CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide

Customer Reviews

• This is more than a study guide for the exam!  Oct 25, 2006 (42 of 46 found this helpful)

  Let me start off with just one word: Wow. When I was going through my training for A+, I would've loved to have had this book for studying. While I have not read the book cover-to-cover, I have gone through a lot of it and actually found myself being sucked in and reading more and more of it. Throw in the changes for the new A+ exam and I was blown away. The format of the book really works for someone getting a foot in the IT door by taking the A+ exam. Not only that, but as it stands now with the current trends, this (currently) very up-to-date tome is a good standby reference tool.
  
  Having been only accustomed with the Mike Meyers universe of A+ study, this book was like walking into a different culture. It begins with my favorite part of the book: the Real World Scenarios. Often I found myself shuffling through the book looking just for these, some were a bit lacking but for the most part I found them to be relevant, insightful and in a lot of ways bringing the classroom to the reader. A great part of having any type of teacher is how they are able to impart to the student contextual knowledge, thereby putting everything in perspective. I think the Real World Scenario does a great job of accomplishing this. This also helps out in something friends and I have discussed that I happened to notice in the book.
  
  A part that's almost worth the price of admission is the introduction, all in all, it's a mini study guide. I believe someone could use the intro for some last minute recognition and cramming. I believe this will come in handy for prospective A+ test takers.
  
  As far as the negatives, while I have previously complimented much of the format used throughout, I do have a couple of qualms. For starters, when it comes to the OS-es, I think it would be a tad bit easier if it was separated by chapter. Command-line gets a chapter, 2K gets a chapter and XP gets a chapter. In some ways it seems a bit mashed together. The other les with the exam itself.
  
  Instead of two clearly defined exams: OS and Hardware, there are 4 exams, but you only have to take 2: The "core" exam: Essentials and from there you can choose one of 3 tests. While I could go into more details, just looking at the outline and objectives, they all seem the same but just vary on the amount of customer interaction. It's nice to go the route of Microsoft and others with paths to certification, but it seems like it's more hype than anything else, almost irrelevant. Of course, without having ever taken the test, I can't be entirely sure. We'll just have to wait for the first victims to find out if I'm right or not.
  
  All in all, the format is friendly and inviting. I thought that I would dread going through another A+ book, but I thought the approach was a breath of fresh air. It brings the classroom to the reader. The labs/exercises, scenarios, tips and notes do a marvelous job of getting the point across. I was even impressed by some of the technology covered. The various printers, scanner and media technology got some page time, so while it may, in some cases, give too much information, the book will stand the test of time on a shelf for easy reference.
  
  

• Only Study Guide needed for New A+ Exam Format  Jan 11, 2007 (20 of 21 found this helpful)

  This was the only study guide I needed for the new A+ exams (Essentials, IT technician, Remote). I passed both the Essentials and IT technician tests easily with scores in the 835 range. I spent about a month studying with the book for each exam module. The book does a great job of laying out the information for each particular exam. In addition, it guide is an excellant easy to ready reference manual.
  If you are looking for one study guide to pass the new A+ exam format, this is the one to get.

• Book prepared me well  Feb 16, 2007 (17 of 18 found this helpful)

  Definitely the best book I saw to review. I studied from this book only, knew everything in it, and I got 830/900 on the essentials exam, and 850/900 on the IT exam (passing scores were 675 and 700 respectively).
  
  Only complaint is that the CD that comes with it is buggy. Although it provides many extra questions which are helpful, several of the questions are filled with bugs, like they mark the wrong answer right, or on one of the practice exams one question was repeated a dozen times.
  
  Still the best book and definitely worth it.

• A+ Complete Study Guide - Sybex  May 17, 2007 (10 of 10 found this helpful)

  To begin the book is well organized and well written. The flow of the book is easy to understand, and easy to take notes from. The CD-Rom includes an electronic copy of the book (which in my opinion is something that all paper copies should come with these days) which is very helpful for working professionals whom commute.
  
  Cons: Unfortunately the book will miss a thing here or there as it relates directly to the exam itself. As an example: You will find that the study questions, while good at reinforcing the material you just read, do not line up with the flow, format or difficulty of the actual exam questions. They are really there to cement what you've just read and reinforce that to you.
  
  Another example is the Professionalism and Communications section does not go over enough material in detail. It rather uses broad terms and concepts to go over that particular domain.
  
  Conclusion: I feel this is a very good primary study guide. I would recommend however that you use supliments to your studying such as Transcender exams to help prep you for the actual testing enviornment as well as the Exam Cram book to compliment and really drive home the material.
  
  The book is definately worth the purchase and you will be 75%-80% read to take the exam after completetion of studying.

• This book is okay.  Mar 6, 2007 (10 of 10 found this helpful)

  I would have to say it isn't much better than A+ for dummies but it's not bad. The main thing that really annoyed me is that many large chunks of text are simply repeated verbatim in different sections. The repetition accounts for a good deal of the material in this book. If you can get it at a good discount go ahead but don't pay full price for this book.