Certification Books

I found the kit to be a very good bargain and extremely helpful in my study for the exam especially the street smarts portion for everyday usage in the field.

I highly recommend this study kit, along with taking several practice exams online, to pass the test. The first two books are excellent, even for those who are completely unfamiliar with networking.

I think most people would agree that certification books are supposed to do one thing, and that's helping you pass the test that it covers. I studied the study guide and fast pass books for two months and was able to pass the test comfortably on my first try. I definitely recommend this to anyone who is planning on taking the test in the next few months. The third hasn't really been used yet, but it's more of an application type book that the test doesn't cover. I gave the review four stars because I really feel like the book could've been proofread a few more times, as there are MANY typos. Definitely get this book if you want to start your IT career track off right!

I bought this as Sybex tends to have very good reference books. This was my only Network+ study guide (I have used other guides in the past for learning networking, but that was more on protocols and actual function of networks, not the practical work side of networking like the Network+ test covers). This was a great guide, very impressed with it. I passed the test, it was rather close, but that was mainly because I didn't read much into the Mac, Novell Netware or Windows 2000 Server sections, cause I saw no point, being that they are kinda rare anymore. Apparently the test thought otherwise, so that was a bit rough. All in all, this was a great way to pass the exam in one package, if you are good at learning on your own of course. Haven't really got into the Street Smarts book, but the little bit I've read seems really good.

This cert kit definitely helped me pass the Net+ exam. The combination of text, flashcards, and practice tests makes for a diverse and effective preperation. The books will also be good resources to have on hand in the future. However, if you want to save some time and money all you really need to pass is the main book, Network+(r) Study Guide: Exam N10-003, 4th Edition. The other two books included in this kit (Fast Pass and Street Smarts) are kind of redundant. I reccommend buying the Study Guide by itself if you're low on funds. If you couple that book with some extra online test questions that can be purchased at sybextestsuccess.com as well as the free ExamCram test engine from the CompTIA site, then you should have enough resources to pass at the right price. I did encounter some questions on the exam that were not covered in the resources I mentioned. If I had to do it over I would probably download the latest test objectives and google anything that was not covered in the study guides (making sure that the info I got was from reputable sites). Overall, this cert kit is useful and helped me pass the exam.

Make sure you read this book thorough enough. Supplement with DB2 for dummies you should be ok. I have read both version 6.1 and 7.1, i felt 6.1 has more important information than 7.1. Also, 7.1 has more incorrect sample questions and answers, so beware with the 7.1.

EQ

I find the book OK but there are still quite a few points which deserve a little critics. It's true that it covers more or less all the topics but I can see relativly little concepts behind it. My impression is that many parts of the book are simply copied out from the "official" documentation. Well, OK, someone made the preselection for you and presents you the "important" things, leaving out the "less important". For me, it's too little for a book which should teach you DB2 UDB. The effect is that things are used in the text which are explained much later - without referencing. The book is not really in-depth; in my eyes, it's too complicated for an introduction and too little for everyday DBA work. I am missing conceptual explanations - I can read the online documentation myself. Eg. the Oracle8 DBA books (for courses) are much better, the things are explained there in clear steps and you feel that someone was thinking deeply how to construct these steps. Compared to those Oracle books, in this sense this book really legs behind. I felt a little lost while reading it. It was only at the end of the book that many things and relations became clear to me - a little late. My conclusion: This book contains much valuable information, no question, but the structure could be better. If you are new to DB2 UDB, don't hesitate and buy this book but organize yourself also a large portion of patience. Someone stated this book be "easy to read". I can't confirm this - assuming your aim is understanding how DB2 UDB really works.

This book is a significant enhancement to the previous edition that covered DB2 UDB Version 5. The book provides good overviews of post-V5 feature additions, including DB2 Satellite Edition, Data Links Manager, the Audit Facility and Query Patroller. Recent additions to DB2 SQL, like table functions, structured types, typed tables and summary tables, are also well covered. The coverage of structured types and typed tables, some of the newer DB2 object-relational features, is particularly good.

It is rare to find so much detailed, hard technical knowledge, well presented, between the pages of a single book. Almost all of the good detail of the previous edition is preserved and added to. This edition is over 200 pages longer than its predecessor.

