Customer Reviews

A+ All-In-One Certification Exam Guide

5 star:		(81)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I think this is an excellent book for anyone wanting to learn computer hardware but I would recommend supplementing your studying with other material for the actual exam. Study guides and free practice tests available on the Internet will help you focus on what is actually on the exam. Meyers' book goes into much more detail than what is needed for the A+ exams, making review a daunting task if you depend only on this book. The author seems to care more about teaching you something than preparing you for the exam (that is commendable but this is supposed to be geared for the test). To sum up, this is a very well-written book and I learned a great deal from reading it, but it is just way too much too review with. I passed both tests on the first try with good scores but I don't think I would have if I had depended solely on this book. So read this book but use study guides and practice tests for review. By the way, according to the CompTIA site the Dos/Windows exam is changing this spring or summer. They are dropping the Win 3.x info and adding NT, Win98 and Linux. None of which is covered by this book so keep that mind if you don't plan on taking your test before June. Good luck.

This third edition of "A+ All-In-One Certification Exam Guide" is one of the first (and currently one of the very few) A+ Exam preparation books that cover the new 2001 exam.

In case you are not familiar with the name Michael Meyers, he is major name in PC hardware book authoring. He has a wonderful writing style that makes concepts easy to understand. This book uses excellent analogies and illustrations to further clarify and explain concepts. While the book may appear daunting at 1260+ pages, keep in mind that much of that length is due to the heavy use of illustrations, photos, tables, and screenshots. Remove these extremely helpful and virtually essential items, and I would suspect a book of one-half to two-thirds the size would be the result.

Each chapter concludes with review questions and their answers. While not enough on their own to serve as the only practice exam as part of your exam preparation, they do help considerably to solidify the concepts presented in the chapter, and test your understanding.

One of the major benefits of this book is that is not solely aimed at A+ Exam preparation, but on PC's as a whole. While presenting the material, Meyers identifies and breaks it up into three categories (as explained in the book's introduction):

1) Historical/Conceptual: Material not on the A+ exams, but it is knowledge that will help you understand the material that is on the A+ exams more clearly.

2) Test Specific: Topics that are on the A+ exams.

3) Beyond A+: More advanced issues that most likely will not be on the A+ exams (but would be beneficial additional information).

This categorization of the material makes the book an excellent textbook and subsequent study guide.

This book can easily help anyone learn and understand the material needed for A+ Certification. You will find Myers to be knowledgeable and an easy to read author. I highly recommend this book as your choice for an A+ Exam preparation book.

There is, however, one caveat: The enclosed CD-ROM, which contains practice exams published by Total Seminars, has some bugs. The most prominent one is that the software will (currently) not run on Windows NT or 2000. This fact and other bug related information is available at Total Seminar's web site.... Once you get around these bugs, the testing software is pretty good. Even without the enclosed software, the book is well worth the price.

When I took my A+ tests I used the second edition of Mike Meyers book. This choice was based on a recommendation from several people and I was certainly glad I did. Now that I am a technical instructor there is no doubt as to what I will use on the classroom to help the students pass the newest exam - the third edition.

Mike Meyers is the master of the A+ exam and this book is loaded with more than enough information to pass the exam. After reading through the book I can now understand what made this book one of the most anticipated books, the author simply covers everything in great detail and makes sure you are fully prepared for the exam. About the only thing this book doesn't do is take the exams for you.

Updated to the newest exam, this 1260 page book starts with the breakdown of the pc, moves on to microprocessors, ram, bios and motherboards, buses, power supply, modems, printers, portable computers, storage systems, cd-roms, sound and video.

Thinking you might be done, not even close. Meyers then breaks down operating systems starting off with DOS, and then to Windows 3.X and 9.X. Excellent coverage for NT and 2000 are also a major part of this book. Finally you have coverage of the networking side of things and the information goes far beyond the A+ arena.

Normally this would be enough material and information for anyone, but what separates Mike Meyers from the rest of the pack is the other things his books include. There is review Questions, information beyond the A+ objectives, pictures, figures, tables, screen shots and even a pull out poster of the motherboard.

Every section is detailed yet easy to follow and understand and comprehend. The book includes a cd-rom that has 6 practice tests, if this is not enough you can go to the Total Seminars website and order more. There are video clips, tools and utilities for technicians completing and rounding out what I would say is probably the best and must buy for every technician on any level.

