Official Cert Guide vs FLG

I've been procrastinating on this for a long time now, but I've finally decided to start studying CCNP ROUTE.

I've had a quick look through the CBT Nugget series but am looking for a book to back it up.

I've heard that the FLG is an excellent book, but how is it different from the Wendell Odom book? Is one better than the other or about the same?

Cheers in advance.

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mikej412

Straight from the Cisco Press website: Customers and Markets > About CCNP

Books

Portable Command Guides contain all the CCNP-level commands for the certification exam in one condensed, portable resource. The books provide tips and examples of how to apply the commands to real-world scenarios.

Foundation Learning Guides (formerly Self-Study Guides), which are based on Cisco courses for the related exams, provide essential foundation learning and thoroughly cover topics addressed in those courses. These books assume no prior knowledge of the subject matter and take a detailed approach to tutorial-based learning. Book elements within the Foundational Learning Guide Series feature real-world case studies, configuration examples, and chapter-ending review questions, making them useful on the job, in addition to exam preparation.

Certification Guides help prepare candidates for Cisco certification exams. These books assume readers have attained the necessary learning foundation and experience for a certification test and are reviewing material before exam time. They include summary information that details critical information on key exam topics and a companion CD-ROM, which contains a powerful testing engine that can be customized with practice exam questions, simulation-based questions, and adaptable performance trackers.

Which book is right for me?
Foundational Learning Guides and Certification Guides are intended to complement one another. Though they will cover similar content, they do so in a very different manner. Choosing one book over another depends where you are in the study cycle. If you are familiar with the base concepts, but need to assess your knowledge and review/practice for the exam, we recommend the Certification Guides. If you are new to a topic area and need more detailed discussions of the foundation concepts, we recommend you start with the Foundation Learning Guides.

wbosher

Thanks Mike

So for someone who has passed CCNA, but who has no (or very little) real world experience, the FLG is probably the better option.

Sounds like a combination of CBT Nuggets and FLG should do the trick.

down77

Since you mention little to no experience with the material, the FLG would be your best bet and I would actually consider the INE videos over the CBT Nuggets since they go more in dept into the content than Jeremy does. Jeremy has a better delivery style (more energetic) but the INE content goes deeper into the subject material which could be beneficial in reinforcing the advanced concepts.

The most important part however is to lab lab lab! Back up the theoretical knowledge with hands on experience.

Zartanasaurus

FLG is a wonderful resource. Can't stress this enough. It definitely teaches you more than you need to know for the tests, but it was all good info. Anytime I look at a new Cisco cert now, the first thing I do is check to see if there's an FLG guide for it.