Thanx,,,,,,,,,,
most labs are built with 2600's and 7200's.. so 1800 should cover you
pretty well. I would recommend getting the latest copy of a practise
exam and just see what they ask and see if it will support it all
before you go and spend $$$.
Flamer.
I think the 1800 is a good buy for that. Its modern, supports tons of
RAM and Flash for running the latest images, and supports a pretty
good set of cards (even some of the older ones that aren't supported).
It won't get you all the way for a CCIE VOICE, but by that time,
you'll probably be renting test rackspace for that since the gear is
pretty expensive to buy.
If you are doing CCIE R & S, you'll need at least 3-4 routers, but you
can use dynamips for the others. Having hands on experience with at
least one router is very good experience.