Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: I bought this book hot off the press about 2 weeks ago. I took both the Core & DOS/Windows exams last night. Passed both with flying colors. Everything you need to know to pass the exams is in this book. I tried reading some of the A+ "phone book sized" certification guides and while informative I was suffering from information overload. A+ Certification For Dummies cuts to the chase and provides all the info you need to pass - but I guess I said that already :). Ron Gilster did an excellent job. Thanks, Ron.
Rating: 
Summary: Easy to understand and use
Review: I read part of the book- its a big book- and haven't finished it. It seems comprehensive. I am not electrically inclined, so I am glad he wrote a chapter on electricity. It seems like a great study guide. I am using it as a self-study and I have learned in the few short chapters that I have read and I believe that this book can teach me more.
Rating: 
Summary: Prepare to pass the A+ Exam and maybe even enjoy it.
Review: I had three goals in mind when writing this book: prepare the reader with the knowledge needed to pass the A+ exam, limit the scope of the material to just what is needed for the A+ exams, and to let the reader have some fun doing it. This book does not assume you already know everything. It does not try to impress you with its page count or expansive coverage of the history of computer technology. Instead, it is organized as a reference and study guide aimed specifically at helping you pass the A+ exams. Even if you aren't the most technically astute, or even if you are, you can prepare for the A+ exam and maybe smile once or twice while you do it. After the test, or should you not be interested in A+ at all, the book will work very nicely as a service techician's computer repair reference. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Passed both Hardware & OS with book
Review: title says it all. there was several typos & errors but their easy to spot. cost effective. i should mention dont count on this book alone to get good scores, but its certainly enough to pass. i was curious to IT and got this book, read it once, and reviewed for 2 weeks and passed both actual tests.
again dont count on good scores with just this book alone. its your time and money you are spending on the test and investment into this industry.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't count on it
Review: For overall scope of material, and fairly good writing (meaning the explanations and descriptions are good enough), I would have given it a 5. But the fact that there are so many factual errors in the first half alone (I haven't even gotten to the software part yet) earns it the low rating. You can't have a study guide for an expensive exam like this and have what i consider to be stupid mistakes. You can't say that PII Xeon goes in a Slot 1 mounting on one page, and a Slot 2 on another. It's confusing and misleading for a beginner, which is who this book is supposedly geared to. You just wind up confused and double-checking everything anyway, so you might as well use another book all together. It's too bad because it's a great format.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't buy this book ! Not completely updated!
Review: This book was suppose to be the latest updated version but it looks like an older edition was reprinted just to sell this book. Once you start reading this book, it won't take you very long to see what I mean when you read about things that are now no longer being used in the PC world. The Dummies series was excellent for beginners when they first hit the market several years ago. Now they have over-expanded and are trying too hard to write a book on every possible subject, thus not being able to publish quality updated versions. Don't buy this book! Read the other reviews! If you are planning to buy only one book to assist you with the A+ or if you are just a curious novice then buy "Absolute Beginners Guide to A+" isbn 0789730626. That book is loaded with many photos and charts and is written with CURRENT information necessary for your A+ exam. The tests on the CD are excellent! Just compare the two books side by side if you don't believe me.
Rating: 
Summary: Skip this one.
Review: Too many mistakes for one thing. Get the A+ Training Guide 5th edition by Charles Brooks and SelfTest software. SelfTest offers testing vouchers with their prep tests. I ended up paying less than the test cost. The test are $145.00 each and the SelfTest software w/vouchers was 138.00. Deal! The Dummy book solo will leave you ill prepared for the A+ exam and in fact, in retrospect, I believe it to be a waste of time.
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: 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! :)
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