Rating: 
Summary: A fair read
Review: This book is a good effort at condensing and organizing the material it presents. However, it suffers from some (apparantly) typographical errors, some of which create substantive confusion (such as giving an incorrect address for one of the COM ports in one of its tables). The CD in my copy did not have, or could not find, the executable module for the Quicklearn game. I didn't spend much time looking for it, as the other material was easily accessible.The author's organization is clear, well-planned, and logical and does help the reader stay focused on the objectives. The writing style was smooth and enjoyable to spend long stretches with. Mr. Gilster's community college instructor background comes through in his assessment-content-practice test format for each chapter. It's a sound pedagological basis for teaching this type of material. In sum, it seems to be a better bet for those with some inital background and experience rather than for a complete novice looking for a one-stop shop to get their A+ knowledge.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Book for both Core and OS exams
Review: I just received my A+ Certification and only used this book and the practice tests from www.dalidesign, which by the way where I purchased the test vouchers and saved mucho bucks. I highly recommend this book, but recommend using at least another study source if you do not have much experience with Hardware and Operating Systems. I did find a few mistakes in this book and this is why I did not give it 4 stars. Initially, read the book from front to back.
And then separately study the material thoroughly for the Hardware test and then once you take/pass this test, do the same for the OS test.
This is what worked for me and hopefully it will work for you also.
Good Luck.
Rating: 
Summary: PASSED!
Review: Ron's book is a great start for studying for your A+ exam. A large error occured at my school, and basically, I had 2.5 weeks to pass the A+ without any hardware experience. I bought this book and read it cover to cover. I also used A+ Transcenders from school, the A+ Cram Session, and got a great study partner. Now I am A+ certified. :) Ron's book is a good START for studying. I would not recommend using this book alone. The Transcenders were the best study tool along with the A+ for Dummies book. I do not believe any one book would be enough for studying, so this book should be the first book one reads to prepare for the exams. To quickly summarize, this is a great book; easy to read and easy to understand, but please do not rely on this book alone! Use all your available resources and good luck! :)
Rating:
Summary: Its possible to pass, but you better over prepare
Review: I have now used Ron Glister's A+ (the 2001 variety), Server+ and Network+ for dummies. What I've found is you learn as much if not more from the practice tests in the back. The info is VERY easy to read and is great for those who are not familar with all of this - but there is also a lot to be picked up elsewhere. In the A+ I passed both the OS and HW parts by the seat of my pants (something like <700 on each test) and the Server+ I got an 80% (you need a 75%). I used the server+ book for about one month. Im taking the Network+ at the end of this month, but using my professor's help from DeVry University instead. If you're going to take ANY tests, what I suggest is getting your hands on testing material. Some questions on the test are only learned when you've taken and failed them on a practice test. Don't spend money on a cert class, and don't spend too much on a test on line. Neither are very worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Not a stand alone book... needs more OS tech and networking
Review: This book is fairly easy to read, and does try to teach you binary code (which the book seems to complicate it instead). I was able to pick up a few pointers, and it does serve as a good study guide. The questoins and topics it touches really arn't on the A+ Core hardware exam (though the A+ core hardware exam is a lot of random questions.... with a lot of stuff even a year in tech school didn't teach me). I'd also suggest getting a good OS Technogogies book and a good Networking book if you plan to use this as a primary study guide (I'd still suggest taking a class in computer servicing at your local technical school just to get some stuff that this book misses). I must also suggest dipping into a little bit of the history of computers, as some computer history was on my hardware exam... as well as 20 networking questions (which is a very high number, according to the ideal layout). After 8 months of technical training, and studying with this book, i was able to get a 556 out of 900 (passing on the hardware part of the A+ exam is 515) on the Core Hardware exam. I don't trust this book when it comes to the os technology part... as it teaches more about files than actual OS. I'd also suggest getting ahold of a copy of CCNA Jumpstart for some networking review.. as that is what helped me on the networking questions (even though many of the networking questions were hypothetical).
Rating:
Summary: Okay as Starter
Review: I am MCSE, A+, and CCNA certified and used this book as part of my preparation for the CompTia A+ exams. This is a typical "Dummies" book that serves a great purpose for introduction to a subject, but does not go into sufficient detail to rely upon solely as a preparation for the A+ exam. I would use this book if I knew next to nothing about the A+ exam and was interested in finding out what all the fuss was about. Otherwise, I would skip this one. Either way, do not rely solely on this book for your test prep. Use it in conjunction with other guides by Sybex or Exam Cram. The cheat sheet included in this book is virtually worthless, as the reminders are too brief and vague to be of any real value, instead, use Exam Cram's book ISBN: 078983043x. the book covers both aspects of the A+ exam (hardware and OS), but has limited graphics with hardly any photos. I found the exam required identifying parts and components from pictures, so this book won't help you there. 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).
Rating: 
Summary: DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!
Review: I read the entire book from front to back and discovered that when it came time to take the exam half of the information which it said not to worry about, was on the exam. I have been in the computer business for over a year and I can tell you that using this as a study guide is quite possibly the worst idea you could ever do. His book is good to use if you want basic and fundamental knowledge of how a PC works, but you will NEVER pass the A+ exam with this book. As an example, on page 378 he writes, "You may encounter some terminology that relates to twisted-pair copper wiring on exams. Don't worry about the really techinical issues." Meanwhile, the exam which I took had 3 specific questions related to the subject which he said not to worry about. There are so many instances of this in the book, that it would wrong of me to not tell the world how bad this book is. The only reason I passed this exam was because of my job training in the past. If you want to pass the A+ go with the Exam Cram books.
Rating:
Summary: read this book if you want to fail
Review: I purchased and read this book several months ago. I found so many errors and confilcting statements in this book, I couldn't believe it. I would read one thing in one chapter and then find a conflicting statement in another chapter. I had to go out and buy another book to study, because, after finding so many mistakes in this book, I didn't feel like I could trust the accuracy of the information in it.
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: I passed both exams using this book along with A+ Passport. I used the dummies book as the read from front to back book. The other one was for cramming and finding any weak points. The book is clearly written and I liked the general layout. The questions closely match the real exam. The author is fantastic and a great teacher. One warning I would say is the CD it comes with is a disaster. I printed out sample questions from the CD to review and found many errors. The section 6 on the CD is so bad, it seemed like the answers where scrambled. Thus, when you take the CD tests, the answers are scrambled as well. I doubt the author had a say in the CD content. The book is great and the CD stinks. Book: 5 stars - buy it for a great book
CDROM: 1 star - errors on the CD hurts the value of the book. Don't trust the CD.
Rating:
Summary: easy reading
Review: I bought this book for my husband because he wants to get A+ certified in a couple months. I started flipping through it and got hooked on all the things I should be doing to maintain my computer. It is very easy reading and easy to understand.
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