Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:  
Summary: Wow...did they even QA this book!
Comment: Yes, this book does help with studying for the material, but we just took the exam from a training boot camp......if I'd only used this book plus the study questions that come with it....no way. I read the book for 8 months previous to coming at least 4-5 nights a week.....went through all the practice exam and review questions, but the exam was really a bit different. The camp I'm at was the only reason I passed....no way with the book alone can you pass...in my opinion. There were questions on the test that weren't even in the book. I just took the exam an hour ago! There's too much errata in this book. Someone printed the errata and passed it out to class, and there's about 10 pages (front and back) with misspelling and incorrect code. In addition, we found more errata as we went along.
I'll use this in day to day for reference, but man...talk about trying to push something out while not even having a strong review.....all people in the class agree this book needs a new revision!!!!!!!!!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Comment: I took the exam today....and....passed. Phew! This is one VERY tough exam to study for. I spent about 200 hours preparing for this exam. The exam is very broad and very deep. I bought this book and used the Transcender.
The book was poorly edited and had mistakes that which stated certain "facts" that turned out to be outright wrong. The book itself barely gets you going for the material you'll need to know. I admit that the 302 test questions were helpful, though. When you start taking some of those sample tests, you'll realize how quickly the book material was lacking. The Transcender really helped cover a lot of other ground that this book didn't. Oddly enough, the test still pulled some punches on material that was covered in neither, unless you plan to go very deep on every topic which is next to impossible.
This book might be the only reasonable paper resource out there, especially with the test questions, so just be forewarned....be careful...and you'll have to study deeper than you might expect in various areas.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Acceptable Study Resource
Comment: I read this book twice. And I used the MS Press Training Kit Exam Prep application. I studied all 304 questions. I passed the test. So the study guide works. And this was the hardest exam I've taken (I've taken six).
I didn't rate it 5 stars, because many of the examples were obvious, and the book had a few errors and typos. A handful of the exam questions were wrong, or had duplicate answers both of which were correct (pick one of the duplicates; no it's the other duplicate with the same answer). But generally, it provided enough information to pass the test.
This test is hard. Don't underestimate it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: I passed and that is the most important thing
Comment: Well I just took the exam today and passed (I didn't do exceptionally well but I have the certificate!). My only source was this book. By me passing I guess you can say it did the job for the task at hand. About 11 out of 16 of the chapters in the book are very easy to understand and very helpful and straightforward (minus the typos). However, some of the others, particularly those dealing with diagnostic and management configuration could use some work. My biggest issue with the book is not with how it is written, but the content. There were about 5 questions which I had no clue about and do not remember their content being directly mentioned (if at all) in the book. I am not pointing fingers at anyone, but there is a problem there with either the book's content or the access the authors had of what would be covered on the exam. All in all, I give it a 3 out 5 since I did pass. Although, I did study this book everyday, heavily, for three straight weeks. As for the practice questions, I thought they were ok as well. They helped me learn some things not covered in the book (oddly enough) and were useful to point out important points on specific topics. This isn't the greatest book in the world, but if you know it really well and do al of the examples and labs, you will probably pass.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Lazy Editing
Comment: This book skims over several subjects because it's trying to cover too much material. Chapter 6 and 7 on Graphics and Threading (respectively) both suffer from this. Large fonts and long lists of methods and properties leave little room for actual knowledge sharing. The order in which they cover the subjects leaves a lot to be desired as well. Just look at the fact that chapter 6 is Graphics and chapter 7 is Threading.
Anyway, the content tries to cover all that is required and probably prepares you for the test as well as possible (I haven't taken an exam yet). So, i was thinking 3 stars.
But then I arrived at chapter 9 - Installing and Configuring Applications. My guess is that Mr.s Northrup and Wildermuth had around 13 or 14 chapters done and were coming down to the wire when they asked Bill Ryan if he wouldn't mind contributing a chapter or two. Then he turned in what he had and they ran spell checker on it. That must be it, because there are errors on every page! Paragraphs copied from other chapters, review questions that have nothing to do with the section just read, and a lab in section two that has nothing to do with the Installer class discussed in section 2. If you look at a code example on page 489, you'll see what I mean. Not only does the code not work, but it's faulty in it's design. He mentions that the class implements IEnumerable, and then tries to use a counter to move through the list (but fails to increment the counter). That's retarded. Since I'm still in the beginner stages of all of this, these mistakes can set me back a while when I stare and try to figure out what he's doing.
Anyway, one star. The editors should go back to school somewhere. Rosemary Caperton and Sandi Resnick are pointed out specifically as proof-readers, and Jim Fuchs and David Robinson as technical editors. If I was any of them I'd ask for my name to be removed in subsequent editions.
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