Rating: 
Summary: Not bad if you have experience with this material
Review: I've been working as a computer technician for about a decade now, so this is the only book I bought to help me brush up on the A+-related topics. While I passed both exams with no problems, I was a little disappointed with the fact that modem strings and CPU socket types were not covered in A+ Exam Cram, although they appeared a number of times on the core exam.Most of the explanations are clear and concise and address the major issues. I found that having the answers immediately after each end-of-chapter question was helpful, as long as I remembered to cover up the answer before looking at the question. (While this method is far from perfect, I think it's better than having to look up the answers in the back of the book, and much better than including the answers on an accompanying CD, as some Coriolis books unfortunately do.) A few chapters are introduced with a chronological history of the topic, which can often benefit novice readers. While the authors state that this information is not on the exam, much of it seems superfluous for an "Exam Cram" book, and is probably better suited for an appendix. Jones and Landes also use some very strange non-technical analogies that are generally more confusing than helpful. Unfortunately, the practice exam is hard to take seriously: a few of the questions are ambiguous, others contradict the information in the preceding chapters. There are a couple of other errors in the book (mostly numerical), but it otherwise reads well. If you think you know most of the material before studying for A+ and just want to focus on the topics covered, this should be the only book you'll need.
Rating: 
Summary: One of two books needed to pass the A+ Certification
Review: Unlike most people who take the A+ Certification, we were both advanced computer users without much experience with DOS, Windows 3.x and Troubleshooting. When we both got laid off (in the same week from different companies) we decided that we needed to get some education in a field that may be a little more stable. We purchased almost every book on the market regarding A+ Certification and read each one of them (some were absolutely useless). We found that the A+ Exam Cram gave a great overview of many topics covered on the exam and some good sample questions. The other book was Michael Myers A+ Certification Exam Guide. Using these two books together we were both able to pass the exams (and did quite well) and both of us feel that we have a very solid understanding of the fundamentals of DOS, Windows 3.X, Windows 65 and NT. We are very pleased that these two books are on the market and hope they are used by anyone who wants to pass the A+ exam on the first try. The Exam Cram book does not include all of the information covered in both exams so we recommend you purchase at least one other book, preferably the Michael Myers book, and you will have your bases covered. No, we are not getting any money for this, we just did lots of research and many, many, many hours studying and do not want anyone else to waste their time!
Rating: 
Summary: This book has been replaced - The Author
Review: The 2nd Edition Exam Cram has been surplanted by "A+ Exam Cram 2," a thoroughly revised and updated version of the book. The new book takes advantage of our new partnership with Que Publishing, and includes an interactive CD-ROM with, not only practice tests, but the entire book in electonic format. --Craig Landes, Author (11/02)
Rating:
Summary: A+ Exam Cram the best way to Learn and Pass the A+ Exam
Review: While working toward my A+ Certification I was given and got a lot of other books to study. I took the Test and did not pass. Then I found out about the Exam Cram for A+ Certification. I tried it, followed the suggestions in the book and passed the Test. I also learned more from that book than any other, simply because it was put in simple terms and if you have a little bit of experience of hardware and software it is the perfect tool. The only bad thing I found was there are a few mistakes in the answers of the practice tests. But if you read the previous chapter(s) you will figure it out and it is actually a good test to see if you are paying attention.
Rating:
Summary: Still worth buying
Review: I was disappointed with this book, but still recommend using it as one of your tools. It does have many errors, and they are not just typos. You really need to compare with other books to find the right info, which is frustrating. The Core material is good, and I picked up some info after having read Meyers. However, I found the DOS/Win material confusing and disorganized within each chapter. I have extensive experience with both DOS and Win 3.x, and found myself going to general reference books for info (Dan Gookin's DOS books, Fred Davis' The Windows 3.1 Bible - both fantastic, by the way). Dummies is another cram-type book, and I found it to be MUCH better (even for DOS/Win). There is an Exam Cram A+ Practice Test book, too, and that is much better (see my review on Amazon). I passed last week with 98% Core, 96% Dos/Win. I'm sure this book helped, but not too much. Buy it, but use it as just one tool in your toolbox. Good luck!
