CBT Nuggets?

jcp1856

Are they worth the $99/month price tag? I'm studying MCSA Server 2012 and I've seen ppl say that CBT Nuggets are worth the price. But are they really? Right now I'm using the Panek Sybex MCSA Server 2012 R2 book only and i'd include CBT Nuggets if they are worth it

Chitownjedi

jcp1856 wrote: »

Are they worth the $99/month price tag? I'm studying MCSA Server 2012 and I've seen ppl say that CBT Nuggets are worth the price. But are they really? Right now I'm using the Panek Sybex MCSA Server 2012 R2 book only and i'd include CBT Nuggets if they are worth it

I have not found that CBT nuggets material in itself can provide you the necessary information to have you pass an exam... so for the price I would say no. Pluarsight however gives you access to training material that may not or may, be as good as the cbt nuggets material, and is cheaper. The Book, Technet, Google and Labbing is what you will need to gain the skills and embedded knowledge to pass certification.

The fact that you will not be able to pass this alone on CBT nuggets means you are looking for complimentary content, and for the price, I believe Pluralsight may provide more content that spreads across more platforms,software then the CBT content. This is just my opinion of course. I enjoy CBT product but for the price...I think purchasing the best books and complimenting with Pluralsight brings back the best return.

Give both a trial run and make a decision afterwards.

Jency83

Yeah, go for trial and see. I think CBT courses are very good. Did 70-410, 70-411 and Security+ so far and can really recommend. Plus you can get a mock exam for each course.
Of course you cannot simply rely just on those videos. You need a hands-on experience, hence set up the lab and play with that. I personally prefer book + videos + labs.
Not sure how is the edited r2 version of W. Panek, but the old 2012 version wasn't much useful, especially for 411 exam. Barely covers some of the exam objectives (DirectAccess for instance).

Louie1277

The CBT update videos are okay. I know when I first started it was slow but when the update videos came out i had to start all over again. I try to watch then but man ... that's all i'm saying but it's a good resource... lab work is always good.

it2b

I've been a big fan of CBT Nuggets as an exam prep tool and for general IT training. I have had the luxury of work paying for it in the past.

If work was not paying for it, I would either buy a single month as needed, or consider trying Pluralsight. The Microsoft Virtual Academy has a lot of great video material as well and it is free.

My exam prep contains:
CBT Nuggets
MS Press or MS Official Curriculum Book
Practice Test (SelfTest or Transcenders)
MS Virtual Academy and Technet Virtual Labs

It can be expensive to prepare for a test after buying books and practice tests. Adding CBT training makes it more so. But some things are tough to lab like Azure and cloud technologies. You might not also have the resources in a laptop to build out a slew of virtual machines needed for a topic.

powerfool

I am personally not impressed with CBT Nuggets. I feel that they tend to gloss over subjects and do not get very detailed. The pricing is, in my opinion, significantly higher than the value you receive. I think that Pluralsight is about the same quality, but their pricing is much better.

I don't know if CBT Nuggets does this anymore, but they used to offer a 1-Day option where you could pay ~$20 for a single day... which is great if you can plan ahead and dedicate a full day to a series (depending on what you are studying).

As far as quality goes, I think that the MS Virtual Academy videos are a little lower in quality than either of these, but they are free.

iBrokeIT

Personally I would start with MS Virtual Academy and Technet Virtual Labs since you can't beat free then go to CBT Nuggets if you feel need the information presented to you again.

Jon_Cisco

Since I was new to IT and wanted to play around with a lot of different things I ordered a year of CBT Nuggets.
It was pricy but it met my needs. I don't think for specific certification training it is worth the price. However I was very happy with the product. I might occasionally buy a one month subscription in the future when I find a couple interesting topics.

I found that with all of the video series they were great for an overview. It was easier to read the books after watching the videos. However I probably could have just read slower and skipped the videos. In the end it's just another tool you can try. Whatever works is what is best.

Skelly

Jon_Cisco wrote: »

Since I was new to IT and wanted to play around with a lot of different things I ordered a year of CBT Nuggets.
It was pricy but it met my needs. I don't think for specific certification training it is worth the price. However I was very happy with the product. I might occasionally buy a one month subscription in the future when I find a couple interesting topics.

I found that with all of the video series they were great for an overview. It was easier to read the books after watching the videos. However I probably could have just read slower and skipped the videos. In the end it's just another tool you can try. Whatever works is what is best.

I couldn't agree more. I've used training videos from various vendors over the years, and rarely do they completely prepare you for the test. But like yourself, I like watching the demo, which makes it easier to understand when I'm reading a book or technet, and doing labs.

Rocket-sG

I agree with the others. If I was paying out of my own pocket I would just pay the $30 for pluralsight (I dont think that the value added is sufficient to cover the extra $70 per month mark-up)

But since I get them both for free I have just been using the cbt nuggets but as the others say it is not as comprehensive as it should be and James Conrad (the instructor) often goes on long tangents covering material that is not part of the exam objectives. I find that really annoying......stick to the Exam material please.

Especially if you dont have the benefit of formal classroom instruction with a living human, I think the videos are a good substitute. Considering that a live class may cost $1000 I think $30 sounds better than paying $1000, especially if you are a visual learner like I am and learn best from textbooks rather than thru the ears.

jcp1856

how do you get cbt nugets for free? job benefit? prior class?