This book is a good complement to Don Chamberlin's excellent "A Complete Guide to DB2". It is not as easy to read (it is a study guide after all), but does provide more detail on the database administration side.

If you are studying for your IBM DB2 certification exams, or if you are or wish to become a hard-core DB2 user, this book would be a welcome addition to your library.

Considering that IBM's DB2 manuals are spread over more than 20 different books, a major obstacle for any beginner, a book like this was always needed.

This book is very well written and very useful to give you a broad overview of DB2. This book mostly includes materials already found in the manuals but in a far more concise and 'to the point' manner.

However on the minus sides of this book, adding the word certification to the title probably confuses the buyer. Most of the DB2 certifications need more knowledge then that provided by this book. From a certication point of view this book needs more in-depth coverage, examples and mock tests.

And lastly remember, at $60.00 (well $59.99, but that doesn't fool me) it costs more than the hardcopy manuals of DB2 Administration v7.0 (3 vols), Application developement guide v7.0, Data movement utilites guide v7.0 combined!!

This book should be your first stop if you're new to DB2, and it is a welcome addition an old pro's library. This is a worthy update from the V5 Certification Guide, both in terms of readability and additional content. DB2's product documentation has most everything you'll need day-to-day, but it is quite dense. This book helps clarify the main points and will act as a useful reference and supplement to the product documentation.

Find this book very useful in me pasing my CNE update. I used this book and Exam Essentials to pass my exam AUG 2001

Hello Readers (and to be readers)

I just wanted to make sure you are aware that this book is for the NetWare 5.0 version of the exam. When the courses and corresponding tests were composed for NetWare 5.1 there were some changes. The NetWare 5.1 Advanced Admin course and exam went through MAJOR changes. At this time, BOTH the NetWare 5.0 and 5.1 exams are available so make sure if you use this book you signup for the NetWare 5.0 version of the exam. In addition, there have been several Service Pack updates for NetWare 5.0 and none are addressed in this book since they were not available when the book was written!

For the latest on Novell exam information, check out http://www.novell.com/education and follow the certification links.

Good luck and have fun!

I was very anxious and nervous about this, but the book really helped me feel like I was prepared. It helped me see my strengths and weaknesses. It's very complete and in depth.

From page one, critical mistakes all over the book that force the user to not only question whether the entire contents are accurate but whether the author even has a CNE yet a CNA. The book doesn't follow the course objectives nor does it even mention them in the book. The practice tests have misprints and some of the answers are out-right wrong. It scares me to think that the editor is as popular as the book claims. These people are out to make a buck and did from me, but that won't happen again.

I found this book very helpful, very succinct, and to the point. It's very well organized, with good examples and thorough explanations.

The book + test software? Exellent!

This book is an excellent guide for A+. I am an instructor for A+ and i saw one of my students reading this book. I looked it over and it explained stuff so clearly. It was like you dont even have to take a class for it. All you need is this book. Thats it.

Did I mention that this book is excellent? Before I read this book, I was somewhat knowledgable on computers. Now that I have completed it, I took both the Core and DOS/Windows and scored high 600 (adaptive). I could not have made that score without this book. This book answered so many questions I had. Even if you are not going for A+ Certification, I would highly recommend this book to ANYONE who wants to know what makes a computer "tick". The CD is nice, although the questions on the practice test seem a bit outdated. 4 stars for the CD

The testing software in this package is great - I used it extensively after studying for my A+ exams to help me realize where I needed more work. The test engine generates a variety of adaptive or regular tests and includes information about the difficulty of the questions and the areas you missed when you get your score. It also allows you to review each wrong answer and it provides a paragraph or so on why th answer was wrong or right.

The rest of the software was basically an online version of the Exam Cram book. I thought the book was fine, but I used Meyers' All-in-One A+ certification Exam Guide instead. I thought the material was much better, the illustrations were mor helpful, and it better covered the material for the two exams. I don't think an exam cram book can effectively cover all the material for both exams - maybe one, but not both.

Ever priced out formalized technical training and taken a good hard look at the cost of the classes? Coriolis has done just that and what they come up with is the A+ Exam Cram Personal Trainer, under( ), less that half the cost one exam and you have an A+ dream come true.

