Is the CBT Nuggets subscription worth it?

Devilsbane

I always thought it was outrageously overpriced. $1,500 per year. But the videos themselves are overpriced too. I'm thinking if I had this, not only would I use it for the tests I was talking, but I might also watch a couple different videos here and there just for entertainment and general knowledge.

Anyone subscribe to this or have an opinion on it?

CBT Nuggets

mikej412

You can do the 1 month streaming subscription when you're on vacation and watch as many as you can stand to try and get your money's worth.....

Or you can piece together your own free video training using YouTube videos

msteinhilber

I don't necessarily consider the subscription nor the videos to be overpriced really. It's all about finding the best study method that works for you and finding value in whichever certification(s) you are pursuing really.

Regarding the study method comment, some people do well when they compliment their studies with CBT's (in addition to book study and hands-on) while others are just as well off studying from a book and some hands on. Me personally I find that the CBT's for some of my studies prove to be a good addition to my study routine if anything because it helps make me feel more confident when I'm nearing the test date.

Regarding the pricing which ties into value, I suppose you have to look at what impact the certifications you achieve may have on your career in terms of earnings potential. Generally speaking, those who put in the effort to study in their chosen field regardless of if they sit the exams and pass or not tend to do better in my opinion. If you sit and pass the exams, you get the added bonus of having some resume material which may open more doors to better opportunities either within one's existing organization or at another organization.

As for the worth of the subscription itself, only you can really answer that. I've been pleased with the content of all of the CBT Nuggets video's I have watched, so the quality of instruction and production seems to be there. At that point, assuming CBT's compliment your learning system well and would be a good addition to your study plan, it really comes down to how many certifications you have planned to sit over the course of that year.

Simply put, any cost associated with any reputable training resource that fits your method of study well unless abhorrently overpriced (which I don't think is the case here) is never a waste of money. It's an investment, and investments generally prove to be a waste of money when planned poorly or not properly followed up on (i.e. doing your part to maximize your earnings after achieving certs X, Y, or Z). And both of those variables are one's only you can control.

chmorin

Agreed with the above. My experiences with CBT nuggets have always found to have been worth the money. However I do have a study plan that it works well with.

Devilsbane

Heres what I'm thinking.

I was going to upgrade my MCSA pack ($399 already spent) to the MCSE:Security pack. So that will cost me $700. I'm not sure which certifications I'd be interested in after that, but I see they have videos on powershell, vbscript, and some security stuff that I would be interested in. I could also check out some exchange stuff or maybe even some wireless stuff.

demonfurbie

i cant speak for cbt them selfs but i use OnlineExpert.com there videos seam to cover every thing very well and if you look at the cost its not all that bad on some of the courses

edit:

ive also used http://www.testout.com/ for a few classes if your on a budget they offer an "all in one" type style with videos/test engine/quizzes/labs

erpadmin

If you are a student, the Labsims from www.testout.com are $89 per video. Much better than $400, and the Labsims were great for Security+ in the little bit I used them. It does depend on the school too. WGU is one of those schools, but there may be others.

If your school is on their list, you just have to contact them via phone or online chat and ask for a discount code.

msteinhilber

erpadmin wrote: »

If you are a student, the Labsims from www.testout.com are $89 per video. Much better than $400, and the Labsims were great for Security+ in the little bit I used them. It does depend on the school too. WGU is one of those schools, but there may be others.

If your school is on their list, you just have to contact them via phone or online chat and ask for a discount code.

This is another good option too, although I dislike the new delivery method it won't be an issue for the OP anyways since they were considering a streaming subscription anyways.

And even if you are not a student, I suggest contacting a Sales Representative from TestOut if you are interested in them as you can almost always work a better deal by calling and buying the whole suite or just packaging together your own suite of courses.

tbgree00

I decided against the subscription. I looked at it as the test packs are around 200 dollars each, not counting cert packs like the MCSE packs. At the price of 200 you would have to take 8 tests in the year period and use the nuggets for each test to make the 1500 worth it. If you value the online access and access to streaming on devices then you can add that into the financial decision.

This year I will take enough tests to make it worth it but didn't buy it. I got each pack individually. Next calendar year I don't plan to take that many tests so it wouldn't make sense for me no matter how nice watching them wherever would be.

I talked to their guy on twitter and was set up with a free 7 day unlimited trial. You may want to contact him to see if he could do that for you.

erpadmin

msteinhilber wrote: »

And even if you are not a student, I suggest contacting a Sales Representative from TestOut if you are interested in them as you can almost always work a better deal by calling and buying the whole suite or just packaging together your own suite of courses.

I am considering using TestOut if only to help move things along. I was looking at TS and CBT Nuggets personally, but I couldn't justify paying $200 a month or $400 for one course. The one thing I like about CBTs is that if you have a good one, you can take notes on what you need in depth study on. When I did the Labsim for Security+, for example, that was cryptography....I read all the materials available to me and that was what I needed to have everything flow properly. I even considered Preplogic, but after searching for reviews here, I decided to pass. Plus their pricing structure was useless.

earweed

Labsim is not quite the same as other CBTs hence the big (with student discount) price difference. I didn't much care for the Labsim for the 83-640 but then again I 'm not that much of a visual learner. I have to get hands on to help me. The Labsim has a whole lot of reading the fact sheets and not a lot of actual instruction.
For the Server 2008 courses the best CBT type thing I've used has been IT Academy which is provided by WGU.

Devilsbane

tbgree00 wrote: »

I decided against the subscription. I looked at it as the test packs are around 200 dollars each, not counting cert packs like the MCSE packs. At the price of 200 you would have to take 8 tests in the year period and use the nuggets for each test to make the 1500 worth it. If you value the online access and access to streaming on devices then you can add that into the financial decision.

