2010-03-22 Deceptive reading questions, very poor CD implementation (3 of 5)
This is a review for the Barron's Toefl ibt book with a CD.
All in all, the book is good for preparation for the Toefl test, but no way I would give it a 4 stars even. It does cover all the sections in the test pretty good, but the difficulty level of this book is way higher than the actual ETS standart for TOEFL is. The reading passages are ok, but the questions are deceptive: some of them are actually a GRE-quality, which is way more difficult than TOEFL. As, for example, in one of the questions, you are asked to choose the word closest in meaning to "radical". The sentence in the text is as follows: "The revolution in flight required radical alteration in body form". The answer choices are: a)very clear; b)very wide; c)very fast; d)very new. Obviously this is NOT a 2 point question, and everyone knows what "radical" means. But differentiation between "very clear", "very new" and "very wide" is too much for the TOEFL test.
Also, in the listening sections, the dictors sometimes speak so fast, they're almost out of breath: not acceptable quality for preparation. And let me tell you, I am not whining here because I can not get a score high enough - I answer 92-95% of the questions correctly. And I also understand the strategy of the maker: better to be pleasantly surprised on the test, then experience a rude awakening, but it is just annoying.
Then, the CD is awful. Mine does not save my login, so every time I log in as a new user, and which is most important it doesn't save my scores in the review. The essay can only be saved in a practice mode, which is also uncomfortable. The test screen is microscopic, which is fine for the listening and even speaking sections, but staring at tiny characters for 1 hour during the reading section is no joke. Trying to see what you have typed in the essay is also a pain.
So solid 3 stars it is, not more.

2010-03-17 The worse book ever (1 of 5)
Don't even think about buying this book. I have wasted my time with it. There is no CD 2 and the activities always ask for it. And even worse, you can't return it because there is a return restriction for college, audio books, or any book with a CD-ROM. You will feel really disappointed with these editors.

2010-01-06 POOR (1 of 5)
This CD set is useless without the Barron Book, and when you buy the book the CD set comes with it. So this CD set alone is a useless purchase.

2009-08-31 I did not get that book (1 of 5)
The book did not come yet, it was supposed to be here by August 24th. I emailed you but no reply. I am very disappointed.

2008-12-27 Good Book but the CD sucks! (2 of 5)
The book is good, it has very good content and exercises but the cd is really bad. It is really slow, and get stucks in some section. It is so bad, that sometimes the question simply does not appear! I recommend to use other books and practice with other CD because this one is just a lose of time.