CompTIA Security+ Review Guide, Includes CD: Exam SY0-301
Reinforce your preparation for CompTIA’s new Security+ exam with this focused review toolBefore you take CompTIA’s new Security+ exam SY0-301, reinforce your learning with a thorough review and lots of practice. The new edition of this concise guide helps you do just that. It covers all six domains of exam SY0-301, all exam objectives, and includes a helpful “Exam Essentials” section after each domain to help you zero in on what you need to know for the exam. A companion CD offers additional stu
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Price: $ 15.85
Logitech Alert 750e Outdoor Master Security Camera System with Night Vision (961-000337)
- Please note: Logitech Alert Digital Security Systems are not backwards compatible with Logitech WiLife Digital Security Systems
- HD-quality video with night vision and 130 Degrees wide-angle lens
- Free, remote viewing of live video on your computer or smart phone (iPhone, Android or BlackBerry)
- Motion-triggered recording and alerts
- Windows-based PC needed for set-up and control
Logitech alert 750e outdoor master system is the weatherproof, night vision video security system you can set up yourself and count on when you need it. installation is simple and takes just minutes. 750e and 700e are the same physical camera and has same manual, the only difference being the 750e has the additional components which is required to build the complete system.
List Price: $ 349.99
Price: $ 298.00
Related Security Products
Follows the Objectives Exactly,
Update 9/12/2011: I passed the exam today; 833/900. Not stellar but OK. There were questions on the exam that were not found in any of the three books I used. Many questions were poorly worded or didn’t contain enough information to properly answer the question. I found that to be true with both A+ and Net+. Aside from that, I still found this book to be excellent. Use it along with the Mike Meyers Passport book and use it for cross referencing. Unlike A+ or Net+, the Sec+ exam is pure memorization with little problem solving. Skip the monstrous Sybex book. It has way too much information not pertinent to the exam. This book is right on target but contains some errors that you will want to cross-reference with the Passport book.
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I haven’t taken the test yet but I thought I might review this book before and after the test. As best that I can tell, there are only three SY0-301 books available right now and I think I have all three: The Sybex book by Emmett Dulaney which I don’t like, the Mike Meyers Passport book (really written by T. J. Samuell), which I like, and this one. What I really like about this book is that it follows the Security+ objectives exactly. The other books you would literally have to cut apart and rearrange them to get them in the order of the objectives. However, I guess the reasoning behind that is that if you follow the objectives exactly, there are topics (SQL injection for example) that aren’t fully defined until later in the objectives. Before you start studying, go to CompTIA website and print out the objectives. You will find a lot of repetition in the objectives, which probably is why the other two books are so out of order. However, this book ignores that, and does repeat itself, which is good. I would not use this book alone to study. I decided to take a two book approach (as I have always done for A+ and Network+) using the Passport book as a first read and now this book to type up my note sheet, following the objectives in order. That way if you see a topic that hasn’t been defined yet in this book, you will know what it is already from the Passport book. I haven’t looked at the chapter review questions yet or the CD so I can’t comment on those. The CD’s are usually a disappointment anyway and nothing like the real exam. I like to do those after I have completed and studied my note sheet.
Pros: Follow objectives exactly. “Understand” sections give a concise one or two sentence definition review that is useful for note sheets. Most topics are clear and concise without extraneous information. Excellent diagrams.
Cons: Some topics are a bit confusing or not developed enough. Use a two-book approach.
Definitely worth your money.
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i use this book,
i use this book in my classes all the time, to explain hard concepts to my students. i recommend this book and the study guide. i like Mr. James M. Stewart writing style. i have bought both the book on hard copy and digital.
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Great book! Combine it with free study guides on the web!,
Great resource, used it as my main – studied for about 5 weeks and got a 825/900. Combine it with ProProfs free study guides and cram sheets and you will be good to go!
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Outstanding features, attic installation and UPS power backup – here is how!,
First of all the SETUP is very easy. The on screen prompts will take you though the steps.
1. Install the software.
2. Plug the master network adapter into the power outlet and plug the Ethernet cable into your router
3. Plug the camera into power outlet and click yes to update firmware (adapters and camera).
NOTE: Do not unplug the camera or the master adapter during the update.
Wow that was easy. It took less than 15 minutes to get the system up and running.
You can even use your neighbors WiFi signal (please ask first) – more below.
PICTURE QUALITY
The picture quality is great (but not HD and not what you have come to expect from a digital camera) during daylight hours but not so great at capturing clear pictures of moving objects in total darkness. However in my case I have a flood light with motion detector that comes on when someone enters the area at night making the video bright and clear.
MOTION DETECTION
What I like is that you can draw areas on the actual image from the video camera to trigger recording. In other words you can eliminate false recordings from cars going by or movement outside your property.
You set up each camera individually providing ultimate flexibility in alerts, sensitivity and recording. In addition, once you have created a LogitechAlert account, you can select which cameras triggers an email alert.
