Customer Reviews

MCSE Exchange Server 5.5 Exam Cram (Exam: 70-081)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

This book was horrible. It was incomplete in some spots, and simply wrong in others. Avoid this book as a study guide.

I became an MCSE today, but not because of this book. I think that other books in this series are fairly good (particularly the OS books), but as you can see from the other reviews, there are numerous errors in this book. (Watch out for a particularly nasty ones like on page 298 in the %DiskTime note--"less than 90" should read "more than 90"--very misleading, though this paragraph has nothing to do with Exchange to begin with!)

The style is rather hard to follow, too. They give you lots of background on things you don't need to know (particulary about NT Server), and some of the questions are ludicrously frivolous. (There are ___ ways to change a meeting time for an event that is already created. a. 0 b. 1 c. 2 d. 3 e. 4 My answer: f. Who cares?) What makes it worse is that some critical information is only presented as a bulleted item in one of many poorly explained lists.

The cram sheet in the front, unlike in the other books in this series, is utterly useless. It barely touched the surface of what was on my test; it's more like a high-level glossary.

If you seriously want to pass 70-081, buy Sybex's Exchange Server 5.5 Study Guide (ISBN 0-7821-2261-2) instead. It's a lot clearer, more accurate, and not as long as it looks. If you can answer all the of questions in it and know why the answers are right, I guarantee (morally, not legally :-) that you'll pass 70-081 without any problem.

So the nutshell version of my review boils down to this: This book claims to be "the first and last book you need to read before taking your certification exam." I think it's more like "the one you skip."

I've passed my MCSE+Internet now, and this was by far the least helpful in the Exam Cram series, lacking the readibility of others in the series, and missing out on large sections of important topics. I notice that the authors for this book differ to most of the earlier Exam Crams, and I'll be keeping an eye out for their names in future - so I can avoid it!

Book lacks structure, and is therefore very difficult to read. Author jumps from subject to subject without warning, and provides unnecessary details on irrelevent topics. Would only recommend this book to someone who has a firm knowledge of Exchange, but would like to learn more. Definately not a test-prep book.

This is my last Microsoft exams (completed EVERY MCSE exams , SMS, SNA, IIS, etc) and since the initial books for NT looks OK, I decided to take a look at this book for exchange. Conclusion, the publisher has gone way off his bonker to release this junk. Since then, I have look at the rest of the series and the only books of any standards are the initial NT Server and NT WKS exams crams, the rest stinks. Trust me, I've done ALL the exams cover by EXAM cram without using any except this and it sucks. The only books worst than this is the "DUMMY" series !!

As an experienced Exchange Admin who is just brushing up on a few points for the exam, it would seem a book touting itself as an "Exam Cram" would be just the ticket. What a disappointment. It took me only about an hour with this book to cast it aside. It offers wrong answers to test questions, along with a lot of poorly written questions that are nothing like the actual exam. When I see such low regard for accuracy with the things I'm familar with, I can't trust the rest of the material. As for being a reference for day-to-day use, as some other reviews suggest, that's a joke. There isn't enough depth.

The Sybex book on this is good for brushing up on areas like the silly MS Mail Connector that MS still pounds you on. Trancender is still the best for exam simulations. As for day-to-day admin, nothing beats TechNet and the MS Knowledge Base.

All I can say is that it is well written book. If you pay attentions to all the details, it bocomes very handy tool for exam as well as for real life exprience.

There are lots of errors in this book.

This book covers thematerial, but unless you are an Exchange guru and just want to augmentwhat you know, don't bother. The Sybex Exchange book by Easlick and Chellis is really the definitive resource for those trying to learn the product. Not much sense in reading it unless you have some extra free time.

I realize that one must read a multitude of books on a topic to become well read in that subject, but this book is a definite waste of time. I can only say that I spent most of my time reading the Sybex Exchange Server 5.5 book and I received a 900 on my test the first time. Not to mention that this book doesn't come with any CD Rom material (practice tests or otherwise) whereas other study guides do. Take your time and choose wisely.

Do not use this book as your only source of study material, there are just too many errors.