Basically this book is a summary of writer's book of "CCNA Study Guide Exam 640-801". Even the words are the exact same (verbatim)! The only difference is that the "CCNA Study Guide Exam 640-801" has more discussion of theory and basic knowledge involved. My guess is that the publisher only "cut and paste" and orginize in different style.

I don't say that this is good or bad book. I just want to inform you what you will get from this book. If you have the writer's book "CCNA Study Guide Exam 640-801", then you may want to consider the following:

1) Do you need another book with redundant content (even with verbatim words)?

2) Do you need a summary book of the "CCNA Study Guide Exam 640-801"?

If you say "yes" to at least one of the above questions, then go ahead and buy this book. If you say "no", then maybe you want to check out Ciscopress's CCNA exam preparation books. This way, you can get different point of view of how to prepare CCNA exam; which I think will enrich your knowledge and preparation.

Now if you don't have the writer's book of "CCNA Study Guide Exam 640-801", then you may get this book as a study guide. However keep in mind that as mentioned previously, this book is more of a summary which include minimal background theory. Therefore if you think you don't have proper understanding of such theory, you might want to pick up the writer's book of "CCNA Study Guide Exam 640-801" instead.

Either path you choose, Lamme's book of CCNA preparations have been recognized as a "good book to pass CCNA exam". Please note that this statement is not advertising. This statement have been said by numerous people who had good experience in reading Lamme's and passed the CCNA exam in first try. So you should not go wrong! :)

Final word, I wish you all good luck to pass CCNA exam at first try. Keep in mind that CCNA certification only looks good in resume, however it does not guarantee you to get your "dream job". Heck, even a lot of CCIE have the same problem. Another important side is that you should have various "big-corporation" networking knowledge as well. Think of Cisco certification as "validation" or "formality" of your networking knowledge and skill and NOT as "guarantee" of getting dream jobs :D

I took the 840-801 Exam. I figure that one 90 minute 55 question test is better than two 60 minute 55 question tests. The test had 3 lab simulations, and quite a few questions on OSPF routing. I had taken the cisco academy class online prior to reading this book, and I have done many labs on real cisco equipment. I feel this book is best used as an accessory to the labs. Overall though this is a good book to use as a guide to help you pass the exam. However, I would not suggest picking up this book if you have no experience with networking at all. The book covers what you need to pass the test and not so much the major conceptual knowege that I feel a good netowork tech should have.

Ready to tackle the 640-801 CCNA Exam? Want to do some last minute prepping? Looking for the Sybex Exam Notes? With the release of the CCNA Fast Pass you can now get that final study session and be ready to go.

The book's new name, replacing the Exam Notes series, has the same material you have come to expect from Sybex and Todd Lammle. The book takes the objectives, breaks them down 1 by 1 and gives you the meat the subject.

This is the perfect add-on the CCNA Study and Virtual Lab for the 801 Exam. One thing that I like about this book is that even though it is a "cram" type of reading, there are labs and exercises that you can work on.

The book is broken down in to four chapters or areas and each one covers a great deal material. One thing to keep in mind is that this is not the end-all book; you will need other material in order to pass the exam.

Also included is a cd with a number of practice tests and overall this is an excellent final review book and well worth the investment.