Comments on: TestOut vs. Examsaver – a tale of two CBTs http://tjschmitz.com/blog/2007/12/06/testout-vs-examsaver-a-tale-of-two-cbts/ It's all about me, right? Sat, 24 Dec 2011 21:52:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Steve L http://tjschmitz.com/blog/2007/12/06/testout-vs-examsaver-a-tale-of-two-cbts/comment-page-1/#comment-342 Steve L Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:09:34 +0000 http://cstarsys.com/blog/2007/12/06/testout-vs-examsaver-a-tale-of-two-cbts/#comment-342 I received a call from ExamSaver selling the gold/platinum membership and after some consideration I opted to pick up the Platinum; figuring that I could opt out during the evaluation period if I felt reservations. Well, trial period is winding down and I'm feeling that I might want to pursue the return option. I'm not completely convinced that a lifetime membership is the way to go with these guys. Anyone considering it I would recomend trying an individual product first. I'm sure they'll offer you a deal again in the future if you feel that you want the lifetime membership. I don't have much experience with CBTs, but I'll agree that the software doesn't seem all that adaptive. The questions have helped me figure out what I needed to study to some degree. By the same token I kind of know what I don't know. The explanations vary in quality. I'm afraid that I might be getting good at answering examsaver questions but not necessarily mastering the material. The books you can always grab on Amazon for a fraction of the retail price, so the book incentive to purchasing a membership is a rtoss-up. Granted future shipping is included with the membreship, but it a big up front commitment. The 'Ask an Expert' support can apparently only be used within the context of questions from the software. Just for kicks I sent them a problem I was having with some code, they told me in no uncertain terms that my question was out of scope. You might do just as well with the internet - without waiting for a response. The response to my question took about 6 hours to reach me. By for the 'Ask the Expert' help is the most expensive part of the cost and could be hte most valuable, but if the scope of support is limited to questions from the software I have a hard time justifying the price. In most cases the questions either have sufficient explanations or an explanation is easily accessible online. I don't feel that I was mislead at all, maybe a bit unclear about the limits of the 'ask the expert' support. I want to like these guys, but the problem with a lifetime membership is that it's the lifetime of the company offering it and I'm not confident at this point that they wont close their door and leave me hanging. I'd recommend anyone that is interested start with a software only order and evaluate the training software to see how they feel about it. I took the 70-315 MS Web Apps C#/VB.NET I received a call from ExamSaver selling the gold/platinum membership and after some consideration I opted to pick up the Platinum; figuring that I could opt out during the evaluation period if I felt reservations.

Well, trial period is winding down and I’m feeling that I might want to pursue the return option. I’m not completely convinced that a lifetime membership is the way to go with these guys. Anyone considering it I would recomend trying an individual product first. I’m sure they’ll offer you a deal again in the future if you feel that you want the lifetime membership.

I don’t have much experience with CBTs, but I’ll agree that the software doesn’t seem all that adaptive. The questions have helped me figure out what I needed to study to some degree. By the same token I kind of know what I don’t know. The explanations vary in quality. I’m afraid that I might be getting good at answering examsaver questions but not necessarily mastering the material.

The books you can always grab on Amazon for a fraction of the retail price, so the book incentive to purchasing a membership is a rtoss-up. Granted future shipping is included with the membreship, but it a big up front commitment.

The ‘Ask an Expert’ support can apparently only be used within the context of questions from the software. Just for kicks I sent them a problem I was having with some code, they told me in no uncertain terms that my question was out of scope. You might do just as well with the internet – without waiting for a response. The response to my question took about 6 hours to reach me. By for the ‘Ask the Expert’ help is the most expensive part of the cost and could be hte most valuable, but if the scope of support is limited to questions from the software I have a hard time justifying the price. In most cases the questions either have sufficient explanations or an explanation is easily accessible online.

I don’t feel that I was mislead at all, maybe a bit unclear about the limits of the ‘ask the expert’ support. I want to like these guys, but the problem with a lifetime membership is that it’s the lifetime of the company offering it and I’m not confident at this point that they wont close their door and leave me hanging.

I’d recommend anyone that is interested start with a software only order and evaluate the training software to see how they feel about it.

I took the 70-315 MS Web Apps C#/VB.NET

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