49 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
This is more than a study guide for the exam!, October 25, 2006
This review is from: CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide: (Exams 220-601/602/603/604) (Paperback)
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.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
This book is okay., March 5, 2007
This review is from: CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide: (Exams 220-601/602/603/604) (Paperback)
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.
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Only Study Guide needed for New A+ Exam Format, January 11, 2007
This review is from: CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide: (Exams 220-601/602/603/604) (Paperback)
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.
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