The book, A+ Exam Cram, a bestseller, and a cd-rom make up this quick and easy, down and dirty training package. The book is small but don't let that fool you, it's packed with the right information for passing the A+ exams.

The cd-rom is loaded with over 300 questions to give you enough practice questions to make sure you have the best possible chance of passing the exams. Each question is linked to an Exam Cram lesson for reference in case you have trouble understanding the concept.

The install of the cd-rom software was easy and no major complications were encountered. There is also an audio review ion the cd-rom so you can listen while you work or learn. Also if you register online you get free updates, and free is always a good thing.

The testing format is in several options, from adaptive, to fixed length, random, lesson specific review and test all. Once again Coriolis is heading up the pack to make sure your certification is in good hands.

Combined with the Exam Cram this is the best wyou will get on the MF 1.8 Exam!

I purchased this book in order to prepare for certification. Granted, a bit of industry experience does indeed help with any exam, we all know that exam providers love to nit-pick on the smallest details, and this book will get you there. It is exceptionally laid out, (I would recommend not paying attention to Dustin, as I don't think he gave this book a decent go at it).

Trefil explains each concept clearly and concisely. I was not left with many questions that I was not able to figure out with a bit more digging, (usually within her book).

Yes, there are a few mistakes and mismatches here and there, but I challenge anyone out there to find a tech-book, or certification guide for that matter, that is error free! They don't exist.

All in all, I was very satisfied with the information this book supplies. I was able to successfully pass the certification and I have the author to thank!

While this book has mostly accurate information, the presentation and editing is absolutely horrible. I have never seen so many grammar and spelling mistakes in a technical reference nor have I ever seen such bad presentation. Many of the review and assessment questions were badly worded, and the editors made the mistake of placing the wrong answer key with several groups of questions. This is unacceptable in a certification training manual and especially one of this price. For clarity and ease of understanding anyone wanting to learn Citrix Metaframe 1.8 is much better off going with the Exam Cram on the subject. This book breaks a great rule of technology workers. Technical mastery doesn't mean anything if you can't communicate effectively.

I purchased this book in preparation for Citrix® MetaFrame 1.8 / 2000 Certification Exam. The real world experience and hands on knowledge is evident of the author. The presentation of the material is superior. Laura has unique ability to transfer the knowledge precisely in a well written format. I would recommend this book to anyone preparing for the exam.

I read this book, took the exam and passed with great numbers, It explains all real world experience. The CD which came with the book had best practice exams and also the good explanation. Use it you will like it.

It's true, this book will not single-handedly make you pass the A+ exams. It's a beginner book, geared for someone who is just starting out studying computer hardware as a career path. It was great for my students (I teach an A+ class) because the big books were more than they could digest right off the bat. It would not be for everyone though. I'd say if you are already a working PC technician, with a good knowledge of hardware, pick a more advanced book. But if you are just curious about repairing computers, or you don't have a whole lot of experience yet and need to ramp up slowly, definitely go with this one.

Someone commented on errors in the book, but I think every book has an error or two in it. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. This book has tons of good information in it, and is at least 99.9% accurate.

This book is a good start toward learning the basics of a PC, but this book will not help you pass the A+ test. Now that is out of the way, it does give a good description of what a motherboard looks like, what buses look like and how they work.
The book does give you some good pictures of how to put memory on a motherboard, and it does have some good points in this book. One of them has to do with the new words that most people don't know what they mean, for example, like what TCP/IP does and what it stands for. It also shows you the command lines like what FDISK does, the basic boot process, basic networking, basic troubleshooting, and just about basic problems you will run into a as a technician. The thing I don't like about this book is that it does not deal with the more technicial detail like the Power On Self Test, the FRU, how the IRQ's work, how to troubleshoot advanced problems; hardware and software. The book is short, and it will help you get the basic technicial skills. Not the best since I am a certified PC Technician, but for anyone who wants to learn how a computer works, then get this book. This book is not for the person who has years of experience, and know what they are doing. So to the beginners who want technicial skills, get this book. It will really help you get a good grasp on computers.

Studying for the A+ Cert Exam? Start with this book definetely. Everything is well written and easy to understand. Wished more books were written like this. Then from here go to the Michael Myers Book. Good luck!!!