EMAIL ALERTS
You set the LogitechAlert account up from the Settings Menu (the gearwheel icon).
From here you can enter several email addresses. I have mine set to send a text to my cell phone (as I don’t have a smart phone with email and web access).
Most cell phone providers offers an email address starting with your cell phone number that will be forwarded to you as a text message.
Please look the email address up on your providers web page. I can not put them up due to Amazon posting regulations.
You may get charged for each text by your cell phone provider so make sure to set the Alert Frequency and Motion Filter conservatively (from within the Settings Menu – Alerts-Advanced).
As mentioned above, I have not received one false alarm although my system is still set using the default values.
RECORDING WITH PC TURNED OFF – THIS IS A GREAT FEATURE.
The camera(s) stores all motion triggered activity regardless if you have the PC on or off. To review all recorded activity, start the PC and click the “Enter Playback Mode” icon. A very intuitive calendar and timeline shows up indicating recordings. Point to a time and click on play to see the activity.
UPDATE:
You can review/playback history from only the dedicated PC on your network.
Logitech suggests not loading the software on more than on PC on the network.
If you do, you can only watch live video but review/playback will not work from the other PC’s (also unexpected results may occur).
NOTE: You can view the real time images from anywhere on the web with the free Logitech Web Alert Viewer. To get full control with playback via a remote PC you must purchase the Logitech Web and Mobile Commander for an annual fee* of $80 (at the time of this writing).
Unless…
You keep a PC turned on all the time and control it from any PC (or web enabled phone) on the web using Teamviewer or LogMeIn (both are free for private use – you can download the programs from Cnet.com). Then you can access the Logitech Alert Commander interface as you normally do from home.
UPDATE 1: I am using the free version of LogMeIn and it works great. The only disadvantage is that you can not hear audio from the home computer. But you can see the live video feed and use playback along with camera adjustments etc. Actually you can operate your home computer just as if you were sitting in front of it. You can access it from work or anywhere in the world via the internet.
UPDATE 2: I have now used both remote programs for over a month. Logmein appear to be unreliable with respect to video quality. TEAMVIEWER IS THE WINNER (To get perfect video quality: select “View”, “Optimize Quality” from the TeamViewer screen on the remote computer). TeamViewer will also let you transfer recorded video files (or any file for that matter) when you are away from home.
Cost for leaving your home computer on all the time.
The cost for a 40 Watts consumer** 24 hours per day, 365 days per year = $35/year at $0.10 per kWh.
However, LogMeIn allows you to use “Wake Up On LAN” so you can turn your home computer on from the remote computer (Too much to cover here).
* Come on Logitech!!! Reduce it to a $50 one time fee and sell more systems to happier customers.
** One UPS manufacturer estimates 40 watts power consumption from an entry level desk top with a 20 LCD monitor. Turn the monitor off and bring the cost down even more. Also set the hard drive to turn off…
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Pretty good for the most part – Updated again, see second update,
I’ve been waiting for an inexpensive HD security system to come out. This system is pretty good and, for the most part, does what I want it to do.
SETUP: Setup isn’t too bad. Just remember to read the directions but there are a few gotchas such as, you can’t plug the camera side or the network side plugs into a power strip because of the circuitry screws up the data making it out of the power strip. This leads to the first problem I have. You have to use a dedicated outlet for each plug. In my older house, plugs are few and far between.
SOFTWARE: The software installation was quick and painless. Immediately the software updated the firmware for my camera which was nice. The software controls are OK. It’s missing some key features in my opinion. There is no “record” button. So it only records if it detects motion. I want the ability to be able to record on demand.
MOTION: You can select up to 6 zones that trigger recordings and alerts when there is movement. The downside is, the zones are only square. I wish you could make angles as well. The motion is too sensitive imho. I have it all the way down and it finally seems to be only pick up large movement.
CAMERA: The camera is of very high quality. It is all metal and it feels solid and like it will last a long time. I was surprised on how well built it is. It also has a microphone that works really well. It picks up everything. The last thing is the night vision. It works pretty good. The image quality is pretty good. I give it an 8 out of 10 when looking at the picture in the software. To my surprise, the image when viewing the videos manually are better!
REMOTE VIEWING: Viewing the image on my iphone is pretty cool. There is about a 5-10 second delay, which is to be expected. Viewing the image at [...]is decent, though you already know from the other reviews that there is no sound with remote viewing.
ALERTS: The email alerts are cool but I wish they would send you a screen shot as to why there was an alert. So imagine you get an alert, you log onto [...] or view the picture on your phone and now whatever it is that triggered the alert is gone, so you have no ideas what happened. On top of that, the free viewing doesn’t have any way to rewind to see what’s going on, so you’ll have to wait until you get home. One workaround is, if you have remote software for your PC, you can remotely connect to your PC and view the software that way, but most users will have no idea how to do this.
The other alert is right on your desktop, which seems cool at first, a sound is made and then a small picture pops up. the problem is, you can’t click the picture to make it bigger, it just disappears after a few seconds.
