Rating: 
Summary: Not good enough.....
Review: If anyone out there thinks they can buy this book and expect to pass, think again. The NEW(august 7) ccie exam is MUCH MUCH harder than the previous exam and goes into much greater depth. This book is good for a ccnp, definitely not good for a CCIE. The stuff here is just rewritten stuff from the CCO. Save yourself some money and use the CCO links instead.
There are good quality cisco press books out there to prepare for CCIE, this sadly isn't one of them.
Rating: 
Summary: disbelief in what most reviewers are saying
Review: Listen up. Any certification you can get by reading one book is not saying much about the exam, unless the text is very thick (in the case of the CCIE written exam). Passing the CCIE written, and then the lab, should say something about where you are in your understanding of internetworking and the use of the Cisco IOS and gear. This book is a guide that was more like a 'table of contents' for what could be on the exam - most of the practice questions are too easy and the material lacks necessary content and depth. Anyone who is a serious CCIE candidate should be plowing through the CCIE exam blueprint reference materials (listed on the web site) and other well-known texts to pass the written exam. What it takes to pass the lab is also well documented.
Rating: 
Summary: New Test, ---- Old & Error Ridden Book
Review: New Material in the CCIE Test is not covered by this book. The Book stresses the old test materials. Furthermore, I found multiple places where erroneous information will mislead you and if you accept the facts as written, will lead to a failing score. Best example is the coverage of multicast. The book explains the reports versus querys completly backwards.
Rating: 
Summary: Will closely track exam content.
Review: No book by its self can possibly prepare someone for the CCIE Exam, if there was such a book it would be several thousand pages. But what this book does provide is a detailed outline of exam topics, intoducing you to each topic and providing info at the end of each chapter on were to find out the details. After checking with Cisco Press and looking at the New Exam blueprint this book touches on all the topics listed on the blueprint. A great place to start preparing for the new R&S exam or as a final brush up. This book along with the Doyle books, the CCIE LAN Switching and the Halibi BGP book and your all set.
Rating:
Summary: Not up to CCIE standard
Review: Sorry Cisco I love your stuff but this book falls well below the standard I would expect from one of your publications. I'm a CCIE I passed my lab Jan 2001 and took my recertification 2 years ago in IP routing. My job has changed a little since then and I no longer have as much routing exposure as I used too I'm now all LAN at a large datacenter and some OSPF. Anyway I got this book to help me with my second recert, I wanted a quick read it once and pass it guide. Well with the CCIE its just not possible, sorry but its simply not that type of certification not even the written you need to know this stuff DEEP, no shortcuts IMHO.
This book promises a lot but simply does not live up to it, as a CCIE I used this book to take my recert and failed. So I hit the real books, the one's that got me through the exam and lab 6 years ago, TCP/IP Volume 1 and now Volume 2 by Jeff Doyle, Lan switching for CCIE's, and Internet routing architectures from Halibi (BGP is also covered in the Doyle V2 book now), and passed the written exam with a 93%. I would also add a Cisco specific QoS book to the reading list as well for the 350-001 exam as there was a lot of QoS in the exam and Doyle does not cover it.
The titles above brought a lot stuff flooding back to me, stuff I forgot and stuff that the certification guides like this one were not able to restore from my memory.
Believe me there are no shortcuts to getting this I should know it cost me over $300 for the exam and 160 bucks on 2 certification books to find that out, oh yeah this also applies to the flash card book for the CCIE written also available from Cisco.
Positives are that the book does have a good general coverage of the subjects for day to day referance but no where near deep enougth and links to websites with the rest of the info you need but with this book and the flashcard book alone your not going to pass this the written exam. Its way to deep an exam for that save your money and get the Doyle books.
Rating:
Summary: Second Edition addresses many of the below issues
Review: The CCIE Routing and Switching Exam Certification Guide (ISBN 1-58720-053-8) is the Cisco Press official exam guide for the written portion of the Cisco CCIE Routing and Switching Exam. The Guide was written by A. Anthony Bruno who is a CCIE (No. 2738). This guide was written in 2003 and addresses the current exam blueprint as given by Cisco for preparation of the written exam. In order to become a CCIE, candidates must pass both a written exam and a practical (lab) exam. The lab portion cannot be attempted until the written is passed. This book focuses on outlining for the reader the objectives for the written exam and then proceeding to tackle each objective in an orderly and sensible method. The book begins by providing and description of the CCIE certification and then forms and outline of the objectives with an extremely handy reference to the appropriate chapter that addresses each objective. This helps during reviewing of the objectives by allowing the reader to quickly locate the subject in the book saving precious time that each CCIE candidate tends to appreciate more than anyone.