This is not the only book you'll need to study for the A+ exams, but it's definitely the first book you should read if you don't have much background in PC hardware yet. It lays out the basics for every exam objective in language that anyone can understand. If you would like to get A+ certified but you find those big 1000-page books intimidating and confusing, try this book first. After you read it, the bigger books will make much more sense.

The A+ jumpstart professes to be an introduction to the basic info you'll need to know for your A+ exam. If you don't know what the A+ exam is, this book will tell you, and even if you arent interested in getting certified ever, you'll learn a lot of basics about PCs. Those who are serious about getting A+ certitified however should beware and take note that this is NOT an all in one guide. For that I would reffer you to the "All in One A+ Certification Exam Guide" By Michael Meyers. So don't expect to learn it all in this one book.

What this book will do is give you a pretty good place to start if you have no idea where to begin on your quest to getting A+ certified. It tries to "jumpstart" you, by giving you the basic run down of many key concepts and facts. Generally it does a pretty good job of this, but in some places it falls short.

Where? Well.. it's tough to write a book at this level. In some places the book tells you stuff that is so basic it's almost common sense, and in other instances the book assumes you already know things that many people may not (such as the fact computers use binary numbers to process and store data). It's a bit akward, and some of the more basic computing concepts are ignored, it's difficult to tell whether they were left out by chance, or were left out because the author considered them "advanced" and unnecessary to begin with.

The book also has a habit of asking you to remember stuff it never talked about. It will say things like "remember when you learned such and such from chapter 2" when in reality chapter 2 only made a passing comment about what it's reffering to. It almost seems at times as if the book is a chopped down version of an all in one, more coprehensive book. But this doesnt detract too much from the over all experience.

I did notice one major typo on page 98... In the paragraph it says "with 16 bit color you get 256 colors"... then in the table right below it, it clearly shows 16 bit color as having 65,536 colors. It's a good thing I already understood color depth enough to notice the mistake and know which was correct (the table). Many introductary tech books dont get enough attention from the editors, and I could just imagine how confusing this may be to someone who didnt already know about color depth. Come on guys, do better editing!

Yet still, the book is a pretty good place to start if you're looing into A+ cert and don't know where to begin and want a quick overview or intro. But I would strongly suggest Mike Meyer's book as a second step or to anyone REALLY serious about A+ Cert.

***
As an update to this review I've come across another MAJOR informational error in this book. The chapter on memory is COMPLETELY WRONG. It claims that to fill a bank of memory the bit width must match that of the CPU's address bus... when this is clearly INCORRECT. In fact, what they mean to say is the EXTERNAL DATA bus (big dif). This isn't a one-time typographical mistake either, but is repeated through the ENTIRE chapter. Why didnt the editor/fact checkers notice this BLATANT error!

This, combined with other smaller errors I noticed is enough to make me completely loose all confidence in any of the facts in this book. Consequently I can no longer reccomend this book as a study tool because you may be learning/studying the WRONG INFORMATION! This is unacceptable for a book that people are going to buy to help them prepare for a professional certification exam. This is no small deal since the test can cost over 300 dollars to take, and learning the wrong information early on can really hurt someone's understanding, especially beginners who will just end up being very confused by conflicting facts when they move on to other books.

What good is a book that is meant to help you learn, when you cant trust any of the facts it gives you? Unless you want to read this book while sitting online so that you can double check every number, figure or definition it gives you... avoid this book. Im very disapointed to be forced to change my rating from 4 stars, to 2 stars based on this experience.

I ordered this book to prepare for the CMA exam and am happy to say I passed it! This book is concise and covers every area of study in the medical assistant's job position. I enjoyed the book's sample tests at the end of each chapter, at the end of the book, and on the cd-rom. Super fun way to go over what can be rigorous material. Beautifully done!

Very detailed and precise, yet easy to understand information. Highly recommend it to anyone preparing to take the CMA or RMA exams. I passed my RMA exam with a high score. If you want to pass those exams, get this book! I commend the authors, they know what MA students need to know to pass those tests.

