were a number of "practice questions", with descriptive answers. However, the answers frequently didn't answer what I felt were the most important questions, such as "why was the option I chose incorrect?" Often, it seemed like the description didn't even explain why the correct answer was correct. 2. There is a full practice exam in the book, but then the reasons for those answers are not described, there is only an answer key. 3. I haven't taken the exam yet, so I can't say if this is accurate, but there were an inordinate number of questions with the answer "all of the above". Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book at all. Rita Mulcahey's books provided more helpful information in the first 10 pages.
Rating: 
Summary: Some chapters good, not up to date, missing information
Review: I purchased this book to consider as a resource for a PMP study group. It does not cover PMBOK 2000, it covers the older version. The book does not cover all the knowledge areas even for the old version. Our reviewers felt that some chapters and explanations were good but some were clearly missing key points. We dicovered that the review questions were taken virtually word for word from another book. Our study group decided to go with 2 different books instead of this one.
Rating:
Summary: Review
Review: I started out with this book but soon had a sense it was not what I needed to properly prepare to become a PMP. And I was right! It's far too rigorous and lacks adequate emphasis on PMBOK, situational questions, and does not address the Integration knowledge area. I cannot imagine anyone passing the exam with this guide as the sole resource.
Rating: 
Summary: Self-study your way to passing the PMP exam with this book.
Review: I studied the contents of this book from cover to cover during my successful first attempt at the 2003 PMP exam. My primary study tools for the 2003 PMP exam included ISBN 1-880410-81-8, 1-880410-23-0 and this book. For subjects that required detail study, I used ISBN 0-471-39342-8. Without getting into extreme detail, this book does a great job of covering the breadth of material addressed on the exam. It also works as an assessment and testing tool by helping the reader to determine his level of knowledge on the various subjects. In comparison to this book, I found ISBN 0-471-39554-4 completely unuseful during self-study, because answers to exercises are provided only through an instructor's guide, which, after several phone calls, I detemined was not available to self-study candidates. Thank goodness the author provided testing tools as part of the text. I took advantage of the practice exams over and over again during study and prior to taking the exam.
Rating:
Summary: Don't use this book to study for the exam.
Review: I was very dissapointed with this book. The entire PMBOK was updated in 2000, this book was published in the late 90s, and did not reflect new methodology. Check the publish dates here and see for yourself. Many chapters, like the chapter on Risk, were entirely incorrect. Nothing was more frustrating that spending a lot of time studying material that you later find is incorrect. This book should be pulled from the shelves as it provides users with incorrect information. I'm also disappointed by the bogus reviews here. This book's information is substantially outdated and cannot be effective. The sample questions in the back were especially bad. They were plagarized word-for-word from old PMI publications, and the answers were often incredibly incorrect. Even worse, the memorization based nature of the questions in this book were entirely different than the situational based questions in the exam, and provided no preparation value. If you're studying for the test, don't waste your time with this, spend the money and get the Rita's exam prep book, it's incredibly expensive, but worth the money. If you want some basic project information for the fun of it, this book has some value.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent partner
Review: Michael Newell's book is an excellent partner to the PMBOK, from PMI, to help you in preparing to write the PMP exam. Even if you are not a candidate for the PMP you should acquire this book as a reference companion. It explains key concepts, tools and techniques in clear english with supporting diagrams and stories. It is structured around the PMI PMBOK knowledge areas but focusses on the techniques rather than the processes. Dip into it to clarify such things as the Crawford Slip technique, for a clear explanation of Earned Value or the Precedence Diagramming Method. This book pulls together in one place explanations of the techniques project practitioners should be using. To assist in preparing for the PMP nearly half of the book relates to sample questions to test yourself, or use in a study group, and then debate why the right answer is the best answer! The bibliography provides ideas of further specialist books that you can refer to. Remember, a single book cannot give you everything for the PMP preparation, but this book is a MUST to help you put the techniques into perspective and to learn their method and theory.
Rating:
Summary: Skip This One....
Review: Other reviewers have noted various errors in the book. I'll add my two cents worth on this topic as well: on page #99 and #100 of the book Mr. Newell attempts to explain Stern Stewart & Company's EVA (Economic Value Added) equation. I have no idea where he came up with his definition and calculation, but it is absolutely wrong. First, EVA does not use the dividend rate to compute the cost of equity (in fact, I don't know of anyone who uses the "dividend discount" model to compute equity costs). Secondly, he completely ignores the after-tax rate of debt to calculate the cost of capital. I can go on-and-on about the oversights and weaknesses of his EVA discussion; however, in combination with the other errors and ommissions mentioned by a number of other reviewers, I'd say there is more than enough reason to take a "pass" on this book. Overall grade: D/D-
Rating:
Summary: Better insight than the PMBOK
Review: Thank you, Mike Newell, for getting me through the PMP exam! I passed on the first try, scoring more than 80%. I used this book plus the '96 PMBOK to study for the exam. Neither book is adequate preparation alone. Newell seems to have taken a strategy of complementing the PMBOK rather than replacing it. After some experimenting, my study approach was:
1. Read a chapter of Newell to understand the topic
2. Read the corresponding chapter in the PMBOK for the data in sparse form
3. Do Newell's practice questions for the chapter I bought the book for the practice questions (he provides two sets), and that turned out to be an important part of my study. To me, it was a bonus that I could understand Newell's discussions better than the overly terse PMBOK. Make no mistake, the PMBOK is about laying out a systematic organization in 37 "knowledge areas," 5 "process groups," etc. It is neat and highly structured, but not intuitive. I needed the insights I got from this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful prep guide for PMP exam!
Review: Thanx to the author, I passed with more than 81% in my first attempt! The concepts in this book are neither complete nor concrete about project mgmt. It just looked like, the author is trying to fill the gaps in PMBoK, where ever more detail is needed. One ultimate prep info is the bulk of questions, nowhere else you can find! Even about the questions, take them only for your practice and try to understand the concepts from these questions. Questions in the actual test are much more plain and straight forward than presented here. My last word is, first read PMBoK, then this book and try to consolidate the knowledge. FYI, I've never got a chance to look at Rita's book.
Rating: 
Summary: There are better study guides
Review: The sample questions in this book are very badly written and not representative of what is actually on the exam. Rita Mulcahy's book is much, much better. Rita's sample questions are closer to the actual exam questions and her book is easier to read. Buy Rita Mulcahy's book and skip this one!
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