I could not get the book here in Argentina, so i buyed thrue amazon.com, the book covers all the exam for the CCNA certification, and has a good introduction in networking!...
Thanks

I just aced the Intro exam using only the Intro book of this set for preparation. It's extremely well-written, concise, with very few discrepancies (although there really shouldn't be any), and provides comprehensive enough information to be used as a sole study guide for the Intro exam (although I did go through the Cisco CCNA Academy as well). I only have two complaints about this set: first, the chapter on subnetting is really only useful for the questions at the beginning and end of the chapter (the author provides a convoluted way of doing subnetting, but given the time contraints of the exam, you're much better off just getting proficient at binary-to-decimal math -- you only have to deal with 8 bits at a time, folks -- and working with individual network/subnet/host bits to solve problems -- in fact, if you do this enough, you're likely to be able to do most, if not all, of the work for these types of problems in your head). Second, the test engine on the CD-ROM included with the set has limited utility (it only partially prepares you for the environment -- i.e. question type/format -- of the actual exam, its question base does not cover all the material in the book evenly, and has several scoring errors -- for example, I tried every permutation possible to get the switch simulator questions involving creating VLANs correct, but never could). Now, on to the ICND...if that book is anywhere near as good as the Intro book, I'm set.

These two books helped me pass the test (640-801) on the first try after about two months of self-study. I also used and recommend Boson Netsim, even if you have access to a live Cisco network for the hands-on lessons. I also used and less enthusiastically recommend the CCNA Flash Cards and Exam Practice Pack which is worth the price, but is incomplete in its coverage and annoyingly produced.

Building on what some of the other reviews have written, I thought these books are very well structured and clearly written. Each chapter is framed by a "Do I know This Already?" Quiz at the beginning and a Q& A section at the end which I found to be well done and useful. Frequently, I found I didn't know enough detail and depth about things that I thought I knew. And several times that level of detail was crucial to answering questions on the actual exam. Also Odom provides some nice tips for quickly solving subnetting problems; which is one of the things that I knew but needed to know better. And the CD with the practice questions was very useful and, I thought, very true to the actual exam.

There are a few typos in the book and a few things that perhaps could have been better explained, but these are really minor problems for such a substantial work that has so much right about it. Frankly, more often I was wrong when I thought I'd come across a typo, and nailing it down really fixed whatever detail it was in my mind. Do print out the errata and keep it handy. You'll probably also want to fill out your studying by looking at some Cisco papers on the web; I found myself reading more at Cisco about EIGRP, configuring NAT and zero subnets the night before the test. I recommend avoiding most other free study sources on the web because they are rife with errors.

Having now taken and passed the test and reflecting on where I was weakest; I'd have to say the only major weakness from my book and netsim studies was with troubleshooting. Here more experience with a production or real test network would have come in handy. You need to know which show and debug commands to use for particular problems, where to look for errors across multiple routers in your configuration or to see problems in your route tables, and such. And you need to do this all quickly. These books cover the commands but don't give you problems where you need to apply them.

One final comment about why I liked and recommend these books is that while they are focused on the test and giving you tips about passing the test; they also do a really good job of teaching you about the topics and not just what you nee d to answer the questions. There was enough theory and history to help contextualize why these technologies developed in the way they did; what their strengths and weaknesses are, what problems they solved and created and so on.

For what it is for, this book is great. And it is also one of the easiest to follow technical books I have ever read.

INTRO gives you a great overview of OSI layer 1-4 and 7. Session and Presentation layer were not covered as much as other layers. Mostly used protocols on each layer were explained well though some of the protocols need more work such as SNMP. Cabling is also covered in the intro book which is good.
ICND starts to pick up pace. STP, routing protocols, advanced routing, advanced tcp/ip, and wan technologies are covered in this book which could get you a little frustrated if you are a beginner. Keep at it and you will be fine. Do not give up.

There are some typos (honestly not that many) so go to book's website and get a list of erratas. I agree with some other reviews that the book does not cover everthing that could be on the exam but you should pass the exam with only these 2 books if you thorougly understand everything. For example, OSPF DR BDR and neighboring relationship are not covered very well.

For sim questions, make sure you remember VLAN, RIP, OSPF, EIGRP, NAT, and dynamic NAT configurations cold. These will be on the exam. At the mean time, you could spend less time on frame relay and ISDN configs because I think the chances of those showing up as your sim question is almost 0.

Good luck on your exam

This is a very indepth library for an aspiring CCNA. These books are packed full of entry-level Cisco and networking knowledge. However, do not rely on these books alone to pass the CCNA. Be sure to pick up Todd Lammle's CCNA book to prepare you for the test.