pluralsight or cbtnuggets???? (For MCSA 2012)

Carljohnson1983

Afternoon Everyone,

Can anyone tell me from experience if they have tried either pluralsight or cbt nuggets and which you would recommend?

Many Thanks,

Carl

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cbolar

Both have their strengths and weaknesses. I use a combo of safari books online and Pluralsight because my company pays for it. I'd say try a trial account and find what instructors work the best for your learning style.

Violated

You can get 3 months of pluralsight for free here: https://www.visualstudio.com/dev-essentials/

Louie1277

I have tried both but I like pluralsight better then cbtnugget. The videos in pluralsight are much shorter then cbt ones. That way you don't get bored or there's not enough breaks in them. Plus I like the instructors of pluralight much better I think.

My membership just expired sucks!!!!!!! I need to find a some kind of coupon to not pay the $299 dollars for the full year. Paying the monthly is more expensive then paying it in full...

DatabaseHead

I went through the SQL track, I really liked the label set up by CBT but the instructor was tough for me to pick up on. He was detailed enough but something was missing.

Pluralsight was more polished and to the point, but was lacking as well. I like what cbolar said, they both have their strengths.

poolmanjim

CBT just started releasing a new series with a different author. I haven't used them in ages so I cannot comment on how good or bad this author is. From what I've seen he's receiving high praise from a lot of the reviews.

I have been using Pluralsight for 2ish years now and I find it to be a very good resource. Greg Shields is a fantastic trainer and an immense help. Don't expect the videos to be fully comprehensive. Most people will not be able to watch the videos and just walk in and pass the test -- it will require some outside study and A LOT of labbing. FYI - For anyone looking into the 411 or 413, Richard Hicks has an amazing video on Remote Access and DirectAccess that is a really good supplement to the other videos.

Another video training resource is the Microsoft Virtual Academy (MVA). They are free videos put out my Microsoft and sometimes get a little deeper into things than Pluralsight or CBT Nuggets. They are free and pretty good.

Slowhand

I've used both on and off since the days when IT training by Pluralsight was still called Trainsignal and I've come to find the following is usually true: CBT Nuggets tends to be far more engaging and usually focuses exclusively on the topics that track towards an exam; while they don't cover everything, they're usually a great a companion to a book when you're prepping for a test and you want to see the technology in action. Pluralsight tends to cover more material in their courses, as well as have additional courses on related topics, which are far more in-depth than CBT Nuggets but also leans towards the dry side; they also don't seem to follow through as well with their demonstrations, giving you step-by-step instructions but not always the whole picture of what you're doing.

NetworkingStudent

I have both.

The new CBT Nuggets is awesome!!

There is a lab for every video and Greg walks you through ever lab.

Also, you can download the powershell commands from CBT nuggets that is used in each video.

Plural Sight is ok, but like others have said the videos are very short, and you need to look alot of things up.

For example, there might be a video on a certain powershell command and plural sight will have you google this, while CBT Nuggets will have a lab on this.

I guess you get what you pay for, because Plural sight is 30 something a month, while CBT is $90-95 per month.

Plural Sight seems to moving more towards dev and design, and focuses less on infrastructure.

Carljohnson1983

Does pluralsight do labs for the exams as well?

If not can you recommend a good source for labs?
[h=2][/h]

Abi4IT

Excellent pointer.

Thanks!

Cisco Inferno

So this is what happened.

CBT Nuggets made the 2012 R2 Series with James Conrad. It sucked.

Pluralsight then made a 2012 R2 Series with Jason Helmick and Greg Shields. <----Really good i used it myself.

THEN-> CBT Nuggets made a new 2012 R2 Version that is simply amazing. it has a more lab practical approach. and with CBT nuggets, they have virtual labs for every video. Really powerful stuff.

I would actually suggest both as the cbt nuggets are really short and could leave some stuff out. I realised that Pluralsight was more in depth.

AndersonSmith

I used Pluralsight with Greg Shields and Jason Helmick for all of my exams and can attest to their value. I've not used CBT so I can't comment there but I've heard mixed reviews; however, I've also heard they are releasing, or maybe they have already released a new series that may be better than the previous ones. I know Pluralsight offers a free trial and I think CBT does as well so give them both a try and see which one you like better. I also used Infinite Skill with John Savill in combination with Pluralsight which I really liked as well and helped fill in some gaps for me.

Louie1277

I really like Pluralsight better then cbt but that's because of James was not a good teacher I believe. I would go with pluralsight since I used that when I passed my exam. Just need to wait for a promo when it's cheap to sigh up again.

njclay2004

The new CBT videos with Garth are amazing. The labs help reinforce theory with practice and is useful if you want to practice but don't have access to your personal labs or can't afford to build a lab.

