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Decent Overview of test Apr 14, 2004 (25 of 27 found this helpful)
I am MCSE, A+, and CCNA certified and used this book as part of my preparation for the CompTia A+ exams.
This book presents a decent overview of the CompTia A+ exam objectives, but lacks sufficient detail to actually pass the test without supplementing the material. I have provided 2 recommendations at the bottom of this review.
The book covers both areas of the exam (hardware and OS), and provides a CD with tice tests. I noticed the review questions at the end of each chapter lacked worthwhile explanations, which necessitated searching through the text to figure out why you may have missed a particular question.
This book overall presents a decent, but minimal, overview of both the hardware and operating system exams and should be used in conjunction with Mueller's "Upgrading and Repairing PCs" classic (ISBN: 0789727455), and Exam Cram's book (ISBN: 078983043x).
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Good Review Book for Experienced Computer Techs Jun 5, 2002 (12 of 13 found this helpful)
Mike Meyers' A+ Certification Passport is mostly useful for experienced computer technicians who know the information already but need to refresh their understanding of certain topics or memorize specific information before taking CompTIA's A+ exams. That said, this book only covers the very basics of computer hardware and software as it applies to the A+ exams. For a more in depth understanding of the subject matter refer to Mike Meyers' All-In-One Certification Guide.
Good Points About the Book:
- Short to the point chapters that can be read and understood within an hour's time.
- Alerts and sidebars that inform the reader to issues stressed or not stressed in the A+ exams
- Easy to read, conversational style relation of the material that helps move the reader along from topic to topic.
- No overblown explanations or analogies of any topic.
- Included CDRom that contains practice tests for both the software and Hardware exam. (Many online resources are also available via the Internet. Just do a search for "COMPTIA FREE TESTS" at your favorite Internet Portal to find them. Careful, some sites are much better than others.)
Bad Points About the Book:
- Useless travel theme that does nothing to aid the reader.
- Objectives of the CompTIA test are not laid out for the reader within the chapters as one might expect from a "Cram" book like this. (Go to CompTIA's web sit for more information about exam objectives)
- Unless you are an experienced computer tech this book will not prepare you for the exam.
- No cram sheet included with the book for last minute preparation. Why?
Again, I am awarding the 4 starts because it is a good refresher for an experienced computer technician, newbies should look more in depth books and get lots of hands on training before attempting the real tests.
If and when you are confident that you are ready for the actual tests, take the provided practice exams. If you can score 75 to 80 percent correct the first time you take both practice tests you will very likely pass the real exams. Notice I wrote the first time. If you fail the practice tests the first time you take them, be sure not to review the answers to the questions. If you failed them, you were not ready to take the tests so reviewing the answers will ruin the effectiveness of the practice exams for when you need to come back to them.
Good Luck
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All the best material in one place. Jan 3, 2004 (11 of 12 found this helpful)
So any interested in COMPTIA certifications, the A+ has undergone a revision and leave it Mike Meyers to once again lead the pack in creating a great prep tool for the exams. The Passport series is great addition to the material needed to pass the exam.
If you are looking for the go to book this is not that book, what this book does is cover each objective by giving you a good overview of the material and pointing out the finer details of the exam. The book is made of the person who is in need of material to make sure they have covered everything before taking the exam.
The book has over 625 pages filled with explanations and pictures, I think that some of the pictures could have been in color to give the reader a better understanding of the material, but it does not detract form the overall presentation of the information.
The book is divided into 2 sections, first is the Core hardware and the second is the Operating Systems. The material is technically accurate and up to date so there is no need to worry about studying the wrong information.
There is a cd included has practice exam material for the final preparation tool. Couple this book with Mike Meyers All In One Guide and you have the unbeatable combination. Overall since I have been teaching A+ Mike Meyers is the name to trust and this makes studying a whole easier.
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Meyers never cease to amaze me - a great product once again. Dec 10, 2001 (16 of 19 found this helpful)
The A+ Exam has changed since I took it about three years ago. Since there is a need for each technician to make sure they are current with exam new books are required. Also if you are in pursuit of the certification it is a good idea to have a book that can help you out to give you that final prep you'll need. Either way this may the book to get a hold of.
Mike Meyers is the most respected name in the A+ Certification arena and this is another example of how he has taken the opportunity to help you out. The 500 plus page manual starts of with the Hardware exam covering topics like COM/LPT ports, keyboards, mouse, video, audio, NICs, modems, USB and SCSI.
From there you'll covers exam objective like ESD, and Safety, EMI and hazard material, motherboards, power supplies, memory, buses, processors from the Pentium to the Pentium 4, although I think coverage of the older CPU might also be helpful.
Different types of RAM such as DRAM, SRAM, EDO and FP, IDE and SCSI hard drives, I/O Addressing, IRQs and finally DMAs. Installation, configuration and troubleshooting, portable, printer and networking round out this section.
In the Operating Technologies section DOS, Windows 9.X, NT Workstation and 2000 Professional are given their coverage. Again adding Windows 3.X could only help but does not subtract anything by being left out. Networking and troubleshooting finish out this section as well.
There is also a cd included with 2 practice exams and overall this book does cover each objective very well. Used with Mike Meyers All in One Certification guide you may just have the unbeatable combination.
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Excellent prep book before taking A+ exam Aug 24, 2002 (7 of 7 found this helpful)
If you frequent any of the IT forums on the net, you will find that the name of Mike Meyers is often mentioned in the matter of A+. There is a reason why folks and his A+ Passport lends credence to his already impressive line of books. I found the A+ Passport to be an excellent primer before taking the A+ exams. Included with the book is ExamWeb's A+ testing software on a CD. I found the questions to be on the easier side of things so reader's may want to look into finding online testing resources. In A+ Passport, Meyers covers everything you'll need to know for the exams from printers to connector types and IRQs to SCSI. You will be increasing your chances of successfully becoming A+ certified by reading this book. For those breaking into the IT field, also consider picking up Meyer's meatier text, the A+ All-in-One.