Scientific Calc in 70-291 Exam: Yes or No?

It is my understanding that a calculator is provided in the 70-291 test environment.

But there is some debate over whether the provided calculator will do dec -> bin conversions in scientific mode.

According to this post (from 2005), it might depend on your test provider:

http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.cert.exam.mcsa/msg/07186109ddfea81e

They said (again, in 2005)
Pearson Vue: yes
Prometric: no

So what's the real answer these days?

When you go to take the 70-291 exam, try the calculator and report back right here whether it could do scientific mode or not!

Give:
Test (if not 70-291)
Date
Test Vendor (Prometric or Vue)
Calc mode: (basic-only, or sci-capable)

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Comments

royal

I've had the same results from that post from 2005. I've never seen a scientific calc at Prometric while I have at VUE. Scientific calculators hardly make subnetting easier anyways, so I'd make my decision on which testing center to take based on if the computers are 60hz or 70hz+.

APA

Prometric definately still don't provide scientific calcs.......

Learn to subnet without a calculator!!!!! Shouldn't be expecting a scientific calculator when you book your exam..... More importantly shouldn't be booking the exam if your relying on the test provider to provide a scientific calc for you...

Royal you should see the boxes I sit my exams on...... I swear they are reboxed 486's............ But they have never let me down.... Well not yet anyways....

JdotQ

I don't think the testing provider will matter anymore after the next few months -- as Prometric will be the only choice!

VantageUK

Hi

Sorry to drag this up again. After having a search round this forum I can't find a definitive answer on the subject, or not a recent one anyway.

I'll be using Prometric when the time comes. Am I allowed to use a calculator (any type) and will one be provided or can I bring my own?

Thanks

Charlie.

CoryS

For this test they give you a basic calc for all questions. Good luck.

JdotQ

VantageUK wrote:

Hi

Sorry to drag this up again. After having a search round this forum I can't find a definitive answer on the subject, or not a recent one anyway.

I'll be using Prometric when the time comes. Am I allowed to use a calculator (any type) and will one be provided or can I bring my own?

Thanks

Charlie.

I'm not sure, as I've never had a need for a calc in an exam yet...

You definitely will not be able to bring your own calculator, from my experiences they do not even allow a cell phone. I'm testing tomorrow so I will check it out and reply back afterwards.

Claymoore

No cell phones and certainly no personal calculators.

Unfortunately, I did not get a single subnetting question on my exam yesterday - not even a troubleshooting question where the problem was a not-so-obvious incorrect subnet mask. It's unfortunate because some freebie questions would have been nice. But seriously, you really should learn to subnet in your head. Try this link:

http://www.learntosubnet.com/

After all, there are only 10 types of people in this world - those who can subnet and those who can't.

mattozan

I started this thread, but I missed the chance to answer my own question.

I finally took 70-291 last week, but I followed the advice of those earlier in the thread and learned to subnet without the calculator. And then I also didn't get a single subnet question on my test, after all that effort!

But I could have at least checked to see if I could put the calculator in scientific mode instead of basic mode. I blew it and completely forgot...

Now that Pearson Vue is gone and Prometric is the only vendor, the choice is now moot. It's Prometric or nothing. There is definitely a basic calculator available for all questions, but I still can't tell you if it can be put in scientific mode or not.

I'll agree with those who advised me--learn to do subnetting problems without a calculator!

The best tutorial on this I found was at Cramsession:
http://cramsession.com/articles/files/learn-to-subnet-part-i----9162003-1529.asp
http://cramsession.com/articles/files/learn-to-subnet---part-ii-9162003-1539.asp

Good luck all!

JdotQ

I took the 291 last week at a Prometric site - and it was only a standard calculator, no scientific mode!

I had a few subnetting questions and was glad I could subnet without a calculator, but of course it made the multiplication easier