Thomson text books

[abstractmechanic]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently studying for my MCSA. The class I'm in uses Thomson, Course Technology MS exam preparation books. I keep running into errors in these books ranging from poor grammar to unworkable activities to outright misinformation. This really surprises me because these books must have been out long enough by now for these mistakes to have been corrected. Does anyone know if Thomson MS exam preparation books have a bad reputation? Has anybody else used these books? If so, what was your opinion of them?

Thanks, Kirk

 

[Wishdiak]

abstractmechanic,

Personally, I've only used Thompson books for CompTIA exams, and they had no exercises.

You should point out to your instructor that there are mistakes in the books, and hopefully something can be done about it.

I know at one time, eBay was flooded with used MS Press books for MCSE. I don't know if that's still the case, but I'd consider selling some of mine.

Wishdiak
A+, Network+, Security+, MCSE: Security 2003

http://www.wishdiak.com

 

[abstractmechanic]

Thanks for the response, Wishdiak. And thanks for the offer. I've actually already bought the MS Press book for the 70-299, and this is the last test I have to take to complete my MCSA. I bought the 70-299 MS Press book at the beginning of the 70-299 course, before I even encountered any problems with the Thomson book. I did this because I learned (actually from reading one of your posts) that the 70-299 was especially difficult. I'm hoping that augmenting my studies with the MS Press book will help cut down on all the unfamiliar material I keep encountering on the MS exams. If you're curious how that's going, I have responded to your post that is compiling MS exam experiences and impressions. Thanks again, and have a good day. - Kirk

 

[mrdenny]

Like WishDiak I've used the MS Press books for all the Exams (that have had books available when I took the tests) and the MS Press books were always very good.

Denny
MCSA (2003) / MCDBA (SQL 2000)
MCTS (SQL 2005 / Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0: Configuration / Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007: Configuration)
MCITP Database Administrator (SQL 2005) / Database Developer (SQL 2005)

--Anything is possible. All it takes is a little research. (Me)

http://www.mrdenny.com

 

[abstractmechanic]

Thank you, mrdenny; that's encouraging. I'm especially glad I got the MS Pess book now considering that the material in it is so different than that in the Thomson book. - Kirk

 

[Wishdiak]

abstractmechanic,

The MS Press books do a good job of covering the material. There's a broad range of topics in 70-299 and the exam gets into very granular detail about them. The 70-298 exam is less granular, but the topics are the same.

If I were you, I'd get right into studying for the 70-298 exam after passing 70-299.

Wishdiak
A+, Network+, Security+, MCSE: Security 2003

http://www.wishdiak.com

 

[abstractmechanic]

Thanks, Wishdiak. I'll do that. -Kirk