Each chapter begins with a "Do I Know This Already" Quiz so that the reader can check on his knowledge of the chapter's material prior to reading the chapter. Performing well on the quiz will allow the reader to "skim" the chapter or skip it altogether (though I strongly recommend at least skimming the chapter as you never know what extra piece of information you might get that may help you on the test). This is another time saving idea that has been used successfully before in many other Cisco Press Exam Certification Guides. The Chapter then provides the material in a way that allows the reader to focus on items that are likely to be exam related. Each topic is presented with plenty of illustrations and examples so that the reader can get a good understanding of the topic and see how it might be used in real applications of the technology. Each example and illustration is clearly laid out and detailed. Each chapter continues with a summary of the chapter consisting of the most important and exam related items of the chapter. Finally, a Q & A section completes the chapter providing a bank of questions related to the chapter just completed. Answers and explanations to the question are provided in an Appendix section at the end of the book.
Lastly, the book comes with companion CD-ROM with a practice test consisting of over 200 practice questions. This test is customizable to allow the reader to focus on those topics that require more attention.
The CCIE Routing and Switching Exam Certification Guide is a well written and concise book providing the reader with the necessary information to guide the reader to a successful attempt at the CCIE written exam. A. Anthony Bruno does a wonderful job in attacking each exam objective in enough detail and examples to provide the reader with the foundation required for this difficult test. I would rate this a definite 5 out of 5 and would recommend that anyone serious about taking the CCIE written exam add this valuable book to their library.
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Summary: A complete waste of money
Review: The entire coverage of OSPF consists of only 25 pages, a fraction of one chapter. Bruno only spends half of one page going over the various OSPF LSA types. This is the sort of inadequate coverage which exists for every topic in the book. Don't take my word for this. Browse thru a copy at your local [store] and see for yourself. That's what I should have done, but my recert date was coming up, I was in a hurry to get back on the road, saw the CCIE number behind the author's name, and purchased a copy thinking how bad could the book be? Well, now I know the answer to that question. As a CCNA, CCNP, CCIE, and someone who has passed a CCIE Recert exam, I would strongly recommend that you _NOT_ buy this book. There is no excuse for Bruno, a fellow CCIE with a relatively low number, to keep quiet while his book is being sold (check the front cover) as the "official" prep guide for the R & S written exam. One wonders why Bruno didn't use Doyle's excellent books as a guide to how a CCIE prep book should be written. I disagree with those reviewers who are excusing the inadequacies of this book by arguing that no one book could prepare you for the CCIE written. I think one book could, it just hasn't being written yet. Until it is, let's all agree to stop making excuses for inadequate, over-priced, books such as this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Apparently You Just Don't Understand
Review: The funny thing that I'm seeing here is that there are folks out there who actually think that they can buy a book and go get their CCIE. Get with the program here everyone, the CCIE isn't the chump paper cert you are used to getting. You have to know what you are doing, and you have to know it well. This should be one of MANY books that you read, coupled with hundreds of hours of hands on experience. If you are looking for a single source for the exam, then you don't deserve to pass. The book is slightly dated with the new exam, but still quite useful.
Rating:
Summary: Far from all you need for the written...
Review: The idea was good, but the execution falls short. The coverage of technologies is just not deep enough. You still have to buy several books to come even close to attaining the knowledge you need to pass the CCIE written exam. For a deeper coverage of IP routing protocols check out "Cisco IOS for IP Routing" by Andrew Colton. That book should give you enough information on most modern routing protocols (RIP, EIGRP, OSPF, IS-IS, and BGP) to pass the test.
Rating:
Summary: New Exam is NOT New! Same Material, New Question Pool
Review: The new exam is NOT new, they just rewrote the questions. The material is the same, YES it still has Token Ring and YES you still need to know RIF fields. Go to the Cisco web site find the truth. Never listen to 'rumor'. This book follows the exam better than any other exam. It is a little light on the token ring side but maybe that is because Cisco will have less questions on it, I hope. This book is the way to go and many people that passed it agree with me (at Networkers).
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