Rating: 
Summary: Great book but not enough
Review: I think this is an excellent book for anyone wanting to learn computer hardware but I would recommend supplementing your studying with other material for the actual exam. Study guides and free practice tests available on the Internet will help you focus on what is actually on the exam. Meyers' book goes into much more detail than what is needed for the A+ exams, making review a daunting task if you depend only on this book. The author seems to care more about teaching you something than preparing you for the exam (that is commendable but this is supposed to be geared for the test). To sum up, this is a very well-written book and I learned a great deal from reading it, but it is just way too much too review with. I passed both tests on the first try with good scores but I don't think I would have if I had depended solely on this book. So read this book but use study guides and practice tests for review. By the way, according to the CompTIA site the Dos/Windows exam is changing this spring or summer. They are dropping the Win 3.x info and adding NT, Win98 and Linux. None of which is covered by this book so keep that mind if you don't plan on taking your test before June. Good luck.
Rating: 
Summary: All You Need
Review: This book is really all you need to pass the A+ Exam. It isparticularly strong in the Core Service Technician area, but a littlebit weak on the DOS/Windows protion of the exam. There is way, way more here than is needed to pass the A+ Exams, but it makes an excellent guide for troubleshooting even after the exams have been passed. All the same, you may want to wait until the tests are upgraded before testing; Windows 3.x and Windows95 are still included on the test, which is rather silly now that we have Windows98, Windows NT, and Windows2000 out. The book is so large that review is difficult, and the questions provided at the end of each chapter are nothing whatsoever like the ones on the exam, so you may need to invest in some testing software as well. The CD asks you to pay more money before you get full access to it, which is kind of a dirty trick. All the same, this book can't be beat for the sheer amount of information and detail that is in it. Caveat: it may not be best to start out with this book -- it is really not for beginners are those with no experience under the hood of a PC. A more basic book may be in order before feeling comfortable with identifying the varying types of expansion slots and so on. But on the whole a great book.
Rating:
Summary: Wait For Next Edition
Review: CompTIA is updating the test the end of November. So in one month this book becomes obsolete. Keep an eye out for the updated edition that should be published shortly.All of that aside this is a great book. Beginning with historical back ground then bringing the reader "up to date" helps make these ideas stick. After each chapter there are sample questions that insure you are truly getting it. Add to that the bonus CD with practice tests and useful utilities that you, as an official CompTIA certified technician, might actually use in the field and you got a no brainer. Five stars!
Rating:
Summary: Meyers' Book Gets A+
Review: The most striking feature of this book is its size. Over 1200 pages covering hardware and software for the COMPTIA A+ exam is almost intimidating at first sight. However, when you start to read this tome, it is actually a pleasure it is so well written. Mike Meyers is a knowledgeable authority, an able teacher and an excellent writer. Sitting down to read technical information is not always interesting to even the hardest core computer afficionado. The author's clear explanations and descriptions make the technical points easy to understand. The added benefit of his writing style makes the material enjoyable to read. No other book in this category brings all these strenghts together in one book. Even after years of using and building my own computers, this book had a lot to offer me. Thanks to this book, I think I finally have a solid understanding of how the computer works. I knew before what I had to do to build and get a computer working, but now I find I have a more thorough understanding of why it works. The test questions at the end of each chapter were very helpful as well as the practice exam on the included CD. You may want to supplement this book with another book that has more test questions for additional practice. Some reviewers have criticized the book for the numberous typos and a few technical errors. It is obvious that the editing of this book was sloppy and I suspect that there was a rush to get this to press in time for the new A+ exam, which this covers. However, these flaws are really minor in comparison to the book's overall excellence.
Rating: 
Summary: Check Out - www.totalsem.com/support/errata/aplus5.htm
Review: Before purchasing the book you should access www.totalsem.com/support/errata/aplus5.htm
This webpage show errors and give the corrections for errors in the Fifth Edition of the All In One A+ Certification Book.
Rating:
Summary: Fourth Edition; Good but could be better
Review: The version I have is the fourth edition copyright 2002. I have been working with/on PC's since 1986. Overall I found this a good preparatory book for the exams. I especially liked the historical perspective Michael Meyers gives at the beginning of many chapters. I did find an occasional mistake in these, but nothing major. I feel the explanations throughout the entire book are simplified enough that someone with little to no experience after studying the book could probably pass the two exams. I expect the sheer size of the book; 1137 pages, 2 1/2 inches thick may discourage some beginners. I feel at times the author went overboard with his analogies, especially with the ones related to how a CPU works. He does this so much that I could not find a clear definition of the function of the external data bus, in the external data bus section. It was clouded by his analogy. Instead I found it in the questions at the end of the chapter. I feel in some places the proofreader(s) for the 2002 edition left some things the way they were in previous editions, when they should have been updated for the current technology and prices. A few examples; p 245 "Document the position of the wires for the ...turbo switch, turbo light..." and p 377 "Buying floppy drives one at a time is expensive and a waste of time." (since 2000 I have been buying new floppy drives for $10-$15 individually. I don't consider that expensive.) and lastly p826 "A CDR burner must be specifically designed to support the longer 80-minute CD-R format, something that currently only a minority of CD-R drives do." The author needs to be carefull of using the phrase "all versions of windows". NT does not have Device Manager or a Safe Mode, but "all versions of windows" on page 598 and 546 would leed you to believe so. I think for the sake of beginners I would have preferred that all of the images of the Celeron SEP package show the side with the actual CPU chip on it. Many show the backside with the circuit traces. This book did save me money. In the front it suggests to buy vouchers, vice paying the full cost for the exams. I bought vouchers, along with an enhanced version of the practice examinations and still paid less than the retail cost of the exams. Dispite my criticism of this book I did like the book and I plan on keeping it for a long time to come as reference material. There is no way I could ever have written a book, this in depth, with as few errors as this book has. I passed the hardware exam easily (I took 6 minutes for the adaptive version) and expect to easily pass the operating system exam tomorrow. I only used my experience, this book and an enhanced version of the practice examinations that came with the book. A new version of the A Plus exam is due fall or winter of 2003. Comptia has already published the new exam objectives, so I would expect a fifth edition of this book early 2004.
Rating:
Summary: Bravo. The best A+ guide.
Review: This All-In-One book has cartoonish pictures and explains basic computer techie stuff. I did extremely well on both exams. I do have a couple years of hands on experience, but I have a habit of buying books and not reading them. However, this book I read cover-to-cover. It may be a bit of overkill in terms of theory for the test. However, I'm a better tech because of doing the exercises. Especially, the ones in the lab manual. For daily reference, I use Upgrading and Reparing PCs.
Rating:
Summary: Good...not great
Review: This book was very good but it didn't cover everything on the exam. I took the practice exams on the included CD and did great on the Core Hardware, and just passed the OS. On the actual exam I just passed the Hardware and failed the OS. It definitely helped a lot but I will be looking for other sources before I retake the test.
Rating:
Summary: Best A+ Book I've ever read
Review: At first, I saw people carrying around this book at my work place and wondered to myself, why are people reading that dull brown book? Well, to my surprised, when school came around and I decided to get my A+ Cert, this was THE BOOK recommended by everyone I knew. It teaches all the necessary information for taking the A+ test, without boggling your mind. If you have a short attention span and would like a quick pick-me-up, this is the book!
Rating:
Summary: Almost a keeper
Review: I read this volume cover to cover It covered the hardware quite well, but the author was long winded and confusing at times. He did not cover a lot of the Windows 2000 operating system in great depth, or printers, or networking to any extent. It got me through the test, but I wouldn't have passed without my transcenders software.
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