Are the testout videos good enough for mcse

thomas130 · 06-19-2009, 05:38 PM

Hi guys I am looking to start my MCSE track next week at the moment I already have the cbt nuggets videos however I find that James Conrad to annoying to listen too. I also have the testout videos which are much better however will all the material they contain be enough to complete my MCSE. It is also important that I get a good understanding as well because I don’t want to be a paper mcse.

rterrasi · 06-19-2009, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thomas130

Hi guys I am looking to start my MCSE track next week at the moment I already have the cbt nuggets videos however I find that James Conrad to annoying to listen too. I also have the testout videos which are much better however will all the material they contain be enough to complete my MCSE. It is also important that I get a good understanding as well because I don’t want to be a paper mcse.

I am using his cbt's for 70-290 and I do not find him annoying. But to each their own. You seem to be in the fortunate position to own 2 sets of video training; if you can stomach Mr. Conrad go through his stuff and the Testout as well. I would also suggest the Ms Press books as they have some good labs in their to practice with.

With hands on practice I do not think anyone would acuse you of being a paper MCSE. Best of luck.

Daniel333 · 06-19-2009, 06:51 PM

Afraid there is no CBT out there that covers the material enough to pass the exam. You will need lab and book time. Normally 3 or 4 sources and 40+ hours of lab time is what works for me.

skrpune · 06-20-2009, 04:12 AM

I actually missed James Conrad when I started the testout series for 290. It was SO BORING. And the folks weren't very excited about the subject matter. But they did a good job of covering the materials.

dynamik · 06-20-2009, 04:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thomas130

Hi guys I am looking to start my MCSE track next week at the moment I already have the cbt nuggets videos however I find that James Conrad to annoying to listen too. I also have the testout videos which are much better however will all the material they contain be enough to complete my MCSE. It is also important that I get a good understanding as well because I don’t want to be a paper mcse.

Yea, well, James probably thinks you're annoying to teach. Kidding. I didn't really dig him at first, but he does grow on you. He's one of my favorite instructors.

itdaddy · 06-20-2009, 05:41 AM

I have had paul bunker for 290 and well he is kind of emotionless but he grows on you and he is very thorough. I think test out is great they have tons of labs all built in.

cbtnuggest is good to but I agree with Dynamik

that you need a book and cbts and labs time is what I am doing....

cbts + labs + a book + question drills + tech sites on hard stuff + pray = pass

thomas130 · 06-20-2009, 09:49 AM

Could you give me some advice regarding setting up a good lab. Should I physically build my old machine to windows server 2003 or should I use vmware and is there any exercises I can use to setup the labs and test my skills

I don't think I need much practice with XP since I use it on the job everyday and I use active directory to setup account, create securities etc. I just need to gain experience in setting up domains and playing with dns etc.

I really want to gain the skills so when I go for a new job within the next year I can backup my mcse.

pennystrader · 06-20-2009, 12:51 PM

Testout is good at being a good balance of questions, sims and videos and if you could fire up VMWare or VirtualPC and build yourself a small lab on your PC and go through what they are teaching you will be fine. Lab time is crucial to not being a paper MCSE. Good luck and let us know how you do.

I used Transcenders and alot of lab time and did very well the whole track. I have let several friends borrow my Testouts and they have done well along with labbing it all out.

Jordus · 06-20-2009, 12:58 PM

James Conrad can be annoying but the CBT Nuggets are the best series ive seen yet (only used them and TrainSignal)

If i hadnt opened up the CBTs for 640 and saw that Conrad went into 4 times as much detail on AD CS, i would have been screwed on that section for the exam.

thomas130 · 06-20-2009, 02:39 PM

If I use vmware would I need to use one virtual machine with just windows 2003 or would I need some virtual client machines as well to test domains and group policy etc.

hill1221 · 06-20-2009, 09:48 PM

I use TestOut and exam cram books.

mcitp_guru · 06-22-2009, 10:46 AM

I recommend reading right through the MS self-paced training books first and then using the testout videos for each exam. If you jump straight to CBT nuggets or testout before reading the book it is very likely that you will have a very thin understanding over many parts of the course and will probably never read the book in its entirity.

When i study, i use testout and cbt nuggets as a reward to myself after reading through the books, you definately need something fun to look forward to after reading though 1000 pages!

