A+ Certification Readiness Review

Rating:
Summary: Good info, but insufficient for passing the exams
Review: I just passed (January 2003) both A+ exams, using this book as one of my references. The book and CD did test you on the info in the MS A+ Certification Training Kit; however, the nature and scope of the sample test questions are different than the current A+ questions: some sample test questions ask you about arcane topics or are a dozen lines; none of the questions on my test neither covered any of the arcane topics in this book nor were longer than 2 or 3 lines. I would recommend using this book and the Microsoft A+ Certification Training Kit Review as supplements to one or more of the slim A+ Adaptive Exam books by either Meyers or Crayton. The practice tests on the included CD were good.

Rating:
Summary: This book is not representative of the actual test
Review: I used the Microsoft A+ Certification Readiness Review as a supplemental study aide for my A+ exam. I passed the exam with flying colors but I attribute my success to the "A+ Certification Exam Guide" by Mike Myers.

The questions in the Microsoft book are much more difficult than those on the actual exam. Many of the questions are lengthy scenarios that in no way mimic the actual exam. I would caution those who buy this book that your progress cannot be accurately gauged using the practice exams in this book. The actual exam simply is not this difficult. I would strongly suggest that you buy the Mike Myers book and read only the sections marked "test specific". Once you do this, you'll be more than ready for the exam. Don't waste your money, or more importantly your time using this book as a study aide.

Rating:
Summary: On the tougher side of things
Review: Now admittedly, the A+ Readiness Review is purely for exam preparation by throwing out multiple questions at you based on CompTIA's exam objectives. In this the authors succeed as you get a blend of relatively simple, straight-forward questions to some very tough troubleshooting scenario problems. If you have no problems working your way through all the questions in this book, you are very likely to pass both A+ exams. However, this book provides the barest of coverage on the topics so it would be a very good idea not to use this book as your main study guide. The A+ Readiness Review cross-references its questions to the proper sections in its meatier brother, the A+ Certification Training Kit.