Rating:
Summary: This book has been replaced - The Author
Review: The 2nd Edition Exam Cram has been supplanted by "A+ Exam Cram 2," a thoroughly revised and updated version of the book. The new book takes advantage of our new partnership with Que Publishing, and includes an interactive CD-ROM with, not only practice tests, but the entire book in electonic format. --Craig Landes, Author (11/02)
Rating:
Summary: This book has been replaced - The Author
Review: The 2nd Edition Exam Cram has been surplanted by "A+ Exam Cram 2," a thoroughly revised and updated version of the book. The new book takes advantage of our new partnership with Que Publishing, and includes an interactive CD-ROM with, not only practice tests, but the entire book in electonic format. --Craig Landes, Author (11/02)
Rating: 
Summary: I would have failed.....
Review: I recently took the CompTIA A+ certification tests and I quickly realized that if I'd relied on the info in the Exam Cram book, I would have failed. What is missing:
- Full background explanations: Example; Their summary of the evolution memory is seriously lacking and difficult to understand. Basic fundamental concepts are not spelled out or simplified for the beginner.
- Lack of diagrams: Some concepts can be easily explained by showing a diagram, but this book lacks the creativity to do so. Abstract concepts often require graphical assistance to ensure the notions are conveyed, but out of 500+ pages, less than 20 graphics are used. This means that in order to see what they mean when they speak of OS windows or control panels, you will need to find machines running DOS, Win 3.1, Win 95, 98, NT and 2k, or you'll have to imagine it.
- Depth on important topics: Concepts critical to being a computer technician are skimmed by. No discussion on different pin structures of RAM, local network issues or memory. Spills a few facts and expects the user to make sense of it.
- Their test questions lack relevance: The paltry sum of exam questions at the end of each section *really* don't prepare you for the exam questions. Their softball questions, where the test can and will try to throw you some curves. I bought the book to review, but if I was a beginner, I would have failed. A better book to try is the "A+ Certification Bible". Much more in-depth and explanitory, especially of the abstract concepts. My advice is to consult several books, but if I could only choose one, this wouldn't be it. My advice; spend the extra bucks and get the A+ certification bible....you'll walk into the test MUCH more prepared.
Rating:
Summary: "A+" Hardware "D-" Operating Systems
Review: The first half (Hardware) is concise and to the point, an excellent hardware review or learning tool. If the Hardware chapters are "A+ Exam-Cram" then the Operating System chapters are "D- Exam-Ramble" The Operating System half of the book reads like 10,000 word term paper that should have given up at 500 words. Suffering from writing "by the pound" this disappointment offers little of value. Some one should have told the author (or at least the Editor) that DOS and Windows 3.1 are no longer on the test. (Ch. 10-11, p.221-342) Exam-Cram normally publishes great material--concise, valuable review books. Just not this one. I grew to loath this title because of the poorly written second half. Each chapter has ONLY 6 review questions, and a single test of 50 questions at the end of the book. Compare this with Global Knowledge's A+ book which has 20 review questions per chapter and a CD which includes video demonstrations of simple hardware operations, and over 220 (yes, two hundred twenty) sample test questions.
Rating:
Summary: Hardware Section = 5 stars, OS is another story
Review: I received this book for Christmas this year a couple of weeks before I took the Hardware test. The half on hardware is outstanding. It examines all aspects of hardware in a level that's not too detailed, or complex. I passed the hardware test with ease thanks to this book. I then studied the OS half of the book and darn near memorized it, but it was all in vain. There were only about 4 questions in the OS test I took that related to the book (of which I was sure I got correct). For the OS test, I'd recommend that you learn with hands-on training. All around, this is a good book.
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