TopTech · 06-22-2009, 12:14 PM

I found that when first starting to study for an exam where I don't have the full motivation or am feeling a bit overwhelmed by the prospect of all the new stuff to learn, that the video training, such as CBT, is a good way to get a general feeling for the whole thing. Just sit back and let someone else drive.
After that, go through a book and do some practical exercises in detail. You can also go through the video again later. In fact as many times as you want.
Set up a test environment using VirtualPC. It's quick and easy to use, with little learning curve.
I'm doing CBT video for my 70-293. Not sure of the instructors name right now, but he is a bit annoying as he goes off rambling about trivial things and I just need to get this exam done.

skrpune · 06-22-2009, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TopTech

I found that when first starting to study for an exam where I don't have the full motivation or am feeling a bit overwhelmed by the prospect of all the new stuff to learn, that the video training, such as CBT, is a good way to get a general feeling for the whole thing. Just sit back and let someone else drive.
After that, go through a book and do some practical exercises in detail. You can also go through the video again later. In fact as many times as you want.
Set up a test environment using VirtualPC. It's quick and easy to use, with little learning curve.
I'm doing CBT video for my 70-293. Not sure of the instructors name right now, but he is a bit annoying as he goes off rambling about trivial things and I just need to get this exam done.

I'm the same way - the videos are a way for me to get an introduction, and I find it so much easier to get through the dry reading of MS Press books after having gone through videos first. I guess to each his/her own, but this light-then-heavy technique is what I've used for most of my certification exams - either using a light review book and/or videos for a first pass, then going to the heavier book(s) afterwards...and if I have time re-viewing the videos. I ended up skipping round two on the videos for my 290 exam, mostly because I ran out of time, but also partially because the TestOut materials are indepth & extensive enough that it wouldn't have been an easy review to go through those again.

I find the TestOut videos much less entertaining than CBT Nuggets (and therefore a little harder to stick with), but they're more indepth and have more materials (simulations/labs, quizzes). If I had unlimited funding, I'd get both CBT & TestOut, but TestOut is the only one that offers a wicked student discount so they've got my business.

msteinhilber · 06-22-2009, 03:20 PM

I have the Testout suite from a couple years ago as well as the most recent one. The most recent videos they switched to require you to login to be able to view the videos. It basically records scores and progress on Testouts site and also likely to ensure nobody is pirating the videos.

I really dislike the new videos, not because of the content - the content is good and the overall concept is still great (a mix of labsims, video training, and text slides). The problem I find is it is incredibly slow almost anytime you have to load one of the slides of text - 30 seconds to a couple minutes at times. A co-worker also has the Server 2008 videos from Testout and also experiences this same problem.

skrpune · 06-22-2009, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by msteinhilber

I have the Testout suite from a couple years ago as well as the most recent one. The most recent videos they switched to require you to login to be able to view the videos. It basically records scores and progress on Testouts site and also likely to ensure nobody is pirating the videos.

I really dislike the new videos, not because of the content - the content is good and the overall concept is still great (a mix of labsims, video training, and text slides). The problem I find is it is incredibly slow almost anytime you have to load one of the slides of text - 30 seconds to a couple minutes at times. A co-worker also has the Server 2008 videos from Testout and also experiences this same problem.

Really?? How do you have it installed? Are you running it off the disc, or did you install it to your hard drive? I did the HD install and it never takes that long for the individual text "slides" to load up - I just tested it and it took barely a couple seconds. If you are working off the CD, I'd suggest installing the info to the HD & see if that speeds things up for ya.

If you go to your "account home" and then click on "Install/Uninstall" under "setup" you can make sure that it's running off your HD & not the CD.

RobertKaucher · 06-23-2009, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daniel333

Afraid there is no CBT out there that covers the material enough to pass the exam. You will need lab and book time. Normally 3 or 4 sources and 40+ hours of lab time is what works for me.

I would go farther and say there is no single resource that will be suficent (accept for the Internet itself) to give you the required information needed to pass any MSCE exam. You will always need multiple resources, but testout is one of the best.

I have used testout for several Microsoft exams and have not experienced the issues with slowness that some reported here. I have used the 431, 290, and 270 CDs. I felt very well prepared by the 431 CD and used it as one of my primary study materials. Had I read the requirements on the simulations better I would have probably passed some where in the high 800s.