Customer Reviews

CCA Citrix MetaFrame XP for Windows Administrator Study Guide (Exam 70-220)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

There were many contradictions in this book. I have worked with Citrix for a few years now (thank god for that when i took the test), and there was plenty of things in this book that were just plain wrong. I do not recommend this book as a study guide. While I passed the test (just barely), I probably would have done better if i had not read this book!!

In the process of reading it to prep for my certification test, I found multiple problems with it. You can still pass using this book, but the experience will not be pleasing.

I'll list them as best I can.

--Different chapters list different minimum requirements (DOS3.3 vs DOS4.0) for the same module.

--The last few chapters of the book have multiple errors in the self-test answer keys. They are obvious things like Right- A, C, D and Wrong- A, C, D or their descriptions a few pages back contradict the answers. At least one of the electronic practice test questions is the same way.

--After a few runs through the electronic practice test, it's painfully obvious that it is repeating the same questions in the same order every time, not grabbing fresh questions from the question pool for each run or installation. So far their tech support has not replied on this. (original email sent in second week of December)

-- The "Update" link provided in the enclosed software (for test 220) takes you to the publisher's web page for test 218. This page shows that there are no updates available, even though the CD came in a book for the next version of the test. I was unable to find any mention of the 220 test on their website.

---- these items are more aesthetic than technical, but contribute ----
---- to the overall dissatisfaction inspired by and in this book ----

--The wording and emphasis of the book does not match up to the actual test questions.

--The material covered, both in a chapter and overlapped between chapters is laid out in a stumbling and awkward way.

--The "drivetime" audio tracks on the included CD were read by an engineer, not proper audio talent. I found myself subconsciously tuning out the annoying voice.

--The quality (tone, volume and clarity) of the audio tracks was not consistent and one was quite bad.

I have read a few of the reviews on this book and was shocked at what I read. This is an extremely useful (real world and in the testing environment) book and it is not even close to being a 1 or 2 star book. This book is a great start for anyone new to Citrix XP or someone who has worked with Metaframe 1.8. All test topics are covered and they are "Real World" related. I have worked with Citrix for many years and have installed over 100 Citrix servers in banks and savings and loans. I believe that the poor reviewers of this book might be trying to pass the CCA test without installing the product. I do not suggest getting into Citrix without a practice server and contrary to some of the reviewers, you can easily pass with the information from this book.

Scott Spiess CCEA, CCA, MCSE 2K & NT 4.0, CCNA, CCDA, CNA

I'm not entirely certain why people are giving this book 1 star reviews- it's *not* a 5 star book, but in my opinion, it's *not* a 1 star book. I think the books tracks fairly well to the exam (I just sat the XP exam), and if you know the book really well, it *will* help you as you take the test. Believe me, you also have to have hands on with Citrix XP in order to pass.

This is the only book on the market which claims it is an exam study guide, and it does cover all the core concepts, it covers enough to just to pass the exam if you are lucky. The exam certainly chooses to test beyond the contents of this book though. Note : To find the extra questions you need to go through the online chapters and at the end of each chapter there is a QUIZ button which gives you the test questions for that chapter. these are the same as what are in the book though. Anyway lets hope more books are published for Metaframe XP.

I passed 220 today. This book has some worth. It follows the Citrix Guidelines as outlined on citrix.com. However, this box is filled with typos. Questions at the end of the chapters have many errors. Portions of chapters seem to be talking about MetaFrame 1.8. Furthermore, there were some questions on the exam mentioning Citrix subsystems, which were nowhere in this book. I used this book and the PDF's from Citrix's web site. This book is good for granular details like how much hard drive space, RAM, and color resolution you need for MF components. If you have never used MF XP, you will not pass with this book. Furthermore, I would seriously check out the Sybex book to compare it with this before purchasing. This is OK as a reference but only if you have the experience with the product to identify all of the typos (and there are lots!)

The book is good, and the software is almost useless. They claim to have exam updates available on the syngress web site, but the links don't exist. As a matter of fact, a search at syngress.com doesn't even show this book as one they publish. There are only 40 exam questions, which simulates the actual exam, but there's almost no point in retaking the exam because the questions don't change. Some of the answers are wrong as well.

I think the bad reviews you see here are from people who are going the "paper" CCA route--people that don't have the hands on experience with Citrix. This exam is VERY hard if you don't have experience with Metaframe XP and is still very challenging with some experience. This book is a great resource to reinforce the basic fundamentals needed for this test. However, like any other test, do not count on this book alone to pass the test. Ron Oglesby is a great trainer and his knowledge of Citrix is incredible. One word of advice--the software that comes with this book is terrible--don't count on those kind of questions on the test.

I scored only a 68 on the exam using this book. I scored consistently in the 90's on the practice tests from this book, but if only about %60 of the material on the test was actually in the book it makes it hard to get a 72 to pass.

I've never come across a study-book so crammed with mistakes and contradictions. Check out the Admin Guide for Citrix XP, and Citrix' own Skills Update book, but not this piece of junk!
Buy this book if you want to be confused.