Syngress Publishing

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Who of you have used books from the above? After omni's praise (even though they a little outdated) and after numerous other people praising them and MCSE books how good are they? I know they have one of the better security+ books but how do the MCSE books compare? I just been really cross with MS Press now on 291 because of the way they handle subnetting and related topics(!). To me Sybex are a little *thin* for any study guide so why not look in Syngress for the future. Anyone wish to comment?

 

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I prefer Syngress because they are very detailed. Occasionally more detailed than necessary, but that is hardly bad.
I've used them for the 291, 293, and 294 (they don't have one for the 284).
The only minus point is that AFAIK they haven't updated any of their MCSE books.

 

I used the Syngress books for 290 and 291, but I also used Sybex.

I quite like the Sybex books, but the Syngress had lots of nice bullet points and tips.

It seems to me that the style of text books varies and it is very much personal preference as to which is 'best'.

That said, the MS press books do seem to be particularly dry.

 

and why am i the only fool who sits and relies on MS Press - ok i have passed 270 and 290 with them but now on 291 im really struggling... sybex is easier and more enjoyable yes but sometimes i dont like the depth they go into im looking into Syngress as we speak should i wish to continue my MCSE in the future. On a side note im a firm believer when doing vendor specific exams who publish books like MS Press stick to them.. if i ever do Cisco exams Cisco press would be my 1st called etc

Thanks for the input so far!

 

Ummm.... Do you mean lack of depth?

I used Sybex books for all my MS certs. I thought they were pretty good. I don't remember anything in the tests that wasn't covered by the books.

As to Syngress, well I've never used one of their books for a cert. I do sort of know someone who writes Syngress books though. He's pretty knowledgable.

 

I sort of agree with the sentiment of using vendor books for vendor exams, as you do have to learn how to do things their way.

Equally, it's good to read about how the 'real' world actually works and how the MS way sometimes isn't all that.

I was glad of all the books I had, particularly for 291. I must confess I didn't read them all cover to cover, but being able to read two or three peoples slant on a particular topic helped me bash quite a lot of this stuff into my thick skull.

Those ''penny dropped" moments were worth the pile of heavy text books.

Edited to add:

Sparky is dead right about labs. I learned a lot through doing labs and exercises on my machines at home, sometimes going off on tangents safe in the knowledge that it's just a couple of old PCs and that you can re-install if it all goes pear shaped (which it never did, well, not quite).

 

Thanks guys no i agree no book covers your lab! I had one since day 1! The point i was trying to get with the 291 book is i need to cover subnetting.. open the chapter and if you can look at it and tell me its 2% of what subnetting is really about ill give you a noddy badge! Yes there is requirements prior to taking exams but this was appalling!

@freddy - i used the sybex for 290 and some areas MS press covered more in depth but its a much much better style of reading i agree. Trip once gave me advice when i 1st signed up he said "Zimbo always use 2 guides and Zimbo no guide will ever cover everything" - wise man that guy!

 

One company that I found to be an excellent resource for lab learning is www.trainsignal.com, they deal less with the theory part of the topics which you get from books and other sources like Learnkey but teach you how to actually set things up and hands-on learning.

The CD's that you buy (I got several of the topics now) includes a pdf lab manual that you can use to follow along with the videos or work on your own. The labs they use requires three computers but if you use VMWare or Virtual PC you have no problem with that.

I find it easier to go with their labs than try to use like the Microsoft Press books or such since I have gome across some Gotchas that are not listed in the books but they encounter them in the Trainsignal labs and tell you what you need to do about it.

GW

 

Elvis and Sparky make a great points here by saying about real world situations. I am about 3/4 the way through the MS Press 270 Kit and i have to say although i like it, although it lacks the *real world situations* that i found very useful in the Sybex book for N+.

Si