CCENT CBT Nuggets Jeremy Cioara vs Udemy CCNA Chris Bryant

Hammer80

Ok so I am studying for CCENT right now and I am watching the videos for CCENT CBT Nuggets Jeremy Cioara, I know a lot of people absolutely love the way he teaches and I am trying to get that but I am running into some issues. The way he teaches is almost like he is on speed or something, he goes off on a tangents, his drawings are all over the place, he types his commands 100mph and flips back and forth between the CLI and his slides extremely fast, his videos are also at least a 40 min investment each time so if i have to stop i am screwed and have to start it all over again. I can hear his excitement about the subject and that is cool but I leave his videos not being sure if I actually learned something because of his ADD style of teaching. Is there something that I am not getting that everybody else is when watching his videos, I mean people swear by this guy and consider him a Cisco God of videos?

I also own the Udemy CCNA Chris Bryant videos and he may not be as exciting but his video on average are 10 min long so it shows the info in digestible format and he explains every step he goes through without going 100mph and flipping screens back and forth.

okplaya

You have to study in a way that works for you. If the Udemy videos are more helpful to you then I would stick with that. In the end, both instructors are teaching the same material.

kurosaki00

If you dont like it .. dont watch it. If something CCNA has, its different ways you can study for it.
Bunch of Video vendors out there that teach CCNA. Some people like Odom, some like Lammle.
Pick what you enjoy and run with it.
Also... have more than one source of studying.

Hammer80

Besides the videos I am also reading Odom's Cisco book and doing labs in Packet Tracer, GNS3, and live switches. I am just puzzled why so many people swear by the CBT Nuggets and I was wondering if there was something that I was missing or not understanding.

OfWolfAndMan

CBT Nuggets is what most people are more familiar with. Chris Bryant is a little less known due to less advertising/public reputation. Both are great, but it all depends on who you find better at explaining things. From my experience, neither will put you to sleep

joemysterio

CBT has been great so far for me, he's enthusiastic and doesn't come off over bearing to me so it's easy for me to watch and pay attention. I forgot I have Chris Bryant's videos, too, so I'll have to hop on to his to see how it is. But CBT/Jeremy so far has been a hit.

Doyen

I have actually used both CBT Nuggets and Chris Bryant for my CCNA studies. During last year's CCNA: RS test transition, I had the opportunity to watch the older CBT Nugget videos with Jeremy and the latest 200-120 version. His latest version uses GNS3 and he goes off on a lot more tangents. He does talk fast and is quite enthusiastic about the topic. I guess it never really bothered me since I would be exposed to his nugget videos 3 times a day- while eating breakfast in the morning & while driving to and from school/work (30 minute commute). I used Chris Bryant as a quick boot camp review a week before my test. By the time I watched the Bryant videos, I already had the concepts down.

There is no shame is having to repeatedly watch videos again. I would actually encourage it. It is something that you can take advantage of. You can pause if needed or go back to review what was said. I have found CBT Nuggets as a great resource for my CCNA Security studies mainly because they bundle a lot of topics into videos instead of having a lot of 10 minute videos to watch. It is something that I enjoy watching during my hour lunch breaks, however, I don't use them as my sole resource. However, I have found myself reciting quotes from various videos while I exam about certain topics (a lot of repetitive listening during my commutes), which my exam proctor was puzzled about until they got used to watching it with every certification exam I took. I find overexposure a good thing and is something to keep your studies in your mind and on track.

EDIT:

On a different note, I found it interesting that during my CCNA Security video studies, I have been listening to Keith Barker in both CBT Nuggets & Live Lessons videos while I have also been listening to Chris Bryant in his boot camp and Train Signal videos. It is nice to see them review certain topics in a different way each time.

jibbajabba

I hope the videos have been updated over the last couple of years. When I intended to go for the exam and watched a few videos (then Trainsignal) - a lot of the material was wrong or outdated...

It was still talking about token ring and 1GbE being the fasted speed currently available

Jon_Cisco

I used udemy and CTB Nuggets.

Chris Bryant gets the information you need to you but I found myself not very interested by the end of a 20 minute session.
Jeremy Cioara puts a lot more energy into keep the listener engaged.

This might be at the expense of more dense information but it has a significant value to me. I use videos to gain exposure and books to gain understanding. In the end if he is confusing you more then exposing you to all the topics I would say look at one of the other options. I here ccna professor messer are great but a little boring. That might suit you learning style better. It might be worth checking out also.

Good Luck!

IDigAPony

Part of my job is evaluating training offerings for my employer.
I'll start this by grouping Chris with Cisco Press and Todd Lammle from Sybex. Bottom line - you NEED to know everything that they teach, it's all essentially the same. (Chris basically just reads to you from his boot, so his video's are only slightly better than his books) You do, however need to know the information that those books cover. There are a great many little nuts and bolts there that are invaluable. As Chris says - you may notice the top of the pyramid first, but you need to start at the foundation.

I personally find that Chris takes himself a little too seriously. As a writer I find Todd Lammle's approach to be the perfect counter-balance to the Cisco Press books. I've read both and found that bouncing back and forth between them to be very helpful.

Chris essentially reads to you from his book. It's probably better just to buy it, unless you like his voice.

To get the most from Jeremy, you need a higher level of understanding. He is quite dynamic and takes a completely different approach. He can leave you in the dust if you don't have a good foundation and don't pay attention. He makes great use of a white board, drawing out the dynamics as they occur in the context of his discussion. His enthusiasm is quite helpful as well.

If you've done this for a living but never gotten your cert? Jeremy - hands down. If you're relatively new, I'd read through two of the three books mentioned, slowing down on things with which you are unfamiliar, but don't get bogged down. Then watch Jeremy and he'll take you through the real world part of it.

At the end, no only will you pass your CCNA, but you'll have a foundation that will take you as far up the Cisco food chain as you want to go.


So for Brian vs Jeremy? Both are good, it just depends on how familiar you are with the technology. Y

Queue

Something that has really helped me with videos. Speed them up!

Have the video run right at the point of too fast and pause to take notes. You can really get great notes this way, and not waste so much time with the tangents.