Does 70-620 really require book investment

I have finally decided my track to get certified after 10 years (MCSA/E + Messaging and MCITP:EA) so for the first of my 9 tests I am going to knock out 70-620.

Now I have probably used Vista (Business) for 1 year at my former job. I now work for a federal agency and Vista is not approved (hell XP SP3 is not approved). So I just installed Vista Ultimate on my new work laptop to refamiliarize myself with Vista. I have also downloaded some of the notes I have seen here and one of the other cert forums.

Since I can't find much in the way of free testing it's hard to gauge how well I could do on the test. What tests I have taken I pass with ~80-90% correct and try to take notes on my weak spots.

So I guess the question to ask is if the books, specifically the MS Press book is worth the $37.79 investment from Amazon. Are the lab simulations all that difficult?

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Comments

skrpune

I wouldn't say that the exam is incredibly difficult, but it is a lot easier with good preparation. Using Vista on a daily basis, in my opinion, will not adequately prepare you for the exam - unless you're using the advanced firewall, setting up a media center, using parental controls & meeting space, have used/set up/done troubleshooting on Windows Mail & other included software, etc.

The MS Press book was a great preparation for the exam - if you're already comfortable with Vista in general, then just skimming through the book & doing the labs/practices will probably be sufficient. My thought is that ~$38 is a good investment if it helps prevent you from having to spend $125 to take the exam again if you don't pass on the first shot...and there's only a couple weeks left of the MS second shot offer (expires 6/30)...

dynamik

skrpune wrote: »

My thought is that ~$38 is a good investment if it helps prevent you from having to spend $125 to take the exam again

+1

Plus, you can probably resell it for 50-75% of that.

jay754

+1

Maybe check it on bookdepository.com or other site and you might get lucky on price. If you've done enough to get familiar again on work laptop maybe the Exam Cram book would be enough for you and usually cheaper than the MS books. I find the tear out cram sheets alone worth the price of these.

Good luck!

SneakyStevie

Using Vista will get you most of the way there, but if you want to pass the test, getting the book is advisable because you have to know how to administrate Vista.

I am getting ready to take the test as well, and I am in the same situation as you, using Vista regularly. But I did get the MS Press book and I am happy I did, because it really does a good job of filling in the pieces that I didn't know.