As I stated in my blog post on December 19th, 2006 (http://www.andrewhay.ca/archives/62):

This was the first time I had a chance to use the SANS OnDemand training method and I have some mixed feelings about it:

Pros
    * Very Portable - while out of the office, I was able to access the material when I needed it. This was very handy while waiting for my Red-eye flights back from California to the East Coast.
    * MP3’s For Download - SANS makes the MP3’s available for download which makes flights go by quickly and allows me to learn while in cramped quarters (In case you don’t know I’m 6″4 and don’t travel well on Airplanes designed for 1950’s sized passengers).
    * End of Section Tests - each section ends with a test to ensure that you know the content prior to moving on. This really prevents you from blowing through topics that you THINK you know.

Cons
    * No Dead Trees - I am the kind of person who like to be able to have the material printed out and in hand. I tend to absorb it better when reading old fashioned printed books. I wish that they’d include them in the cost of the On Demand course.
    * Presentation - I know for a fact that these On Demand sessions are SANS’ first crack at self-paced training. They are quite rough around the edges and do require some added bells and whistles to keep my interest. Perhaps they should invest in a different Web Based Training package that doesn’t look like it’s optimized for Netscape 4
    * Accuracy - not of the content but the way it is presented to the user. There was one section that was not covered and I would not have been able to pass the test at the end of the section had I not ordered the books (and used them as reference). I emailed in, as per their process, and it was fixed several days later. Had I not had the books I would not have been able to progress to the next section and 7 days would have felt like an eternity.

Anyone else have similar experiences with this method from SANS?

I wrote and passed my GCIH in December, but I also Volunteered at one of the conferences and participated in the conference for free.  When I arrived back home, I studied for a while (don't remember how long), then wrote the practice exams.  These exams were very helpful for me.  I love having practice exams.  They either give ya a wake-up call by slapping you in your face or they tell you to go ahead already and write the real one.

Scored in the 90's % for each exam and I'm now on the review board.   

if you can wait i am doing a review to be posted on EH-net.  if you have any pressing questions, post them up and i'll try to answer them

the short answer is SANS by far, because the material is far better.

i'll try to get you a better answer in the review

oh thanks for the question, i totally forgot about that part.

you get a CD with a VMware image and all the tools and you get instructions on how to VPN into the lab network to use the tools and try some attacks.  worked pretty good.

what are your other options?

Both SANS and the Infosec Institute are quality outfits. The Infosec Inst. is one of our partners for ChicagoCon. Jack Koziol and his staff are top notch. Which courses were you looking to do at the Institute?

Don

PS - Either way you go, you'll get great training. Be sure to tell either of them we sent you.

I read this review and was very interested.. However I was pretty disappointed to see the price tag.. 2k USD for the course and $400 for the test? Is that really the cost? Please tell me that I missed something