Rating: 
Summary: I passed the test on thr first try using ONLY this book
Review: I passed the test with a 835 out of 1000, needed 699 to pass. very good book, excellent! This book along with hands-on, and the ccprep.com web site, their practice test simulates the real thing.Good Luck!
Rating:
Summary: Test Passed!
Review: I purchased this book because I had taken the BCMSN course but the course material content was full of errors. I had taken the Beta exam and missed passing by only a few points so I had an idea of what to study. This book is easy to read. Not as dry as a lot of other material and had pertinent information. I recommend this book as well as some lab time/hands on switch time and review for passing Cisco 640-504 switching test.
Rating: 
Summary: Very well organised
Review: I read this book twice, I practiced a little bit on a C6509 (no C1900 at disposal as required by test), I passed the Switch 2.0 with 890/1000, first time. The book is perfectly organized, complete and clearly written, at least in relation with the Cisco test.
Suggestion: I was really astonished to find so a big amount of errors in case studies (end of each chapter) so it's better to spend your time doing your own trials.
Rating:
Summary: Easy to understand, but inconsistently edited
Review: I used this book along with one Boson practice test and passed with a score of 900 on the first sitting. It tracks very well with the contents of the exam. The chapters are fairly easy to follow having to go back and re-read only a couple of them. There are some terms that are used inconsistently but they would not prevent anyone from passing the test. The case studies at the end of each chapter seem pointless except for those that have several Catalyst 6500s lying around. I found the information in Appendix B to be very useful, although it is not covered in the exam. It explains some of the terms that Cisco's web site often uses but never defines. Overall, this book is well worth the money spent. There is no need to spend the cash for a second book when studying for the 640-604. It has all the information needed for this exam but you will need to have a solid understanding of it to do well. Good luck!
Rating:
Summary: Passd the 640-604 with a 900 with this book
Review: I used this book along with one Boson practice test and passed with a score of 900 on the first sitting. It tracks very well with the contents of the exam. The chapters are fairly easy to follow having to go back and re-read only a couple of them. There are some terms that are used inconsistently but they would not prevent anyone from passing the test. The case studies at the end of each chapter seem pointless except for those that have several Catalyst 6500s lying around. I found the information in Appendix B to be very useful, although it is not covered in the exam. It explains some of the terms that Cisco's web site often uses but never defines. Overall, this book is well worth the money spent. There is no need to spend the cash for a second book when studying for the 640-604. It has all the information needed for this exam but you will need to have a solid understanding of it to do well. Good luck!
Rating:
Summary: A good study guide
Review: If you are preparing yourself for Cisco's Switching exam (640-504), or you just want to know more about Cisco's switches, this is a very good book. It has helped me towards my CCNP 2.0 certification. However, at this price, it should at least have a CDROM with sample questions.
Rating: 
Summary: did the job but was hell to get through
Review: it got me through the exam but wasn't an easy read. The first time i read the chapters on multicast i was totally confused. After the fifth read it sank in. Notes:
The test questions at the end were brief and not multi-choice. I didn't find them much use, nothing like the exam questions. The labs at the end of each chapter take up a lot of the book and aren't much use without the kit. After reading through them once i never re-read those parts of the book. The appendix at the end consists of the answers and a small switching architecture description section. So the actual amount of study material in the book is very small but concise and detail heavy.
There are a few errors but the one on page 301 is major, the ip address on the first paragraph should read 224.0.0.2 (all router group address) and not 224.0.0.1(all hosts). Lastly, this books does not mention rmon and i had a question on it in the exam. overall, i passed with 850/1000 so the book did it's job but it was a hard crawl due to the way this book was written.
Rating: 
Summary: Push it out the door.....
Review: My impression is that it was quickly written and not very well thought out. The flow of the information is poorly organized, and the examples, diagrams, and terms are buggy. I haven't taken the CCNP test yet, but this book scares me. I've been networking since the early days of "thin-net" and perhaps I am thinking beyond the scope of the book... All in all not a very scientific endeavor.
Rating:
Summary: Used this book to pass BCMSN
Review: Passed the BCMSN by using just this book. Give yourself time with topics like VLANS/VTP/STP/MLS. Read every word and you cant fail the exam. Two questions were right out of this books end-of-chapter questions. Can't say more because of the NDA. Anyway, also read just a little generic "the different components and modules" of the Catalyst 5000 switch....from Cisco documentation. Four stars because of the writing style. A little boring at times and the same thing said over and over. I think the mapping of multicast IP addr to 01-00-5E-xx-xx-xx could have been better explained with a detailed example. Work that one out in detail...with paper and pencil till u get whats being said. Again VLANS/VTP/STP/MLS (every command, every detail).........all else, just read once thats it. Conceptual knowledge will get you through for sure even if u dont know a single command ......and this book does that well.
Rating:
Summary: Read the book and pass the exam.
Review: Passed the exam today 13/01/01. The only book to prepare myself was this one (and some test, of course). The arguments are explained in a gradual manner and the concepts are clearly exposed and used. I like the "task simulation" at the end of every chapter. It's a good book also not only for the exam but to understand CISCO's switching technologies. It's a pitty there is no cd-rom with exercises with the book.
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