I've just completed my RMA certification exam with a score of 97% and now have a great job as a Medical Assistant.I can honestly say that I attribute my success to having read and carefully studied this review book. Read all the material and complete each section of practice questions and you too will be on your way to success. The bonus CD with simulated exams was an extremely beneficial study tool. Use this book to study and your goal of RMA/CMA is easily reachable.

This is a great book for anyone preparing to take a medical assisting exam! The lay out is great and makes studying much easier. I was able to get through the whole book in a week and feel confident going into the exam. The only thing that I didn't love was the CD ROM. It only has one practice exam on it for both test types. It would have been more helpful to have a couple different exams, better preparing you for the exam.

This book made it possible for me to pass the test. I highly recommend it. It's thorough and easy to work. It was so helpful and I was confident when I walked into the exam room. Thank you and kudos to the authors!

I was taking 70-306 exam, helped by this book. This is the best reference, it covers everything and the tests are brilliant - they help you a lot. But this book is not for beginners in VB.NET, you should know VB.NET before starting reading this book.
{MCAD/MCSD Visual Basic(r) .NET(tm) Windows(r) Applications Study Guide (Exam 70-306) (Paperback) by David Panagrosso (Author), Kenneth Lind (Author), Larry Chambers (Author), Lyle A. Bryant (Author)} is for beginners, but it doesn't help you to pass the exam.
I sincerely recommend this Exam Cram to everybody how wants to pass 70-306 exam.

As it claims itself, this book is not meant to teach you anything new. It is just meant for preparing you to pass the exam. Actually I feel that this book is a summarized version of Mike Gunderloy 's book on 70-306. If you want to learn, then you should go for that book. But if you aleady know the stuff and you just want to pass the exam, then this is the book for you. I did the same. I am an experience professional and I did not need to learn new things on Topics related to this exam, so I just read this book and passed.
The real good thing about this book is the 2 sample tests that are given at the end of the book. The total questions are 120 and to my amazement, I got almost 80-90 % similar questions in my exam.
So the bottom line is that if you already know the stuff and just want to prepare yourself typically for the exam, this is your book. But beware, U MUST KNOW THE TOPICS RELATED TO THIS EXAM ALREADY.

If you're taking the 70-306, this Cram is a must. It covers a LOT, much better than other Crams I've used (SQL Server 7, VB6, Windows 2000). I have an MCSD and MCDBA and am now going for MCSD.NET, so I've been through the ringer of books and prep software... this Cram is a winner. Read it ALL and do all the practice questions and you will be way ahead (no one book does it all). I did pass this morning with a 900, so I was quite eager to let folks know how much THIS Exam Cram book helped.

In fact, the examples in the book are a great reference when starting to build your library of procedure samples for VB.Net.

I passed 70-306 by using this book and the Transcender practice tests. I would not recommend this approach if you have never programmed Visual Basic before. I have been programming Visual Basic 6 for about 3 years and started with this test because I was comfortable with windows programming and Visual Basic. Please do not use this book to learn VB.NET since it really only covers the material necessary for passing the exam.

I believe this book will teach you enough to pass the exam, but I think that the people who take the exams like to pass with room to spare. I would suggest some supplementary material that exposes you to what this book doesn't. That's where the Transcender tests came in for me. I used them to fill in any gaps.

I found the book easy to read. Most of the chapters are short (10 - 20 pages), easily digestible pieces, which I prefer. There are a couple of longer chapter that present a lot of information in tables, which I do not prefer. I understand that there is always going to be some memorization involved in tests like these, but I found myself having to refer back to those tables after I read them. I think programmers work that way. A table is for reference, not for memorization. I would like to see someone come up with a better way to present that kind of material.

Again, if you are new to Visual Basic and object oriented programming, do not buy this one right away. Learn more about VB.NET first and then buy this to pass the test. If you are a seasoned programmer with VB experience, get it along with practice tests. I can recommend Transcender, but then again, those are the only kind I have used.

Good luck on the exam!