I think I would probably come close to it. My thinking was that if I already paid for it, then I am going to feel obligated to watch them. So while I probably wouldn't spend $200 to watch the powershell videos, if I already had access I think that I would at least skim through them.

genXrcist

Devilsbane wrote: »

I always thought it was outrageously overpriced. $1,500 per year. But the videos themselves are overpriced too. I'm thinking if I had this, not only would I use it for the tests I was talking, but I might also watch a couple different videos here and there just for entertainment and general knowledge.

Anyone subscribe to this or have an opinion on it?

CBT Nuggets

I have this, thanks to my employer paying for it. I love it! yes, some vids are better than others and it really just depends on your goals. Because I have this I'm studying pretty hard this year.

Some of the vids that I wouldn't pay for individually but will watch just because they're on there have been:

SCCM
SCOM
SCVMM
PowerShell v1

All good series.

Yet to watch:
VMWare
Citrix
CEH
Security+ (maybe)

And next year I'll be going through the CCNP series, hopefully SWITCH & TSHOOT are out by then. ROUTING is out of course but I haven't watched it yet. Jeremy Ciara rocks.

Devilsbane

genXrcist wrote: »

Some of the vids that I wouldn't pay for individually but will watch just because they're on there have been:

SCCM
SCOM
SCVMM
PowerShell v1

All good series.

Yet to watch:
VMWare
Citrix
CEH
Security+ (maybe)

SCCM, PowerShell, VMWare, and Citrix are all things that I would be interested in, but don't intend on taking a test for so it would be difficult to justify buying the videos at $200 a piece.

The CEH I might actually consider taking. I want to do some more security stuff after MCSE, but I don't really know which way to go. I have another thread in the security section where I am trying to figure out which tests I would be interested in and if CBT has the ones that I'd be interested I'll probably sign up. If they don't then idk.

EDIT:
Shameless plug. http://www.techexams.net/forums/security-certifications/58229-next-step-after-mcse-security.html#post452033

azjag

msteinhilber wrote: »

I don't necessarily consider the subscription nor the videos to be overpriced really. It's all about finding the best study method that works for you and finding value in whichever certification(s) you are pursuing really.

Regarding the study method comment, some people do well when they compliment their studies with CBT's (in addition to book study and hands-on) while others are just as well off studying from a book and some hands on. Me personally I find that the CBT's for some of my studies prove to be a good addition to my study routine if anything because it helps make me feel more confident when I'm nearing the test date.

Regarding the pricing which ties into value, I suppose you have to look at what impact the certifications you achieve may have on your career in terms of earnings potential. Generally speaking, those who put in the effort to study in their chosen field regardless of if they sit the exams and pass or not tend to do better in my opinion. If you sit and pass the exams, you get the added bonus of having some resume material which may open more doors to better opportunities either within one's existing organization or at another organization.

As for the worth of the subscription itself, only you can really answer that. I've been pleased with the content of all of the CBT Nuggets video's I have watched, so the quality of instruction and production seems to be there. At that point, assuming CBT's compliment your learning system well and would be a good addition to your study plan, it really comes down to how many certifications you have planned to sit over the course of that year.

Simply put, any cost associated with any reputable training resource that fits your method of study well unless abhorrently overpriced (which I don't think is the case here) is never a waste of money. It's an investment, and investments generally prove to be a waste of money when planned poorly or not properly followed up on (i.e. doing your part to maximize your earnings after achieving certs X, Y, or Z). And both of those variables are one's only you can control.

I have to agree with what msteinhilber posted. My company bought the 5 user license streaming edition and I have made good use of it to augment my studies this year.

When I was paying for it myself last year I would pay for 3-4 months individually for the test i was working on at the time. I was told they will take the month-month subscription price as a credit if you purchase the 1yr. Granted, if you bought 4 months individually they would knock off $800 for the cost of the 1yr subscription as well as 4 months. So you would end up paying $700 and have 8 months of subscription left. I did this to avoid the $1500 up front.

lordy

While the price seems high at first I have to say that the CBT Nuggets are really excellent and worth the money. Try to look at it from a different point: If you buy the subscription and do 2 certs in 1 year you should be able to get that money back with just a raise.

I am trying to get my company into buying a streaming license but haven't succeeded yet :-/

erpadmin

lordy wrote: »

If you buy the subscription and do 2 certs in 1 year you should be able to get that money back with just a raise.

You must have A LOT of faith with that assumption....

lordy

Well, that is optimistic but in the long run I think many of us are doing the certs for the money. And while it might not be the next year they pay off, they certainly (should) pay off when looking for a new job the next time.

Devilsbane

erpadmin wrote: »

You must have A LOT of faith with that assumption....

I don't think so. Getting a 1.5k raise per year doesn't sound sound out of reach. Sure one year you might not get it, but then the next year you could get 5k.

Lets see, I started my first full time job at 18 making about 16k per year. Assuming I retire at 65 (which I probably won't) that would put me at about 86.5k. Sure it is a lot, but if I am continually improving myself I certainly wouldn't say that is out of reach.

erpadmin

Devilsbane wrote: »

I don't think so. Getting a 1.5k raise per year doesn't sound sound out of reach. Sure one year you might not get it, but then the next year you could get 5k.

This is to you and lordy.....

I don't doubt certs will get you a raise....they just won't do it by themselves and/or in 1 year. That's definitely what I was objecting to. Now, will they pay off in the long term? That's going to also depend on the quality of your experiences....

Devilsbane

Has anyone tried the NSS on a phone? I know CBT says it works with an iphone or droid, but I'm wondering if my palm pre could do it too.

Devilsbane

Apparently it works for iphone and android because CBT created apps. I'm trying to find out if there is a way to port them over now...