I had a chance to use and compare two books when preparing for the new CIT exam (642-831). One was by CiscoPress, another by Sybex.
Well, what can I say... I am very disappointed with Sybex. I think the guy is "criminal" - Todd Lammle that is... I'll try to explain why...
I have nothing personally against him - he may be quite a nice person, he may even know his stuff but I have a feeling that he is not in a business to help us pass the exams... He may be in a business of making money or promoting his Router Simulator software...
The book is infested with errors. Also a LOT of irrelevant information - yes, it may be useful to know but irrelevant for the exam.
It contains old material reprinted under new cover -- that's the impression I'm getting.
For example, first 2-3 chapters - troubleshooting methodology - I think is based on a previous version of CIT exam which had more steps. Compared with current 3 steps Cisco methodology tested on the exam.
The book gives you just too much detail (like LSA types for OSPF -- that's useful for BSCI but not for CIT exam! -- Ciscopress book doesn't have this kind of information at all). It looks like the authors are paid based on the number of pages they write - so they would write whatever just to make it bigger but not directly relevant to the exam. Just look at the size of margins on the pages.
Another thing and this is why I think the guy is a "criminal" is chapter 9 - Troubleshooting Switched Ethernet - total waste of time because all commands presented are not IOS but CatOS!!! I couldn't believe it - Cisco is not testing for CatOS for more than a year now.
Yet the Sybex book still gives you set-based commands - how mean it is! I think they've just copied chapters from the previous version of the book. Besides, in CiscoPress book there is no mention of Troubleshooting Switched Ethernet - what they focus on - is methodology and terminology. And the exam questions directly reflect that terminology!
To be fair I enjoyed reading some chapters (i.e. ch 5, 6) with output of debug statements. Also ch 7 about Frame Relay. It's interesting to learn all of these and may be useful as a work reference but... You don't need to know so many commands for the CIT exam - Cisco Press book for example has much less commands. What they test the most is methodology not the commands - but methodology is somehow wrong in Sybex.
There were a few simulations on the exam where you had to troubleshoot the problem - still those Sybex chapters were not of any help.
I have passed all CCNP exams now with the help of CiscoPress books and Boson tests. And I didn't have much experience at all with Cisco.
If you are considering between Ciscopress and Sybex - Ciscopress is definitely the way to go.
Yes, I think some of you can pass exams with Sybex but IMHO it would be much more difficult. So, please do yourself a favor - buy Ciscopress books. They are sold for the same price as Sybex.
Personally I lost my confidence in Sybex (particularly in Todd Lammle as an author, which is unfortunate). I don't think I will ever buy any of Sybex books. Why bother when there are better (and even cheaper) alternatives on the market.
All the best with your exams.
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