Well, I finally plunged and wrote my first exam this morning.
Started off rocky; first the server wasn't in sync with the test/client machine, so my appointment wouldn't show up so I didn't start till about 15 mins after my appt was scheduled. Got started, and about 25 mins into it, the d@mn test crashed!

I was like what the, I thought I'd have to start again, but luckily it kept track of my answers and how much time I had left.
Anyway, after 1 hour and 15 mins, I had completed the test and scored an 889, so it felt pretty good since I had no idea what to expect, being the first time I write any sort of certification exam.
I had some questions I didn't expect on there, like wireless network setup, but since I was familiar with that topic, it wasn't a big deal.
Regarding study material, I used the Que Publishing 70-270 training kit, supplemented with the tech notes from this site, practice exams from Transcender and practice exams from here as well...
Now to move onto 70-290 I suppose.

Thanks for all the help you guys provided.