Rating: 
Summary: Good Certification Book on 2003
Review: After reading this book, I was not surpised of its quality from the authoring team assigned. This book, although thin, is jam packed with what you need to know to pass the 70-291 exam for Windows Server 2003. For those looking to brush up on what you need to know for the exam, this is the book to use. Looking forward to the rest of the 2003 series of certification exam guides from this publisher.
Rating: 
Summary: A review of the reviews
Review: An outstanding certification guide. Lots of examples and thoroughly goes over every topic in the 70-291 exam. Moves over each topic clearly and in a way that is easy to understand and implement. A must have for anyone preparing to test.
Rating:
Summary: #1 Test Prep Resource
Review: An outstanding certification guide. Lots of examples and thoroughly goes over every topic in the 70-291 exam. Moves over each topic clearly and in a way that is easy to understand and implement. A must have for anyone preparing to test.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Ordinary Indeed
Review: Firstly, I don't know where the 800 pages are in this book! I ordered this exact book from this exact web page, and my copy has 593 pages including all the Que Publishing adverts at the back.
I'm not quite at the end of chapter 2 in this book and I've just ordered the Sybex equivalent to work from instead. The writing style of the author/s is unclear and leaves a lot to presumption of the reader. The layout of the book is hard to follow, with exam tips and important notes displayed in boxes in the left and right margins, instead of being placed amongst the main paragraphs where the information is relevant to what you are reading at the time.
Added to that there have been numerous typos and errors already (up to page 87), including vital errors that can leave you very confused. An example being: The book states at one stage that 255.255.224.0 is a 27 bit subnet mask when in fact it's a 19 bit subnet mask. This statement causes great confusion when you are right in the middle of learning IP addressing and VSLM's. To me, this kind of error is inexcusable.
Although the Sybex books aren't perfect (have used 70-290 & 70-210) I've found so far that they are much easier to follow, better laid out and a little less prone to errors. These mixed with the Exam Cram 2 books seem to be the best route I've found so far.
The only reason I tried this particular book was because I was so impressed with Que Publishing's Exam Cram 2 series that I thought their Core Training Guide's would be equally as good. I was wrong.
With a lot of study and some hands on experience, you can pass the exams. The less hands on experience you have, the more you have to study. The hardest part is finding the right literature to study from. Good luck!
Rating:
Summary: Can't get much better than this.
Review: I looked through a couple of other books at my local bookseller and decided on this one as the winner. Ordered it and it came a few days later from Amazon. This book is great, I can't really put it any simpler than that. It's concise and straight to the point, but still gives you some extra information above and beyond the exam that makes it a good read and a good reference. This was my second MCP exam (I took 70-290 a few weeks ago) and it was a painless experience thanks to the great material in this book. Thanks guys, you rock!
Rating:
Summary: A review of the reviews
Review: Interesting that so far all the reviews for this 800-page study guide were posted within a month after the book's publication date; all give glowing, five-star endorsements; and all are written in a very similar writing style.
Rating:
Summary: Concice and comprehensive coverage
Review: Just getting started on the MCSE on Windows Server 2003 track, there was some question as to what book to choose from. This was settled for me by having this concise guide readily available. The authoring team has done a great job of taking all of the objectives and breaking them down in to manageable chunks that are then easily presented and easily understood.I opted to skip the 70-290 exam for now and start out with this exam as my first ever--and I think it was a good move. This book, combined with my test lab, was all it took to get that pass. The end of chapter questions and the practice exam at the end of the book were good checkpoints for me to verfiy my mastering of the facts. Although the questions were not always perfectly similar to those on the actual exam, they were relevant and important. I especially liked the Fast Facts, which provided me with a quick review in the hours before my exam--this seems to be something that is missing from a lot of study guides I had seen previously. I am glad I picked this guide (on pure instinct) and will continue to use the Que lineup for the rest of my MCSE 2003 exams. I did notice some (maybe 5 or 6) minor typographic and grammatical errors, but none that really made any importance. Overall, I would say this book is a sure fire winner that combined with experience should make your exam day and easy and happy one!
Rating:
Summary: Examples galore and excellent quick source
Review: Just what I needed at a smart price. Hey when you have 7 exams and need to buy 7 books you know what I'm talking about - a good book without feeling your heart drop while your soul gets sucked out of you and the other side of your brain is saying your wasting $$$. This fit the ticket, fit the budget and gave me exactly what I needed and it was a darn good book at that. Anyhow, I just love browsing tech. books at stores, especially those on certification before taking an exam and one that can carry itself even after the cert exam as a quick guide. Passed the criteria again. It offered a quick read to what you need, plenty of exam tips, notes and scenarios for the exam. One feature I really enjoyed - snapshots and diagrams. I just bypass books that don't have them. Again, provided what I needed especially when reading while on the plane or off site. Good step-by-step examples. Another feature I liked were the answers on the back to the practice tests and fast facts. I've run across books that either didn't have them or placed them shortly after the test. This book forces me to think and not get too lazy. In summary: It's concise, non-confusing, and a very well designed book to get you.
Rating:
Summary: Examples galore and excellent quick source
Review: Just what I needed at a smart price. Hey when you have 7 exams and need to buy 7 books you know what I'm talking about - a good book without feeling your heart drop while your soul gets sucked out of you and the other side of your brain is saying your wasting $$$. This fit the ticket, fit the budget and gave me exactly what I needed and it was a darn good book at that. Anyhow, I just love browsing tech. books at stores, especially those on certification before taking an exam and one that can carry itself even after the cert exam as a quick guide. Passed the criteria again. It offered a quick read to what you need, plenty of exam tips, notes and scenarios for the exam. One feature I really enjoyed - snapshots and diagrams. I just bypass books that don't have them. Again, provided what I needed especially when reading while on the plane or off site. Good step-by-step examples. Another feature I liked were the answers on the back to the practice tests and fast facts. I've run across books that either didn't have them or placed them shortly after the test. This book forces me to think and not get too lazy. In summary: It's concise, non-confusing, and a very well designed book to get you.
Rating:
Summary: The *must have* book.
Review: Quite simply, I was blown away at the quality and structure of this title! The authors & editors have created more than a great study guide for 70-291. Easy to read, lots of good hands on labs and real world advise. Because it is such and easy read, it susprised me how much data was packed in. Further if an area of specific interest isn't covered well enough for a particular reader, it has great references for further study. The bottom line is this is more than a study guide. It is also a great reference work as well as a good way to learn Windows 2003. I strongly encourage professional of *any* level who need to know TCP/IP or Windows 2003 to get this book and keep it close by at all times. Candidates for CompTIA A+ and Network+ would be well advised to at least read the book. The coverage of TCP/IP is done with amazing simplicity for such a complex topic.
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