For example, 2500’s and 2600’s do not support MPLS, but 1841’s do – and MPLS is now on the BSCI exam (one of the 4 CCNP exams). It’s clear that buying 1841’s makes much more sense than buying 2600’s ...
Buy one router, even an old klonky 2501, and you can get some benefit for hands-on practice for CCENT and CCNA. It’s not very exciting, but you can at least try out the CLI, save configs, upgrade the ...