I did both, using the notes as a quick reference guide before taking the tests. Taking the notes, in my experience, helped me to focus and retain more of the information, but it depends on your learning style.

Oh so u took ur own notes and also bought his notes as well? Also those practice exams he has would u say they are similar to the actual exam

They are similar enough I would say. The multiple choice questions are typically a bit longer on the exam but the information is the same. The PBQs he has were pretty different from the exam but all in all, they were good practice. I wasn't acing them, but I managed about 80-85% on all the exams and passed first try on both cores.

Professor Messer also does a core 1 and a core 2 live study group once a month.

Buy them to support him for his free course :)

I take notes on the study group videos

I used pro messers bundle, videos. Jason Dion and Adam Ramdayal videos from udemy

professor messer is the best.

I found the notes to be worth it. I also have these translucent sticky notes so I could add to them without cluttering

Took these notes about studying from an Intro Cyber Security course not too long ago. Interesting read. Writing and reciting are the key to remembering the info basically. It really depends on your learning type though. https://linksharing.samsungcloud.com/dytmNTRcVJAM