A Brief Review of Exam 220-801 Study Books
I read a lot of advice on this forum before sitting for the 220-801 exam yesterday and felt I should pass on some advice of my own to anyone who might be lurking and reading. 
Prior to studying, my experience amounted to building roughly 30-40 computers over the past few years. That experience was a great starting point, but let me warn you, don't think you can just walk in and pass the exam without studying! You might ace the simulations, but the questions can get less practical and more hairy after that.
I started with Mike Meyers' book-- you know, the behemoth edition. It's more pages than the Sybex books, but boy does it read fast and easy, and it's full of humor. The end-of-chapter tests were a breeze, and I was feeling pretty confident by the time I got to the end of the book, but I thought just to be safe I should pick up the Sybex super-mega-complete-deluxe book to get access to all of those practice exams.
Well, the Sybex assessment test kicked my butt. 78%. I thought I knew this stuff? I missed questions from nearly every chapter and category, so I decided to focus on the 202-801 exam only this time and read all the way through the first 11 chapters of the Sybex book to get another perspective. It was much harder than the Meyers book, in my opinion. Sybex expects you to memorize pin numbers (and CPU model numbers, and so on) in full detail. You also run into some questions that have really debatable answers, which is good preparation because the CompTIA test features the same.
On the subject of debatable answers: I'd also recommend looking at some of CompTIA's free practice questions, available on their website. These sometimes are dubiously close to disagreeing with the Sybex material. For example, Sybex repeatedly teaches you that a university/campus most often utilizes a MAN, whereas CompTIA says that a high school campus most likely utilizes a LAN. Wow. Splitting hairs, much?
Over all, I found both books to be very complete, but my retention worked better with the Sybex book because the questions were harder and greater in number. However, for someone who takes good notes and doesn't need the questions to prod them into studying harder, the Meyers book is totally thorough and a much more entertaining read. Hey, a book that inspires you to keep a good attitude can go a long way!
Just to specify one more time in case it wasn't clear: this comparison only goes as far as the 220-801 material, as I haven't gotten far into the Sybex 220-802 material yet (though I read all of Meyers all the way through).
So, my general advice is to take good notes, review all of your accumulated notes before and after every chapter (no matter which book you choose), and give yourself plenty of breathing room to score lower on the real exam (than you think you should) and still pass. The 220-801 exam is not computationally, analytically hard. But you need to memorize those little details you might not normally think are important (all those pin numbers, for one). Good luck to all who are prepping now!
Prior to studying, my experience amounted to building roughly 30-40 computers over the past few years. That experience was a great starting point, but let me warn you, don't think you can just walk in and pass the exam without studying! You might ace the simulations, but the questions can get less practical and more hairy after that.
I started with Mike Meyers' book-- you know, the behemoth edition. It's more pages than the Sybex books, but boy does it read fast and easy, and it's full of humor. The end-of-chapter tests were a breeze, and I was feeling pretty confident by the time I got to the end of the book, but I thought just to be safe I should pick up the Sybex super-mega-complete-deluxe book to get access to all of those practice exams.
Well, the Sybex assessment test kicked my butt. 78%. I thought I knew this stuff? I missed questions from nearly every chapter and category, so I decided to focus on the 202-801 exam only this time and read all the way through the first 11 chapters of the Sybex book to get another perspective. It was much harder than the Meyers book, in my opinion. Sybex expects you to memorize pin numbers (and CPU model numbers, and so on) in full detail. You also run into some questions that have really debatable answers, which is good preparation because the CompTIA test features the same.
On the subject of debatable answers: I'd also recommend looking at some of CompTIA's free practice questions, available on their website. These sometimes are dubiously close to disagreeing with the Sybex material. For example, Sybex repeatedly teaches you that a university/campus most often utilizes a MAN, whereas CompTIA says that a high school campus most likely utilizes a LAN. Wow. Splitting hairs, much?
Over all, I found both books to be very complete, but my retention worked better with the Sybex book because the questions were harder and greater in number. However, for someone who takes good notes and doesn't need the questions to prod them into studying harder, the Meyers book is totally thorough and a much more entertaining read. Hey, a book that inspires you to keep a good attitude can go a long way!
Just to specify one more time in case it wasn't clear: this comparison only goes as far as the 220-801 material, as I haven't gotten far into the Sybex 220-802 material yet (though I read all of Meyers all the way through).
So, my general advice is to take good notes, review all of your accumulated notes before and after every chapter (no matter which book you choose), and give yourself plenty of breathing room to score lower on the real exam (than you think you should) and still pass. The 220-801 exam is not computationally, analytically hard. But you need to memorize those little details you might not normally think are important (all those pin numbers, for one). Good luck to all who are prepping now!
Comments
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SteveFT
Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 149
Sybex book + MemoryLifter worked for me. With similar experience to you, I was able to pass the 801 after 4-5 weeks of study. I'm finishing my review for the 802 now.
My only complaint with the Sybex book was that I felt like the material was a bit repetitive in some sections. Part of me thinks it isn't bad to reread something, but it really adds unnecessary time to get through the book the first time. I also wish the Windows sections were better organized. It would be nice to present the differences in a very clear table format.
Overall, I do think that the book was good. I'm using Meyers for Network+, so I will have to see the differences.