Hi everyone, I've been viewing this site for a long time now, but decided to become an active member of the community, I really like all it has to offer.

I'm currently trying to decide between two training courses that have been talked about to death on here, so I don't expect an easy answer and am not sure how biased any responses will be, but any help is greaty appreciated.

Here is a quick summary/background of myself: I've been in the IT industry for 10+ years now, working for several companies and as a consultant doing everything from simple desktop installs/ repairs to datacenter work to deployment of Cisco networks (routers, switches, wifi etc.).  

I started my certification path in 2000 and currently have my A+, Network+, Security+ and CCNA.  A week ago I passed the Switching exam for the new CCNP track, but decided to take a Cisco break and concentrate on my 'passion', security (network security and pen testing).  I am currently studying for my CEH with Kimberly Graves newest Study guide, certflashcardsonline and careerademy cbt.  Almost being done with the book, I can see the CEH shouldn't be very difficult, especially compared to the Cisco exams I've taken.. Seems like just a lot of memorization of tools and their uses etc.  Multiple choice stuff.. I found that a lot that I studied in regards to security for my Cisco training has really helped and had to do with things on the CEH…

Anyways,  to not make my first post a novel, I’m trying to decide between eLearnSecurity’s training  and the online Offensive Security’s offering to get my OSCP.  They both seem very appealing and I know both have pro’s and cons.. Firstly, I don’t have programming skills.. I have good books on C, but know there’s much more necessary to become good in those respects.  Price wise, they are comparable, except for the payment plan by eLearn, which is very appealing.  I quickly looked through the free demo offered by eLearn, but nothing about it really grabbed me and said “this is the one”..

I’ve had BackTrack on a box for a while now as well as on a usb I use for my laptop.  I’m not gonna lie and say I know all the tools, but I do feel comfortable with the navigation although not a huge linux user at the CLI (I do have Ubuntu Linux Toolbox 100 Commands, to help me out other than web references).

To close this out, not that it would help in any way, but my current lab consists of the following.  Cisco 2600 series routers (4), with latest IOS, 4 Cisco 2950 Switches, a 3550 switch, Pix 515E firewall, couple of laptops and couple of desktops..
I know all say getting the OSCP is more difficult and I’m ready for the challenge, money wise payments seem very good these days for eLearn.. Just very confused with what decicion to make.  Thank you for all your help and I’ll try to keep future posts shorter lol ; )

From my experiences, I'd have to agree with xxxKrissxxx.

Both courses are excellent, and eLearn's definitely went a little more in the direction of the web-focused side (while still covering other).  eLearn's course covered their material well, and I was pretty impressed with how they covered / explained some topics, like buffer-overflows.  While I already understood that concept, for anyone who doesn't, already, they did an excellent job with how they put it together and explained it. 

That said, I did like the hands-on from OSCP a bit more, but that was simply due to my learning style, etc.  Also, I liked that OSCP made me self-study and research, for myself, a bit more, as in real-world pentests, you'll often hit those types of scenarios.  Either one (eLearn or OSCP)  is a good way to go. 

That said, like xxxKrissxxx said, as well, if you don't already have a decent fundamental on ethical hacking / pentesting, you MIGHT find value in getting CEH first, or one of the similar certifications.

Good luck, and let us know both WHAT you choose, and your experiences with it, when you get into the courses.

hayabusa, I was writing as you posted, but you hit it dead on and I agree with both Kris and yourself.

I plan to be ready to take my CEH within the next week or two, but I think maybe starting with eLearn first is my best bet.

I remember the site saying that price goes up to $699 after tonight, so I better hurry lol.. Although I wonder how that applies to the payment plan...

I'll definitely keep you posted on my progress as I think my decision may just have to be eLearn (at least first, not to say I'm not craving some Off-Sec!).

That's awesome, thanks Kris!  I like the fact that there is a place for feedback, where they'll actually take the good feedback and implement into future upgrades/versions. 

I wonder when the 2.0 is slated for, although I would be able to have access to the revisions, it would probably feel like overkill going through the course more than a few times to view changes, but helpful indeed.  The learning never stops though, that's for sure!

I took heorot.net and eLearnseucirty; I learnt from both with different subjects. Both of them will give you a good introduction and OSCP will complete a lot of your training.

Money, value and job, that depennnnnnd of many factors.

Thanks again for the replies.  Thanks for the info Grendel, I'm actually looking at your videos now, vey good stuff.  I know no matter what path I decide all offer great material, I suppose just a matter making up my mind and doing it!

It's great to know that you have access to both material through Heorot though, I'm going to do some more investigating as I'd like to get enrolled in something within the next couple of days.

Again, thanks for all your responses and help.  It gets kind of difficult when you speak to the different mentors / creators of the different online courses, because all are so great and really cool people.

Since the first person I had spoken to was Armando I decided to enroll in eLearn's class today.  It's like you don't want to go with one and not the other after so many great responses and help, but I figured I'd go with my initial instict before I started asking and exploring so much.

I know the ePPT course will be great and look forward to some Dojo action in the near future as well.  I believe both will give me the proper foundation to be most successful with the OSCP.

I've been waiting on the people from the "CEH" to be able to purchase my voucher for the EC0-312 and get that over with, but it's impossible to get emails returned or routed to the correct person when calling it seems.  Since over a week ago I emailed them all my credentials (certifications), work experience and a signed letter from a customer I did consulting for, for over 2 years (oh and of course my DL..). So hopefully that'll come sooner than later, but either way my current studies and time will only help for the exam.

Peace to all!

I'm a little late on this, but welcome to the forums MindOverMatter.
Let us know your thoughts on ePPT when you are done with it. It was one of the right decisions you could have made, out of many. From reading about your posts I'd have said, that OSCP might be too advanced for you at this point. Nevertheless, it will be still there when you have finished your current course and increased your knowledge.