This certification study-resource formed part of my revision portfolio for Exam 70-306 (Windows-based Application Development with VB.NET).

it carried its weight as a comprehensive reference for Exam 70-306. it is light on a couple of topics ie: WindowsPrincipal viz:the System.Security.Principal Namespace, XML ,Interfaces viz:the IDisposable interface and such. but all in all after reading it and more importantly after doing the 2 chapters worth of past questions at the end of the book, i felt ready for moving on to the next phase ie: tackling past questions.

what i liked about this book :
- it is a comprehensive read at 345 pages -(the 2 Testing chapters non factored)
- there are exam questions after every chapter, relating to that chapter
- there is a CD with questions set in an application that simulates the exam room scenario.
- Answers with explanations are provided with every question featured in the book.
- The CD comes with a .pdf, e-version of the book.

However, i cant impute all 5 points of credit for a successful turnout at the exam to the book alone . you'll need somthing more.

I bought the companion book authored by Mike Gunderloy from Que press ISBN: 0789728192. it made a fine addition vis-à-vis getting hands-on practise and grasping the finer programming points of the exam.

at first, I did'nt have any programming experience in the VB.NET area, i had but basic VB5.0 knowledge, ample VBA knowledge and a whole

lot of heart to learn & take this certification. So, if you are starting out and are wondering if this book is for you vis-à-vis your exam 70-306 aspirations, I'd champion the idea with but a small proviso.

depending on where you are on the previous programming-experience scale, i'd say you'd do well to buy the companion book to this

certification-study resource and go to work. no better way to learn to do with this programming language than to get stuck in. Print out the Exam Topic objectives and Delve into things Objective by objective, picking-at the hands-on labs u need , to form your quintessential knowledge & experience reserve/repertoire.

I Coupled with my reading experience: the following references, but the Mike Gunderloy sister book to this exam cert-resource was all i really needed:

- Dietels: Simple Visual Basic; ISBN 0131405535.
- Programming Visual Basic.NET; ISBN:0735613753
- 101 Visual Basic.NET Applications; ISBN:0735618917

Modus: go chapter by chapter in the ExamCram2 book doing the hands-on labs. finish these and review the sister book for anything extra u might need to know.

Delve into the other books resources, the Visual Studio help and the Web, for clarification Re: deeper topical elements.

Upon completion, move to exam past questions. downloading samples from Braindump's (133 question-set) , Transcender's (150 question set) and Testking's (114 Question set).

Finish these properly and u are set. Ace the exam's (38 questions within 160 minutes) .

For the exam ie: to pass at the exam level, u need to be able to tackle question regarding application development problem-scenarios you might meet during development . for the exam therefore, the past questions offer you scenarios to sharpen your wits about choosing the right implementation resolution within any given problem scenario. u r better prepared for the exam through it. so, u'll need to get accustomed to tackling all manner of windows-based application development problem scenarios .

this is the crunch of it.

I sat the exam just thursday gone ie:(31th August 2006); scored 90% ie: 900. The pass mark is 700 ie: 70%.

Next Stops: Completion of MCAD with (C#), MCDBA with(WinServer2K3), SCJP & SCJWCD with (J2EE).

Good luck.

cheers :-)

Now this book has 1,056 pages of study material, practice exams, and the how to apply your knowledge with step by step instructions: What else could anyone ask for? Now I would suggest a year of experience and or knowledge of DNS and domain administration to help fill in a few gaps. But overall, Que has done it again...set the bar at a higher level.

This self-study covers all the bases! Fast Facts provide a quick review prior to the test, test simulation software to prepare for the actual exam, step-by-step examples walk you through what was just explained, case studies help one see how the learned material is applied in the real world. It's not only thorough, but easy to read and understand.

I especially like that in addition to giving the correct answer to review questions, the authors also explain why the other answers aren't correct. It helped me understand the correct answer so much better! I've looked for this and no one else does it! It's probably the biggest reason why I chose this one over all others.

This is an awesome book for those with some Windows 2000 experience, but not a lot. Not only are all of the objectives covered in good detail, in many places the book steps back and gives you all of the background information that is left out of the objectives. Use this to pass the exam and as a reference as well. Very well done with no noticable errors or other problems, looks like Que has hit the nail on the head with this one.

In a sea of Microsoft Exam titles, this one stands out. After receiving this publication and reading it, I was amazed at how big the book was! It was good though because it made sure you were properly prepared for this exam. Good work on this book. You will be prepared for the exam with this one.

