Product Review: ExamForce CramMaster Online and Practice Labs
Summer is winding down, so it’s back to business. We dove into some ExamForce products that can help you, your employees, or your students get certified.
We looked into two separate ExamForce products — CramMaster Online and ExamForce Practice Labs — for the CompTIA A+, Network+ and Security+ certifications.
My CramMasters
Priced at $199.95 per title, the CramMaster product allows you to get plenty of practice answering the types of questions you will encounter on CompTIA certification exams through a few different methods.
Pretest
CramMaster gives learners the opportunity to assess their skills at the beginning of their studies by offering a Pretest. The Pretest consists of 50 questions and does not have a time limit.
After the Pretest, CramMaster gives you an overall score and then breaks it down by objective. In all cases save the Network+ course, CramMaster gives you related chapters in a Sybex textbook that can be used to study and learn the answers to questions on the objectives.
It doesn’t look like any feedback or reports are available to show the learner which questions they missed in the Pretest section.
Adaptive Drills
The Adaptive Drills section allows you to customize a practice test experience. You can drill down and practice using questions from specific objectives, or focus on questions you’ve missed, answered correctly, or haven’t answered yet. You can also limit by number of questions or only include questions with attached notes or that contain a specific word.
During these drills, a student can decide to receive instant feedback, mark a question, add a note, or even see the answer and explanation. At the end of the drill, a student can review the exam and see the results.
| Product | Number of Drill Questions |
| CompTIA A+ 220-801 Essentials | 410 |
| 01-PC Hardware | 173 |
| 02-Networking | 116 |
| 03-Laptops | 40 |
| 04-Printers | 44 |
| 05-Operational Procedures | 37 |
| CompTIA A+ 220-802 Practical Application | 370 |
| 01-Operating Systems | 165 |
| 02-Security | 50 |
| 03-Moblie Devices | 50 |
| 04-Troubleshooting | 105 |
| CompTIA Network+ N10-006 | 597 |
| 01-Network Architecture | 173 |
| 02-Network Operations | 87 |
| 03-Network Security | 113 |
| 04-Troubleshooting | 118 |
| 05-Industry Standards, Practices, & Network Theory | 106 |
| CompTIA Security+ SY0-401 | 612 |
| 01-Network Security | 147 |
| 02-Compliance and Operational Security | 142 |
| 03-Threats and Vulnerabilities | 146 |
| 04-Application, Data and Host Security | 73 |
| 05-Access Control and Identity Management | 73 |
| 06-Cryptography | 67 |
Simulated Exams
CramMaster gives you the option to take multiple simulated exams (four exams for the A+ products, and two for Network+ and Security+ products) that are modeled after the actual certification exams. They contain 100 questions each and have a time limit of 90 minutes.
After taking the exam, students are given the option to review the multiple choice questions they missed and read an explanation or tutorial on the subject of that question. Learners are also able to review their competency by objective to identify their weak subjects.
Documents & Links
In the Tools section of the course, learners can glance at reports that track their progress or manage the notes they have taken while going through questions. Additionally, they have Documents and Links available to them — this is where they can access the Sybex textbook and, in some cases, ExamForce study guides.
My Labs
Additionally, we looked at another ExamForce product, Practice Labs for 220-802 CompTIA A+ Support Skills, CompTIA Network+ (N10-006), and SY0-401 CompTIA Security+. Priced at $299.95, you will save time and money on setting up hardware for yourself or other learners. ExamForce Practice Labs allow learners to gain risk-free, real-world experience by connecting them to the real equipment.
Practice Labs screen shot.
Upon launching a lab, students are asked to boot up different machines before they are walked through tasks to learn the concepts outlined. Booting up the machines takes a little bit of time…but this is because you are not launching a simulation, you are connecting to the real equipment! The advantage here is that you do not have to worry about ruining equipment or live systems—learners can try whatever actions they please, mess things up, and then reset the lab and try again with no consequences.
Conclusion
If you are looking to certify and/or train employees, students, or yourself, CramMaster and Practice Labs give you a good option with plenty of questions to review and practice before you look to get certified!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Certification Magazine was launched in 1999 and remained in print until mid-2008. Publication was restarted on a quarterly basis in February 2014. Subscribe to CertMag here.
It’s cheaper and more effective to just buy for a third the price. They come with enough practice questions and flash cards.
Books are always great–if they are up to date and comprehensive. At CertMag we always encourage people to make use of whatever study materials work best for them.