Customer Reviews

A+ Certification Training Guide, (Exam 220-301, Exam 220-302) (5th Edition)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I purchased this book to use for a+ exam prep (2003 objectives) after conducting a lot of research on Amazon.

My background: 8+ years of application development, technical troubleshooting, production support and PC/server maintenance experience.
My story: I am working on filling out my resume with more hardware and networking training. Before my a+ studying I was very weak at hardware related topics but somewhat proficient in Microsoft Windows OS topics. Now I am stronger in both areas.

I used two books for a+ test preparation.
A+ Training Guide, Fifth Edition by Charles J. Brooks (this book)
A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide by Michael Meyers, Scott Jernigan (please see this book on Amazon for my review)

I really liked this A+ Training Guide because it was very detailed and it presented most of the material in concise tabular format. This made it easier for me to compare and study various items side-by-side. It included VERY helpful and clearly documented exam tips in each chapter, comprehensive study questions for each chapter and numerous tables of related data were provided for comparison. I found the two preplogic exams, which were also included in this book, to be very valuable preparation as well.

I read this entire book one/two chapter(s) at a time over a period of time. As I covered each chapter, I worked through the practice questions at the end of each chapter making sure to understand the details surrounding the ones which I missed. Once finished with this I took both preplogic exams in the back of this book. I was careful to study the items and explanations which I missed on the practice tests. I then went back through each chapter, studied the Exam Tips items more comprehensively, and took detailed notes relating to each exam tip item.

This was my favorite book to use for studying because of the direct, concise, tabular layout and format. This is purely a personal preference thing; however, I believe that both books helped my exam preparation and ability to learn the actual topics in different ways. Both books contained numerous practice questions, for study and for the exams, and the more questions you can use to learn the material the better off you will be in preparation for the actual tests.

The good...

The book is solid content-wise and quite comprehensive IMHO. Additionally, I found the content on the media included with the book to very useful. In some cases it even makes up for the short comings of the book. While the included version of PrepLogic testing software is an out-of-date trial, it is MUCH better (IMHO) than the "full / current" version of software offered at the vendor's website. Unfortunately, you can't that buy that version. You also get an electronic version of the book too. This package provides loads of great questions, realistic practice exams, hands-on labs to try and video footage.


The bad...

While this just my opinion, I object to the wording / vagueness of certain questions in the book. Since this is a learning tool, being more verbose would have been helpful IMHO.

I would have preferred to have been provided with the "Fifth Edition" instead of the "Fourth Edition" of the ebook since it's more convenient to tote along than the huge tome of a book that it is. Not to mention that the "fourth" edition totally ignores XP. However, this may not be an issue for you since the ebook is really just a bonus item even though you're still paying for it.

The ulgy...

Both the ebook and the printed version in this package are riddled with hundreds of typos of various sorts. This is no exaggeration and I am "not" referring to grammatical style or semantics here. I didn't go looking for them, they're glaring unavoidable misprints.

The most noticable ones were in the end of chapter review tests! This certainly raised certain quality control concerns in my mind. Since the book wasn't cheap, the least they could have done was try to ensure it was error-free. I have read many technical books and can't recall a book in which I encountered such careless editing. It really mars what could have otherwise been a "great" book.

Conclusion:

I would still suggest purchasing it, but you might wish to excercise the following cautions...

1) Be prepared for the huge lack of proof-reading.
2) Don't expect to read the provided e-book and have it match with or be as comprehensive as the real book.
3) Don't try to "upgrade" to the full version of the provided software. Instead you will need to replace it with the more current version of the software.
4) Definitely DON'T pay FULL price for it at your local bookstore! Buy it at a discount here or wherever!

I just passed the A+ Oper Sys Technologies 220-302 scoring 637 (Passing Score: 505); and on 8 Mar 2004, I passed A+ Core Hardwr. 220-301 scoring 586 (Passing Score: 515). These new exams can be very challenging --CompTIA seem well-focused on raising the value of their A+ Certification, indeed. Charles Brooks' 5th ed. Trng. Guide, Marcraft A+ Cert. Concepts & Practice tests(ExamGear2), Measure-UP, and Prep-Logic exam simulators, and Jean Andrews' A+ In-Depth guide (used as a reference) all contributed to my success. It must be said that C.Brooks' trng. guide's Fast Facts + Practice Exam at the back of the book are excellent warm-ups an hour or so before the actual exam! There were, of course, 6% - 9% questions on the exam that were not in either stdy. guides, this is to be expected as CompTIA introduces, unannounced, beta questions on their A+ exam --beta questions do not +/- affect one's score; even so, I believe that if one were to use quality study resources, one should do good. The A+ Training Guide 5th ed. and J.Andrews' A+ IN-Depth are my newest references for some time to come. I'll give the nod to Brooks' guide for A+ cert preparation because it's closely aligned/keyed to each Domain objective whereas the other isn't. I also began work on my Network+ Cert. using the Network+ Trng. Guide (by Mike Harwood) which appears to be another winner. Que publishing seems to be on a winning streak with these two.