I work with TeraTRAIN - an Information Technology Training program. We highly recommend the Meyers book to our students. This book does an excellent job of giving detailed information on a wide variety of topics and does so in an INTERESTING WAY! Meyers makes it easy for anyone to understand and learn. In addition, Meyers uses more pictures and illustrations than any other A+ book that I have seen. Errors are a BIG problem in many technical books. Meyers does an excellent job of paying attention to the details and giving CORRECT information. This book is a great reference even AFTER you pass you certification test, or if you aren't even interested in taking the test. You can't lose with the REAL WORLD knowledge that he puts out. Hats off to Meyers for the best A+ book in the business.

Before I started studying for the A + exam with this book, I was a bit leery about it because of the fact that I had very limited hardware experience. I had questions like "how realistic is going for this certification when I don't have experience?" and "Will I be able to understand the material because I don't have the experience?" Thanks to Michael Meyers, the answer to that second question is YES. I am writing this for all the people out there like me, who are unsure whether they will be able to learn all of the information necessary to pass the exam just by reading this book. Meyers made all the material in the book very easy to understand. Instead of throwing a ton of technical jargon at you, he explains things throughout the book in a very simple, concise way. One of the criticisms I saw in a few other reviews was that he spent too much time talking about old, obsolete equipment. I personally liked that. Because the older equipment is simpler, it makes it easier to understand concepts(especially address busses)and apply that knowledge to newer, more complex computers. To get to the point, even if you aren't a tech right now, if you read this book you WILL understand it and you will pass the exam. I got a 87% on the core and a 90 % on windows/msdos and more importantly, when I do get a tech job, I am confident that I will be able to apply the knowledge without a problem. as highly as I reccomend this book, it is still good to take alot of practice exams.

While the book is exceptionally well presented, I found that the accompanying CD with sample test questions to be a disappointment. The CD contains several tests for both the Core and DOS/Windows but only 4 of them are available with the purchase of the book. The additional tests require a $79 fee before activation. That information is NOT disclosed until you use the CD.

I bought the book for PC Maintenance course I am taking in Tech College(recommended text for class). I've had 6 months of formal training in PC repair, not to mention the LearnKey 7 cd bundle by Michael Meyers, and the book by Michael Meyers. I failed pretty bad. This is no pansy test by any means. Use the book as a learning source, not exam prep. I have learned much about computers which is good. I feel confident enough to say I have the tech experience of a someone who has 6 months experience. However, according to COMPTIA, I still have much to learn. I did express to COMPTIA that the test seemed a little more geared to someone with a great deal more experience and time in this field. Oh yeah, just to let you know, I took the Cisco CCNA Exam 640-407 and passed with an 869. This COMPTIA A+ Exam made the Cisco Exam seem like a walk in the park. I prepared just as hard for both. Nevertheless, great book for beginners, not for exam prep.

I have to admit that this book was an easy read. The author has a very straightforward writing style and adds a sense of humor to the topics. It tops out at roughly 900 pages, and I managed to finish it in the week before my exams. It definitely managed to keep my interest, and not bore me to death (like other study guides have...) *cough... cough... SYBEX*

Great illustrations and analogies... pictures everywhere. They really help to visualize the more difficult concepts.

This was the only book that I used to take both the Core and the DOS/Windows. I took them both on the same day, and passed them both with flying colors.

This is also a great reference if you need a "starting point" because you LOVE computers and you HAVE to know more about them, but don't know where to start. I have recommended this book to friends, and even my Tech support unit at work is thinking about purchasing one as a Unit reference for our in depth calls.

Of course, I just pull mine of the shelf when I need it... heh heh heh.

The enclosed CD is a nice reference, but I was too cheap to shell out the extra eighty bucks to open up the rest of the test questions.

I just had my wife go over EVERY review question with me until I got it. Hey... call me cheap.

It's a great text all around. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because I didn't feel I should have to pay to unlock the CD, and there were two errors that I found on the test questions themselves.

Enjoy, and good luck on your test!

This book is excellent and very informative. It spends a whole chapter on SCSI drives. It not only prepared me for the exam, it helped me with my own PC. This book tells you everything you need to know to build and fix PC's. It is not just a "learn the test" book. I plan on buying his Network+ book next!

I haven't finished the entire book yet but it is very good. Better than the books I got in the class I am taking for A+ Certification. I really like the CD-ROM that was included - not just a test bank - includes a video w/ the author. My only problem with the book is that it doesn't have a lay-flat binding. I need to be able to highlight and underline when I read and it's very difficult w/o a lay-flat binding. (I have e-mailed to osborne concerning this.) I believe I wouldn't need to be in a $3,195 program to prepare for the A+ exam had I found Mike's book first. However, wanted to get some real "hands on" by going to a traditional school/training facility. The pace of the class is very fast and the program is very difficult to keep up with. I would be in a really bad way if I didn't have Mike Meyers' A+ Certification All-In-One Exam Guide! If you want to pass the A+ buy this book ahead of all others!