Premium Edition: Best eBook Option

Want eBooks for the new #CCENT and #CCNA Routing and Switching certs? You can just buy the eBook using your favorite eReader. But most people find Cisco Press’s Premium Edition eBooks to be much more valuable. Why? You get the eBook in multiple formats. You get access to the same practice exams as you do wth the print books. Plus, you get extra practice exams not available with the print books. This post discusses the whole idea of the Cisco Press Premium Edition program, and specifically those products for the new ICND1 and ICND2 Cert Guides.

The “Premium Edition eBook and Practice Test” Products from Cisco Press

First, for quick overview, Cisco Press has been adding a new electronic product to their product portfolio each time they publish a new print book in the Official Cert Guide series. These products have a name with the phrase “Premium Edition eBook and Practice Test”. That phrase outlines the product features:

• An eBook version of the print book, in several formats
• Practice tests, with practice test software and practice exams

The rest of the post breaks down some more detail about each.

Multiple eBook Formats – Read the Book on Any Device

Each Premium Edition product comes with multiple eBook files. By giving you several types of files, you can read the book most anywhere – on your favorite eReader, and your tablet, and your PC. The formats are:

EPUB – native format for most eReaders other than Amazon Kindle.

MOBI – the native format for Amazon Kindle, which allows resizing of text, for instance.

PDF – Maintains consistent look and feel compared to the printed book, including page numbers. Can also be viewed on most any eReader.

To read more about the formats, click the link for the ICND1 or the ICND2 Premium Edition books, and look for the “About Premium Edition eBooks” link. Figure 1 shows an image of one such help page.

Figure 1: Help Page for eBook File Formats from Ciscopress.com

A Different Installation Process

Purchasing a Premium Edition product from Cisco Press does require you to do a few additional steps compared to purchasing an eBook using an eReader. When you purchase the Premium Edition product at Ciscopress.com, you have to establish a login at the web site. Once purchased, the product shows up with your account, under “Digital Purchases”, as shown in Figure 2. Note that it shows the EPUB, MOBI, and PDF files listed in text just to the right of the book cover.

Figure 2: Sample Account Page at Ciscopress.com Listing the ICND1 Premium Edition

From this page, you can refresh your files and also download them. The refresh process updates your file to include fixes to any known typos. Then you can download the file. From there, you can follow a few other steps (detailed in some help pages linked from the same web page shown in Figure 2) to install the files onto your device.

License to Use the Same Exams as Those Who Buy the Print Book – Plus More Exams!

The Premium Edition books include the same content found on the DVD that comes with the print book. In particular, it includes the PCPT exam software and exam question banks.

When you buy the print versions of the new ICND1 100-101 Cert Guide and the new ICND2 200-101 Cert Guide, the DVD includes an installer for the PCPT exam software, plus a license code on a piece of cardboard inside the DVD sleeve. (Do not lose the piece of cardboard!) Once installed, the license code unlocks the rights to various exams associated with the book. If you plug in the license code, you can download all the “exams” – that is, a database of questions that the PCPT software will use. Figure 3 shows the exam banks you should see when you buy the print book.

Figure 3 – Exam Banks Included with the ICND1 Print Book

The ICND1 Premium Edition and Practice Tests product includes a license code that gives you rights to all the exams in Figure 3, plus additional exams only available by purchasing the Premium Edition. The full name of these Premium Edition eBook products includes the phrase “and Practice Tests”. That part of the name means more than simply “you get some practice tests”. It means that you get all the practice exams that come with the print book, plus additional exams. That’s right.

(Note that the same basic logic applies to the ICND2 Premium Edition product as well.) Figure 4 shows the fact that those who buy the ICND1 Premium Edition get two more 50+ question ICND1 exams, plus two more 50+ question CCNA exams.

Figure 4 – Extra Exam Banks Included with the ICND1 Premium Edition

Getting the Best Deal: eBook Only

So, what should you do if you do not want a printed book at all, and just want the Premium Edition products? Well, you can buy them any time, of course, and start using them. Cisco Press has a pretty much permanent discount on their web site. But if you want to save a few more bucks…

• Create a login at ciscopress.com, and answer about a dozen questions about who you are. Then look in your “account” area for discount codes. For instance, I just did it when writing this post, and the web sit popped a 30% off code into my account.
• Follow Cisco Press at Facebook or Twitter, and watch for sale notices there as well.
• Check this link for specific eBook deals, including the eBook deal of the week.

Getting the Best Deal: Print + eBook

Many people who buy the print versions of the new ICND1 100-101 Cert Guide and the new ICND2 200-101 Cert Guide also want the eBooks for convenience. The Premium Edition gives you is the eBook version of the same book, plus more practice exams.

If you fall in this category, use the 70% off coupon!

The back of each print ICND1 and ICND2 print book has a light cardboard insert with two codes. Once is the license code for the PCPT exams, and the other side has a one-time coupon code for 70% off the Premium Edition. Basically, for an extra $12, you can get the eBook, plus the extra exams outlined earlier in this post. It’s a pretty nice deal.