What's up with the sybex book?

[Jim Bertorelli]

I had ordered this book at the start of the month but the page still says:

This item will be published on June 15, 2002. You may order it now and we will ship it to you when it arrives.

Did anybody get his copy yet? I hate this tactics of locking customers. Why can't they give the right date?

[sripri23]

ya.. i ordered it too.
and did not get the book yet !!

[J Reddi]

YES: SYBEX book is published.
I ordered through Amazon.com (on 18/june/2002) and reminded them that book was published on 15/june/2002.
Today(27/june/2002) I got a message from Amazon saying that they got the shipments and they have lots of pending orders and orders will be shipped as first come first bases. They said that it may take few days for the shipments to finish
J. REddi
SCJP2

[Gary Moncrief]

I got my book yesterday.

[Sudha Deshmukh]

Is the book available in Borders or barnes & Noble?
Thanks
Sudha.

[Andreas Christoforides]

Im thiking of ordering the SYBEX book. The description mentions that the book includes a CD with an exam engine with 3 tests. Is the exam engine JWeb+ by enthuware or is it something completely different?
Also, for those who already got the book, how long did it take to get the book from the time of your order?

[Joe Murray]

Got mine today (Jul 12) from Amazon with their super saver free shipping. I think that means they walk it from the warehouse to my mailbox. anyway, I ordered it on June 25th before it was in stock and it was shipped on the 3rd.

[Thomas Kijftenbelt]

hi,
yesterday I got my book too.
TK

[Joe Man]

Guys,
The book comes with a CD. In order to use the test program or read the PDF book, you need to leave the CD inside computer. It has this high level security protecting the program and PDF file now.
The book is pretty good. It covers alot of stuff in detail. However, there are few mistakes you have to watch out for. I think the book should of have someone proof read it few times before publishing it. Anyway, it is still a good book..

[luis meira]

have you tried the open source program gsview/ghostscript ?
you probably be allowed to read and print this pdf using this program.
best regards
Luis Meira

Originally posted by Joe Man:
Guys,
The book comes with a CD. In order to use the test program or read the PDF book, you need to leave the CD inside computer. It has this high level security protecting the program and PDF file now.
The book is pretty good. It covers alot of stuff in detail. However, there are few mistakes you have to watch out for. I think the book should of have someone proof read it few times before publishing it. Anyway, it is still a good book..

[Panagiotis Varlagas]

OK guys, now that you've got your books,
could you impart to the rest of us your first impression of the book? Do you feel it is worthwhile in preparing for the test?
Thanks,
Panagiotis.

[Mark Fletcher]

Hi,
I ordered my copy from Amazon.co.uk at the beginning of the month. The status of the order shows a delivery date sometime between the 18th and the 25th of July.
Cheers!
Mark

[Al Pearson]

Just got my book (from Amazon) and it looks ok. The CD sucks. The E-book requires geeky install, acceptable perhaps to the jealous owners of this intellectual property, bu not to me as a consumer.
Can't give details on the sample tests as when I run any of them, all I get is a blank screen.
The book is about 30% the thickness (and weight) of the J2 Programmer Cert Guide, so all the muscular tone I gained in my arms and fingers training for the programmer exam will be lost.
Also got Professional JSP 2nd, which seems faster paced and denser, in comparison.
Can't say much more, as I've only read the first 50 pages.

[Ken Pelletier]

I have to say that book was quite a disappointment.
The only way I'd say that book was worth its price is if you were paying by weight; it is rather heavy, I'll give it that much. ;-)
Read some of the Amazon reviews and you'll see quotes such as 'bordering on fraud', and 'a proofreading nightmare', to cite just a few.
It is literally infested with errors and much of the wording is downright befuddling.
It is a challenge to the imagination that this book would have been published in the state it is in.
Save your money.

[Tracy Woo]

Thank you, Ken. And what is your (anybody) opinion on the Manning book? There is only one review on amazon for it.

[Joe Man]

I tottaly agree with Ken Pelletier. The book was quite a disappointment. The book didn't organize the materials correctly. Too many mistakes here and there. i wasted $40 or so on it
My opinion on the Manning book is 4 stars(*****). Excellent book especially the JWebPlus that comes with it. I think that if you can pass the JWebPlus mock exams, you can pass the real exam.

[Leon Zhou]

I ordered this book with another book from www.booksamillion.com 5 days ago. They shipped it and they will arrive at tommorrow by ups. Lower price than amazon if you get the membership, or same price.

[Kavitha Chandrasekaran]

I ordered it through bookpool.com when it still said "not in stock". But I got it in 3 days.

[Jessica Sant]

Originally posted by Ken Pelletier:
It is literally infested with errors and much of the wording is downright befuddling.
It is a challenge to the imagination that this book would have been published in the state it is in.
Save your money.

I haven't read it -- but the errata is pretty extensive.
I read the SCWCD Exam Study Kit by Manning (the review should be posted soon) -- it's an excellent book and I definately recommend it.

[Kavitha Chandrasekaran]

Originally posted by Joe Man:
I tottaly agree with Ken Pelletier. The book was quite a disappointment. The book didn't organize the materials correctly. Too many mistakes here and there. i wasted $40 or so on it
My opinion on the Manning book is 4 stars(*****). Excellent book especially the JWebPlus that comes with it. I think that if you can pass the JWebPlus mock exams, you can pass the real exam.

I have just ordered the Manning Book. Does it mean that I need not buy the JWebPlus separately from enthuware.com. Does the entire JWebPlus come with it?

[Gary Moncrief]

I just finished reading the whole sybex book. I thought it was OK, better than reading a whole lot of different books. I did notice quite a few problems, but I wasn't disgusted by it I just ordered the Manning book mentioned in this thread. I will compare the two.

[tony franz]

I don't really understand all these negative comments about the Levi/Heller. I'm taking the SCWCD exam in two weeks. Until a week ago, I was using "More Servlets and JSPs" from Marty Hall.
But am I glad I bought the Levi book now! I have just finished studying it in detail, and I find it is SO MUCH better as an exam-prep book. Much more focused, much easier to understand, far better structured, and lots of test-yourself questions.
I admit, I haven't tried the CD yet, as I'm leaving that for the upcoming revision phase. But I have no complaints about the book. Yes, there are some errors - but we're adults, I think we can cope with that!
Tony.