As I upgrade my network to Windows 2000 there are so many things I have to plan for as well as so many things to look out for when the upgrades and migration take place. What I found is that this book gives me a fairly comprehensive look into the issues and things to do and not do.

I found after reviewing the book that the book goes beyond the 70-218 MCSA exam objectives and the layout and organization of the book is excellent. There are numerous tips, tricks, notes and warnings throughout the book as well as real life case studies along with over 150 step by step hands on exercises, not including those at the end of each chapter.

Also each chapter has review and exam questions and the book has a 60 question final exam. There didn't seem to be any standout errors either grammar or technical. Also include was a cd with Exam Gear Software with over 150 practice questions, for the money I think you have been provided with more.

Overall a few minor improvements and this book would be the best on the market.

Used this book and practice exam software to pass the test first time - the material is concise and well-ordered. It also helps if you can install the eval of Exchange 2003 version in a VM to step through the procedures outlined in the book.

This book covers, in condensed format, the material tested on the Exchange 2003 exam. I wouldn't recommend this book to someone who had no experience with Exchange 2003. All books in the Cram series are for people who either have other study materials and need some sort of summary document, or for people that have extensive experience with the actual product. In my own case I had experience with Exchange 2000 and had read a few of the Exchange 2003 documents available on technet, so this guide was perfect for my preparation.

I did some research into the competition, it is interesting to note that one of the authors of this book Schmied also wrote the competing Sybex book on Exchange 2003 exam (ISBN: 0782143385). Also interesting is that one of the technical editors on this title, Willis wrote the offering from Microsoft on the Exchange 2003 exam (ISBN: 0735618992).

The accompanying CD-ROM full of practice questions are helpful in preparing for this exam. I recommend that if you do have some experience with Exchange 2003 (or have significant Exchange 2000 experience) you'll find this book pretty useful. If you are coming to this topic unprepared, you may have some success with other more indepth titles that aren't "Crams", but even with longer books you are going to struggle on test day.

Other Exam Cram books are pretty good, but this book is the exception. It is far too general and seems copied from help files. The index is limited, e.g. only one reference for global catalog, and the over author's knowledge seemed questionable when he documents requirements for a global catalog and a domain controller (page 17) and fails to realize a global catalog is a domain controller.

The quiz questions are far too generic and simplistic, e.g. what tool do you use to enable mailboxes? On the real MCSE exam, they delve into infrastructure design including routing groups vs. Active Directory site, and far reaching questions.

I couldn't really recommend this book, especially after being spoiled by official Microsoft material, such the one by Orin Thomas (ISBN 0-7356-2136-5).

This was the only book I read before taking Exam 70-284 to become MCSA: Messaging 2003 certified, and I scored an 850. The book covers the essentials that you _need_ to know, and it was helpful to go through the scenarios and actually play with the server in a Virtual PC session.

Beefs:
* not enough exam questions. This book comes with end of chapter, then end of text questions, which are at least as difficult as the exam will be -- so you better answer them correct most of the time. The CD only includes 60 questions, it would have been helpful to have more, however you can give PrepLogic money and they will give you more practice exams.
* Not enough emphasis on routing; the exam I wrote had 6 out of 30 questions on this topic.
* numerous factually incorrect situations in the text: sometimes as simple as the proof-readers missing the change from Windows 2000 -> 2003 (DOH).

All in all if you just want to pass the exam and buy just one book, get this one. If you really want to learn the software inside and out, don't count on this book as your sole source.

ExamCram books have gotten a well-deserved reputation for being lightweight and insufficient as a primary study guide. This book is an exception to that rule, however; it is much thicker (almost 500 pages) than most in its series and more comprehensive. I attribute much of that to co-author Orin Thomas, who also co-authored the Microsoft 70-292/70-296 and 70-299 Training Kits, two of the best study guides I've used yet.

This book has well-defined chapters, ~10 practice questions at the end of each chapter, two 60-question practice exams at the back of the book and a third more-detailed practice exam on CD. All practice questions have detailed explanations of why the right answer is right and why the wrong answers are wrong.

I highly recommend this book for the 70-284 exam. Don't let the fact that it's an ExamCram book scare you away, as this is a big cut above the rest of the books in that series.