I bought and I am using real lab, including the following:
3 routers: Cisco 2620XM (128 MO RAM; 32 MO System Flash under IOS Advanced enterprise 12.4(3)) + 3x WIC-1T.
3 switchs: Cisco C2950 (under IOS Version 12.1(22)EA6)
Password and mac addresses are omitted in config files, and the simple "cisco" password is used in packet tracer files.
These small projects help me to prepare for the certification.
I upload every config file and blueprint that I have made because it may be useful to me later on.