OTHER: The cord that comes with the camera is not long enough. I think it’s 25ft. Which is decent, but they should give you 100ft for the money that you pay. You can buy more cord but I feel you shouldn’t have to with the first camera.
All in all, I like this setup though it could use some improvements here and there. I plan to keep mine and add more cameras hoping they improve the software.
UPDATE: After doing some research over the weekend, I realize how bad the Logitech software really is. Instead I decided to go with software called, “Blue Iris” which is worlds better than the Logitech software in every way. So much so, I paid $50 for it. After that, I realized that the appeal of the Logitech camera system starts to fade since I could literally buy any camera and use it with Blue Iris. Currently I am running Blue Iris with one Logitech 700e and my Logitech C910 HD webcam and it works flawlessly. Admittedly it’s not going to be as easy for normal folk, but for a techie like me, it’s more than worth the effort. Bottom line, if you decide to get the Logitech camera, don’t waste your money on the “System” package and just get the camera and purchase Blue Iris instead. Or, do what I plan to do, research similar cameras and see what my options are.
BTW – If you want to just connect to your camera, download VLC player and then use the “Advanced File Open” menu and type “[...]” or “[...] Cheers!
11/5/2011 Update: OK, I’ve had the cameras for almost a year now. I’ve been really happy with them. For the price, you can’t beat it. I raised the stars back to 3. I still ding it for a few things. I really wish it was 30fps, but I guess it would be a lot of bandwidth over the internet, so they probably made a decision to chop it 15fps to conserve bandwidth and to save a little money on the camera side. I still use Blue Iris for 99% of my recording(I record 24/7 for 7 days). I actually use the email alerts with Logitech over Blue Iris since Blue Iris has a bug where it spits garbage onto the screen and falsely sets off the motion. I mentioned in my earlier review that there are no pictures with the…
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Logitech Lacking,
We have always been Logitech users and strong supporters so choosing their outdoor security camera seemed to be a no-brainer. Unfortunately this was not the case. We don’t know whether it is just this product group or a corporate change in direction but- This product is poorly thought out, the support is all but non-existent and overall experience is regrettable.
Others have mentioned the sad state of the bracket. I did not imagine it could be so bad. It is worse. It is weak and flimsy and, if the extension arm is put on, destined to fail.
The product description says: “Complete outdoor digital video security system, easy to install, no new wiring or networking needed”. While possibly true in some cases, it certainly was not in ours.
Few of us have a free wall outlet within a few feet of our computer yet you must plug a giant power supply/HomePlug bridge into a wall outlet by your computer. It cannot plug into a surge strip or UPS and, if you place it in the upper outlet (as illustrated) it will block the lower. If you try to hang it off the lower outlet it is unsecured and is constantly trying to fall out. So much for dependability- no backup and limited stay-in. And you are out one entire outlet.
The power supply/HomePlug bridge then is supposed to plug into your router with a short, flimsy flat CAT-5 cable. If you are wireless you are out of luck. It is “wireless” meaning it uses HomePlug powerline carrier but not 802.11 Wi-Fi.
If you have anything else plugged into your router you may also be in trouble. I have a network printer, streaming DVD , satellite dish and a DSL modem which all got along fine before. When I plug in the Home-Plug device the whole network goes down. Tech Support might help me trick it into functioning but they do not call back or answer emails.
The outdoor installation is interesting, too. The HomePlug bridge/power supply plugs into a right angle adapter that cannot fit in an outdoor box with anything else. It also wants to rock out of the outlet and must be secured. You are out one entire outlet.
The two circuits for the two HomePlug adapters have to be free of other devices that might interfere. If it doesn’t work the instructions say to “just” plug it in to another closer outlet. So you have the “freedom” to mount it anywhere you have a dedicated outlet that has nothing else on the circuit. You cannot, necessarily, place the camera where you wanted to place it. I had an electronic outdoor lighting timer that could not coexist with the HomePlug. You are now out one entire circuit.
The outdoor supply/bridge is on a 2 foot cord and can be placed anywhere. Anywhere, that is, within about a foot of the box in a single acceptable orientation at the same height as the box and with a drip loop below. It cannot mouth sideways right or left, above, or upside down. And then for the best part- it cannot be mounted in the sun! You just bought an “outdoor” system that cannot be mounted in the sun!
The camera once mounted on the aforementioned flimsy bracket is then wired with an equally flimsy flat CAT-5 cable. The camera and the power supply have to be opened up to receive it. Oh, by the way, the camera cannot be mounted in the sun either! Their outdoors must be different than my outdoors.
After it doesn’t work you call Tech Support and hold for half an hour if you are lucky. The guy then tells you that he thinks you have a bad camera but that he has to escalate to Second Tier Support who work sometime Monday through Friday. They do not call or answer your email.
My wife and I are both technical people in the electronics industry. We are not intimidated by technical issues and know quality when we see it. We haven’t seen it in this product.
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