Ps. Many people are failing this new A+ exam, so prepare well! It's virtually impossible to overprepare on this one.

I took the hardware portion of the A+ certifcation test just a few days ago and passed. It wasnt by a big margin, but nevertheless I want you to pass so I'm writing this. I think this is a good book. One reason I bought it was because it was recently published(2004), however it's now 2005. I think they still use the 2003 objectives. One thing I like is that this book repeats concepts throughout several chapters. The practice test questions on the CDROM (PrepLogic)were good help to. I made sure I went through all of them. When you buy the book you get a discount on test vouchers when you purchace them through Marcraft (sp). Marcraft also sends you their own practice CD test questions which helps even though they are very similar to the ones on the PrepLogic CD which comes with the book. I have had some expericene with computers, but I really havent had on the job experience so thats why I wanted to get certified. The book goes into depth on a lot of stuff that I proabably have forgotton by now. There are a couple of test questions on the test that I dont recall seeing anywhere in the book. If you really buckle down you can pass. I guess like everyone else I would reccommend another book, although I just used the book and 2 practice cd tests.

I approached this certification with some self-taught expertise, but I am essentially a novice. The guide assumes this fact and leads you through a systematic, thoughtful, easy to follow road that should lead to certification. I found the author to be conversational without being chatty, the material to be effectively laid out and presented. The tables and charts were very useful. The pictures were readable, not grainy or overly dark. The final review is essentially an "exam cram", which is useful for that last minute review before the exam. I have taken and passed the A+ exam using this guide and Prep Logic exams. I bought the full Prep Logic because I felt like the samples included with this book were such good practice. Probably overkill, as you can most likely pass the test with just the text and the sample questions. I am now working on Network+ and am using Bird and harwood's Network+ guide by QUE, which I also highly reccomend. Hope this helps some and best of luck on your journey.

I've used this book in training classes and have found it to cover all the A+ domain objectives. The sample test banks are really helpfull if your studying for the exam. The illustration are accurate as is the technical content. If you are looking for an A+ study guide that also has plenty of technical information, this is the book for you.

Well, I went looking for a decent book for A+ cert. This one seemed to be the biggest and "most official" that I could find.
Right off, I noticed issues. First off, the editors were on a long nap. This shows more on the clarity of the material. Second, you WILL find at least one or two informational errors on every chapter, not counting typos. This was making me kind of worried, since, even though I am picking these errors out because this is mostly review, what am I missing?. My third complaint is on the review/tests. They are too redundant. The questions are asked so many times you just skip them out of annoyance. Some of the "answers" dont even answer the question properly. And some of the questions are not fully covered in the reading.

Before I took the test, I thought this book was ok, but after taking the A+ hardware exam last week and only barely passing, I have to say that a lot of the material on the exam were MISSING from this book.

I started preparation for the 2003 A+ exams using "A+ In Depth" by Jean Andrews along with the included Measure-Up testing software. But, decided to turn to an additional study guide by the 3rd or 4th chapter only because of a recurring frustration: some end-of-chapter review questions didn't correlate with the coverage, they had to do with information and concepts not yet presented. I became distracted, perhaps annoyed. So, I decided to turn to Charles Brooks' A+ Trng. Guide, 5th Edition, as an additional resource after doing some research. I am glad I did. I've only uncovered one(1), maybe two(2) inaccuracies in the 7 chapters I've covered so far. Let me just say that the author knows and understands the hardware concepts extremely well, and he does a good presentation for the intended audience. I am now using both books as complements because Ms. Andrews' is very in-depth as the title suggest, and equally interesting with a different approach. I rely more on the C.Brooks' chapter review questions though which are consistently relevant.

All in all, both study guides along with the Measure-Up(J.A.) and PrepLogic(C.B.) testing software ought to sow an enduring seed way beyond the A+ certification exam.

I used this book to help me pass both the A+ Core Hardware and A+ OS Technology Exams. The book is full of helpful advice on what areas to concentrate on for the exams. However, do not expect to pass the exams by using only this book. I am not sure if there is any one source that you can study that will do that. I used this text, in conjunction with some online study guides that I had bought. I also had access to my local technical college's library of A+ training videos. In my humble opinion, the training vides were the single best resource I had used. The textbook was more of a source for deeper knowledge.

I am currently studying to complete my MCSE. My instructor adviced me to get my A+ certification to help increase my future value in the job market. Right now, I work as a sheet metal fabricator in an industrial setting in order to pay the bills. Hopefully, it will not be too long until I can finally enter the IT field. If you are in the same situation, working while pursuing certification, perhaps it would not be realistic to expect you to read this book from cover to cover. I certainly did not. However, to me, it's main value was as a source of additional clarification. In short, I would not depend on one source to help me pass any technical exam.

I do agree with one reviewer who was turned off by the fact that additional exam prep questions were only for those willing to pay extra. In my humble opinion, those additional materials should have been included with the text. However, the exam questions on the CD that came with the text were very helpful.