Customer Reviews

CompTIA A+ Exam Cram (Exams 220-602, 220-603, 220-604)

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

 

 

I bought this on the advice of a fellow computer geek who told me ExamCram was the best source for computer study materials. He was right! The book is simple and easy to understand, yet still leaves you feeling confident with your comprehension of the material. They give you "Exam Alerts" so that you know specific areas you need to study, as well as challenges to test your knowledge in "real life" situations. At the end of each chapter is a comprehensive quiz, with answers that are explained so you know why an answer is right. If you are studying for A+, look no further. This is all you need.

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!

Alot of misinformation.

Mac OS based on LINUX? (3.0 question 7) Uh...no...its UNIX...thanks for playing though. That would be an easy question on the A+ exam that you would have missed right there because of this book.

Why would you use FAT32? A normal tech would would do that if they were trying to support an older OS's on a dual boot(which was actually one of the choices), but the writer gave some other nonsensical reason like the primary drive being smaller than 1 GB (which is smaller than the required size for XP or 2000 to even be installed at all BTW). Completely ridiculous.

This is just BASIC stuff that any tech should know, and this book, many times, gets it completely wrong.

Not to mention wiping down LCD monitors with soap and water instead of alcohol based wipes (not even an answer)....wow. Yeah, nothing ups the resale value of your shiny new notebook like internal water damage.

Some of the questions were so outlandish that they were impossible to answer properly (ie "write it down in the paper security log" [the right answer BTW] WTF?).

It also completely stomps all over the idea that the simplest solution is typically the correct one, which is stressed in every other guide and on the test itself. The author would have you trouble shooting all sorts of bizarre printer problems when you really should be looking for an empty paper tray (also one of the choices).

Wrong...wrong...wrong. One of THE worst study manuals I have ever read, if not the worst. Some stuff was good, but unless you already knew it, you wouldn't be able to tell which was the good stuff, and which was flat out wrong.

Get the Testout software from the library and buy 'Jean Andrews A+ 2006: In Depth' (which you should have as a desk reference anyway), and you will be golden.

I think it's a pretty good book to get overall knowledge for you IT job. However, it only covers about 60% of the A+ test(I took the IT Tech route). You can answer the other 30% of the test base on common sense and some on-the-job experience. 10% of the test material wasn't covered in the book at all (E.g. How to handle specific hazardous material, which the book covers them, but not enough). The MSCONFIG question comes up at least 5 times in both A+ Essential and IT Tech. Be sure to read and re-read that chapter where is covers the MSCONFIG command.

This should NOT be your only study guide for the exam. There were just far to many discrepancies in the book and I spend a lot of time double checking the information online. Although I passed the A+ Essentials Exam using the guide, I will be using a different source for the IT Technician Exam.

This would be a great book to help with reviewing for the A+. It includes a lot of information on the test objectives, and also includes a lot of specifications that would be good to know, but not necessarily needed, to pass the A+ exam. Another plus are useful detailed diagrams. In that sense, it is very good.

However, the deal breaker here is the presence of misinformation. Like a previous reviewer mentioned, MAC OS X is NOT based on Linux. The 802.11g specification does NOT operate in the 5.0 GHz spectrum, etc. Furthermore, as of this day this review was written, I could NOT find any sort of errata file which might have saved this review. The closest I came to was making an account at InformIT (partnered with Que Publishing) that "maybe" offered an errata file, but didn't, and didn't offer any means to close the account I made.

If you are considering this book as an introduction to study for the A+, I urge you to look elsewhere. Buy this as a reference to information YOU ALREADY MAY KNOW, to the point where you can point out errors while reading. Otherwise, you may learn information that WILL HURT YOU on the exams.

PASSED 2/22/2008
I used this in conjunction with the ExamCram practice questions book for about a month before I took the test. Passed with scores of 770 on Essentials and 860 on IT Technician. This book points out specific facts that have appeared as previous test questions titled EXAM ALERT. PAY ATTENTION TO THEM! Many appeared as test questions. The Practice Question book, which can be purchased separately had questions almost word for word as they appeared on my exam. I would highly recommend using BOTH of the EXAMCRAM books to study. You will pass!

My only compaint is that the books are made somewhat cheaply. Several pages weren't glued down properly.

Also, the CD that comes with this book is not nearly as good as the one that comes with the book of practice exams. But even it had a couple of errors.

It covers the material for the cert exam very well. This book is a must for final review for the test. This book takes the objectives and covers them very well. The notations for what is needed for the exam is an added bonus. I highly recommend the ExamCram series.

I ordered this book to really cram for the A+ it would be fine if you had some time to go through the book but if your serious about cramming just get the essentials and 602 this book is huge for exam cram

I bought Exam Cram for the essentials, A+ 220 601, 220-602,220-603, and 220-604. And thanks to reading this book day and night over the course of seven months along with a comprehensive PC repair class I took in the Spring I got 834 and 836 on my exams and I got A+ certified as an IT Technichian. The book does have some errors (Apple OSX is based on UNIX, not LINUX and 802.11g does not operate on the 5ghz spectrum, it's the 2.4 ghz spectrum.) And you'd never use alcohol based wipes on a PC, Even the A+exam states using a damp cloth with water.) In addition to these factual errors there are a couple of typos sprinkled throughout this over 1300 page tome, but it's the best guide anyone could have if they are studying for the A+. Highly recommended, but I also recommend using additional books Like Jean Andrews A+ and How to build a PC for Dummies.

Very detailed well explained Material. Lots of insightful test prep hints to guide your review. I was a little dissapointed with the single set of questions on the non interactive CD that came with the book.