And now, a word about the Cisco Press books

petedude

Someone else briefly touched on this in another forum, but let me state it again to highlight it:

If you have a Cisco Press book: Update, Update, Update!!

Go to their website, get any relevant exam patches, errata, updated chapters!

I've indirectly lost about a month flailing about trying to dig through other materials to get a handle on newer EIGRP/OSPF items that have started to pop up on the Boson exams, etc.-- including some stuff that surprised me the last time I tried the ICND. While I'm glad to have all this finally, it would have been REALLY nice to have it sooner.

Just a heads-up.

*EDIT* The ICND exam prep update is a WAY better exam than included on the CD. If I had access to this earlier, I might have done way better on the test last time around.

*more edits* The new ICND updates are better exams than the new Boson equivalent. Go figure. . .

sprkymrk

I personally never have liked the books by Cisco press. The material was presented in too dry of a manner. I also felt it was less well organized than other Cisco books, such as Sybex. I took the whole 9 month Cisco 1-4 classes using those books and struggled the whole time with any reading assignments. (I loved the labs though). I finally was able to absorb the material by using the book by Todd Lamle.

Humper

I have both the Cisco CCNA Self Study and the Sybex and by far the Sybex book is much easier to read....!

petedude

ModemHumper wrote:

I have both the Cisco CCNA Self Study and the Sybex and by far the Sybex book is much easier to read....!

Doesn't surprise me. I have an older Sybex book that I used when starting down the CCNA road (I knew early on I'd have to get something else later). The writing is very clear. Lammle's writing has even gotten better-- I've read the subnetting chapter in the old 640 book as opposed to the latest and greatest, and the newer version (from a sample chapter online) is much more clear.

I'd go out and get the latest Sybex tome, but I've been stubborn-- I've already invested a couple hundred bucks on exams and materials, and I'm trying to put my finger in that dike until I move on to the CCNP.

sthompson86

I am currently debating between the Cicso Press CCNA book and Todd`s SYbex book. Not sure which I want to to purchase. Per my reading on here it seems that the Sybex CCNA book is the better choice. I am just partial to the Cisco branding lol.(fan boy)

hermeszdata

sthompson86 wrote: »

I am currently debating between the Cicso Press CCNA book and Todd`s SYbex book. Not sure which I want to to purchase. Per my reading on here it seems that the Sybex CCNA book is the better choice. I am just partial to the Cisco branding lol.(fan boy)

I started withthe Cisco Press books and then bought the Sybex book. Used properly, they compliment each other very well.

Forsaken_GA

sprkymrk wrote: »

I personally never have liked the books by Cisco press. The material was presented in too dry of a manner. I also felt it was less well organized than other Cisco books, such as Sybex. I took the whole 9 month Cisco 1-4 classes using those books and struggled the whole time with any reading assignments. (I loved the labs though). I finally was able to absorb the material by using the book by Todd Lamle.

It all depends on the author. Some Cisco Press books are simply not very good, others are beautifully done. The QoS book by Wendell Odom, for example, is something that I would qualify as a bible. The two Doyle Routing TCP/IP volumes likewise get that status.

For the CCNA, the Lammle Sybex book has always been considered good. I found fault with Sybex CCNP material though. The reviews on Amazon are usually quite helpful in determining if a book will be clueful or not, so I honesty do suggest doing your research. If you plan on pursuing past CCNA, then stepping up to a higher level of text to clarify some subjects is not a bad idea.

alan2308

sthompson86 wrote: »

I am currently debating between the Cicso Press CCNA book and Todd`s SYbex book. Not sure which I want to to purchase. Per my reading on here it seems that the Sybex CCNA book is the better choice. I am just partial to the Cisco branding lol.(fan boy)

Google Books has previews of them both. Its enough to tell who's writing style you prefer.

sthompson86

alan2308 wrote: »

Google Books has previews of them both. Its enough to tell who's writing style you prefer.

Thanks all, and I will have to check Google Books out.

sthompson86

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

The QoS book by Wendell Odom, for example, is something that I would qualify as a bible.

The Cisco Press CCNA book I am considering is by wendell Odom.

Amazon.com: CCNA Official Exam Certification Library (Exam 640-802), Third Edition (Containing ICND1 and ICND2 Second Edition Exam Certification Guides) (9781587201837): Wendell Odom: Books

nel

i thought the CCNA book by odom was awesome. very well written imo...or at least for me. Other cisco books, well im not a huge fan of tbh. mainly due to the writing style. Good cure for insomnia in many cases though

bermovick

sthompson86 wrote: »

The Cisco Press CCNA book I am considering is by wendell Odom.

Amazon.com: CCNA Official Exam Certification Library (Exam 640-802), Third Edition (Containing ICND1 and ICND2 Second Edition Exam Certification Guides) (9781587201837): Wendell Odom: Books

I used those (and CBT Nuggets) for my studies and I thought they were great. I also got Lammle's book, but didn't like it nearly as much (although as previous posts show, for others it's a better choice), so whichever one lets your learn the material more easily would be the one to go with.

WillTech105

I'll +1 for Sybex. I studied for ICND1 with Sybex's book and I bought the Cisco Press for ICND2 just to switch it up and there is def. a difference. I prefered the Sybex as I felt Cisco Press was more of a white paper than a "plain-english" book.

stuh84

sprkymrk wrote: »

I personally never have liked the books by Cisco press. The material was presented in too dry of a manner. I also felt it was less well organized than other Cisco books, such as Sybex. I took the whole 9 month Cisco 1-4 classes using those books and struggled the whole time with any reading assignments. (I loved the labs though). I finally was able to absorb the material by using the book by Todd Lamle.

I was the opposite, I thought the Lammle book was junk, too much trying to be funny, not enough getting down to business for me.

Wendell Odom's Cisco Press books I found perfect, covered everything in the exams, with more than enough detail on each subject. Can't go wrong with them in my mind.

Also, in terms of organisation...they are organised in the same way that the exam objectives are organised, seems a perfect way to do it for me

chmorin

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

It all depends on the author. Some Cisco Press books are simply not very good, others are beautifully done. The QoS book by Wendell Odom, for example, is something that I would qualify as a bible. T

The moment I was reading that first sentence I wanted to bring up the QoS book as an example of a great author. It makes me happy people agree! QoS is hard for me to grasp, but god I love reading his book!

Ryan82

Its highly dependent on the text. There are some great Cisco press books and Sybex books. There is also some garbage out there for both.

Personally I used Todd Lammle's book for the CCNA as well as the Boson CCNA book by Richard Deal. I hardly hear people mention this book but Richard Deal is a great teacher IMO and I thought that the two complemented each other nicely.