Which book to buy?

Discussion in 'MCDST' started by DaveyB1981, Jan 26, 2009.

  1. DaveyB1981

    DaveyB1981 Byte Poster

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    As many of you may have seen, i failed 70-271 last week. I feel that my preparation was inadequate (read the MS press books and did some free trial exams). There seemed to be a hell of a lot in the exam that wasnt covered in the books i read. I completely understand why MS do this as they use it to show you have experience, but it would be elpful to read something that is a little closer to the exam!

    I am unsure whether to buy the Exam Cram or Sybex book... obviously what you get out of these is subjective, but can anyone give any sort of comparison between the two?

    Also, what is the best (preferably cheap!) way of getting decent exam sims? i used transcender before and found it useful but i think its a little expensive?

    Thanks in advance,

    Dave
     
    Certifications: CISMP, ITIL Fdn, MCDST
    WIP: the day job...
  2. Gingerdave

    Gingerdave Megabyte Poster

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    Dave

    In general the sybex books seem very well regarded. As for the testing software it depends on your definition of cheap; cheap now or cheap in the long run?

    I got myself a lifetime membership with the guys at Exam force who make the Cram Master software. Now by any definition it wasn't cheap as it cost me about £600 however as I have no expectation of stopping taking exams soon it works out cheap over a long run as I believe each module is working out at slightly north of £70 at the moment that investment seems quite sound as I would have to sit 9 exams for it to earn its money and I have sat 3 with it so far. The other factor is that the exam cram books come with each module (and they should at that price) which also adds to the value.

    Good Luck
     
    Certifications: A+,MCP, MCDST, VCP5 /VCP-DV 5, MCTS AD+ Net Inf 2008, MCSA 2008
    WIP: MCSA 2012
  3. Gareth.Harle

    Gareth.Harle Bit Poster

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    I've been using the Exam Cram series for some time now and I've always been very pleased with them. Although I do think different books suite different people. The Exam Cram seem to make everything more concise and easy to get through.
     
    Certifications: MCSA, MCT, MCITP:EST
    WIP: Not sure yet
  4. michael78

    michael78 Terabyte Poster

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    I'm currently doing the 70-291 exam and the problem is that because the exam is pretty old now and the MCSA is now superseded the 70-291 books are pretty out of date. I have the Sybex book and it's OK but doesn't cover things like WSUS and the rest is again out of date. I would suggest going over your MS book again and fill in the gaps with online material and setting up a testing environment which I did buying a cheap server and installing Virtualbox on it and setting up a domain to study with. It's meant to be the hardest exam out of the core ones by a long shot.
     
    Certifications: A+ | Network+ | Security+ | MCP | MCDST | MCTS: Hyper-V | MCTS: AD | MCTS: Exchange 2007 | MCTS: Windows 7 | MCSA: 2003 | ITIL Foundation v3 | CCA: Xenapp 5.0 | MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Administrator on Windows 7 | MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Support Technician on Windows 7
    WIP: Online SAN Overview, VCP in December 2011
  5. BosonMichael
    Honorary Member Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    So do you not have that experience?

    The Exam Cram books back from the NT boks were great. But the Windows 2000 Exam Crams were horrible, and I haven't picked one up since.

    Decent usually isn't cheap, and cheap usually isn't decent. You tend to get what you pay for. Consider a high-quality practice exam an investment in your career.
     
    Certifications: CISSP, MCSE+I, MCSE: Security, MCSE: Messaging, MCDST, MCDBA, MCTS, OCP, CCNP, CCDP, CCNA Security, CCNA Voice, CNE, SCSA, Security+, Linux+, Server+, Network+, A+
    WIP: Just about everything!

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