ITSec14

Pluralsight is my choice as it's really in depth. CBT is good too though.

poolmanjim

Carljohnson1983 wrote: »

Does pluralsight do labs for the exams as well?

If not can you recommend a good source for labs?

Pluralsight does not offer labs as far as I know.

My personal opinion on labs is to go to the exam page and find what Microsoft is asking about. If you go down the list and try to accomplish those tasks you'll lab a large percentage of the topics. Additionally, I try to follow along with the trainers in the videos (though this hasn't been particularly easy with the 70-413).

If you don't have a lab and are struggling getting started. Check out Technet Virtual Labs. Microsoft has some okay labs you can try (I have had mixed luck getting them to work). I have also used Boson labs to lab some of the more obscure stuff that I couldn't get working for my 70-412.

Abi4IT

I am also on the 70-411. Plan to do the exam by end of next month

CBTnuggets videos look more to the point, yet not very thorough.
After I see them I will also skim through Pluralsight.
Using CBT labs for now.

Louie1277

CBT is expensive compare to the pluralsight one. Whichever one you choose will help you no matter what.

spongeym

I'm interested in CBT nuggets, I was asked to trial Pluralsight at my previous client, quiet enjoyed the straight to the point short videos, think that you could easily refresh your memory on a particular subject. I think however that with the MCSE set of exams and also having seen the 2016 videos on CBT with labs I'd be more interested in trying out CBT nuggets. Has anyone used the labs in CBT? Do you lab in their VM's or do they expect you to build your own environment?

CBT seems like quite a large outlayso want to make sure I've invested on the right training plan as a 7 day trial might not be long enough!

malachi1612

I used CBT nuggets to pass my 70-697 exam and now my 70-698. They are a great help.

NetworkingStudent

spongeym wrote: »

I'm interested in CBT nuggets, I was asked to trial Pluralsight at my previous client, quiet enjoyed the straight to the point short videos, think that you could easily refresh your memory on a particular subject. I think however that with the MCSE set of exams and also having seen the 2016 videos on CBT with labs I'd be more interested in trying out CBT nuggets. Has anyone used the labs in CBT? Do you lab in their VM's or do they expect you to build your own environment?

CBT seems like quite a large outlayso want to make sure I've invested on the right training plan as a 7 day trial might not be long enough!

I have used the CBT Nuggets for 70-410. The labs are pre-built and based off the objective and video.

spongeym

NetworkingStudent wrote: »

I have used the CBT Nuggets for 70-410. The labs are pre-built and based off the objective and video.

Perfect! Thanks, looks like that will be my choice then!

rsevillatorres

New 70-410 & 411 courses at CBT Nuggets are awesome! However nothing is perfect, seems that they won’t release the 412, need to look somewhere else for that one.

ryoukosan

I'm using both studying for MCSA Server 2016. In my opinion, if you just need to skim over the material for a refresher, CBT Nuggets is sufficient. If you really want to get deep into the material, go with Pluralsight. As user Violated said, go the visualstudio.com and get the free 3 month trial.

ZarkoRSK

I have used CBT for 70-410 and 70-411 with James Conrad. They were a lot of fun and easy to learn from.
I have started the 70-412 with some other guy, not James Conrad(?) But this is an disaster. Very boring. I fell asleep a few times watching it on the ipad...

Maybe i will try the Pluralsight for the 412. They are less expensive.

Cisco Inferno

ZarkoRSK wrote: »

I have used CBT for 70-410 and 70-411 with James Conrad. They were a lot of fun and easy to learn from.
I have started the 70-412 with some other guy, not James Conrad(?) But this is an disaster. Very boring. I fell asleep a few times watching it on the ipad...

Maybe i will try the Pluralsight for the 412. They are less expensive.

You are the 1%. Everyone i know hates james conrad and loves the new guy.

rsevillatorres

Weird, because the only active 70-412 (R2) course in CBT nuggets is made by James Conrad. Apparently they are not going o refresh the 70-412 with virtual labs.

Cisco Inferno

rsevillatorres wrote: »

Weird, because the only active 70-412 (R2) course in CBT nuggets is made by James Conrad. Apparently they are not going o refresh the 70-412 with virtual labs.

Ah that sucks...
OP must be talking about Greg Shields and Pluralsight then.

stunnedsoup

Yea, I did CBTs 410 w/ Garth Schulte. Amazing series. He does the 411 as well, but not 412 (that I'm aware of). I found his style very engaging. I even considered paying for a 1mo membership. But, I was able to do 2x 1wk trials...so that was enough for me just so I can get all my 410 content in.

Good luck!