Rating: 
Summary: Good info, but no fun to read
Review: A+ Certification Training Guide
Charles J. Brooks
PUBLISHER: New Riders
REVIEWED BY: Barbara RhoadesBOOK REVIEW: The first thing you notice when you open the A+ Certification Training Guide book, is a six page tear-out section on the Core Hardware Service Technician Examination. It is divided into two parts - the Topic and then the Chapter where that topic is discussed. Following this is a 13 page Table of Contents. The 40-page index completes the look-up information sections of the book. In-between, you find 1100 pages of information on installation, diagnosing, maintenance, motherboards and many, many more subjects. They will prepare you for the A+ examination. Want to practice first? At the end of each chapter, there are review questions, exam questions, apply your knowledge section and, best of all----the answers to all of the questions! Warnings, tips, notes, and plenty of graphics make the book a fountain of information. There is also a CD that contains test questions so you can review before your actual test. The (...) price gives you mountains of material for you're A+ Certification.
Rating: 
Summary: Too many problems
Review: Although this book was laid out following the guidelines of the CompTIA A+ test it at times provided erronous information, or too much information about things that you don't need to know about to pass the test, especially in the OS section. I had to research a lot of answers and questions that didn't sound correct to me. Luckily I have a few years experience with the MS operating systems and could see a lot of the mistakes. The CDROM was almost worthless, the radio buttons would appear one time and then disappear at others, and you would have to use the Tab key to navigate around the test and hope you pressed the enter key at the correct time. They also wanted more money to "un-lock" the adaptive test. There were a lot of answers on the CD that differed when you went to the book. So which was right? I would have to take time out and research the question on the Internet. I wanted to take the test before 1 Sept and just barely made it (848 hardware/710 OS). If you decide to use this book, have another close by and compare answers.
Rating: 
Summary: Gangster Capitalism
Review: At first blush, this pricey book appears to be a very thorough and comprehensive study text. Inaccuracy occurs before the end of chapter one. This brings the credibility of the book and its editing into question. Upon installation of Exam Gear, off the accompanying CD, Marcraft, the publisher, demands more money to facilitate unlocking supplimental exams and material on the CD. This bait and switch indicates a one-time customer marketing philosophy. I will certainly abide by that.
Rating:
Summary: Its OK, not great, has some serious errors
Review: First of all, if you study this book and learn everything it has to say, you will pass the A-plus. If you order and study ANY of the A-plus exam guides you will pass the A-plus. You will not ACE the A-plus from this book. As near as I can tell, there is no study guide that will help you ACE the A-plus. If you want to do that you have to buy several study guides and study them all, as well as check out the assistance available on the web. However, this is a big, heavy expensive book and I expected more of it. What it does do - it will teach you how a PC works, how to build one, what the options are, how to fix one. As far as core hardware, this book is guilty of giving you far more information than you need for the exam. Its good for a real world repair guide and reference, but it may overload the entry level technician with just too much information. What it doesn't do - It hasn't been updated for the Windows 2000 focus of the new A-plus exam. It mentions Windows 2000 when it can, but clearly as last minute updates as it was going to press. Its woefully inadequate about this operating system. It is also out of date in many other areas of lesser importance but which still could cost test points (for example - it states that Novell NetWare does not support IP protocols - this information is about four years out of date). It also makes statements about Windows 95/98/NT/2000 that are just incorrect, just wrong. Its clear that the authors are less knowledgeable about operating system software than they are about PC hardware. The last disappointment is the self-testing CD included with the book. The testing program has had the guts ripped out of it, but for a substantial fee you can obtain the secret code to restore it to full functionality. Its of very little value and follows the technical errors made in the text. Again, the book does have enough correct information to get you through the A-plus exams with a passing grade. But a number of other books found on Amazon do the same thing at lower cost.
Rating:
Summary: Its OK, not great, has some serious errors
Review: First of all, if you study this book and learn everything it has to say, you will pass the A-plus. If you order and study ANY of the A-plus exam guides you will pass the A-plus. You will not ACE the A-plus from this book. As near as I can tell, there is no study guide that will help you ACE the A-plus. If you want to do that you have to buy several study guides and study them all, as well as check out the assistance available on the web. However, this is a big, heavy expensive book and I expected more of it. What it does do - it will teach you how a PC works, how to build one, what the options are, how to fix one. As far as core hardware, this book is guilty of giving you far more information than you need for the exam. Its good for a real world repair guide and reference, but it may overload the entry level technician with just too much information. What it doesn't do - It hasn't been updated for the Windows 2000 focus of the new A-plus exam. It mentions Windows 2000 when it can, but clearly as last minute updates as it was going to press. Its woefully inadequate about this operating system. It is also out of date in many other areas of lesser importance but which still could cost test points (for example - it states that Novell NetWare does not support IP protocols - this information is about four years out of date). It also makes statements about Windows 95/98/NT/2000 that are just incorrect, just wrong. Its clear that the authors are less knowledgeable about operating system software than they are about PC hardware. The last disappointment is the self-testing CD included with the book. The testing program has had the guts ripped out of it, but for a substantial fee you can obtain the secret code to restore it to full functionality. Its of very little value and follows the technical errors made in the text. Again, the book does have enough correct information to get you through the A-plus exams with a passing grade. But a number of other books found on Amazon do the same thing at lower cost.
Rating: 
Summary: Updated and revised makes this book a very good read.
Review: Having had a hand in the review of the book this text is vastly improved over the previous 2 editions. Major changes and updates were made to the manuscript and the results were outstanding. Part 1 of the book is the Core hardware section and the breakdown of the motherboards, memory, hard drives, cd-roms and other computer hardware is excellent. Brooks has put together a book that rivals all others. Part 2 is the Operating Systems section with coverage of DOS, Windows, 95, 98, NT workstation and 2000 Professional. The breakdown is by exam objective there is more material here than is required for the exam. Finally part 3 the Final Review loaded with study and exam tips to ensure you have more than enough information to pass the exam on the first try. There are step by step exercises and this book would work well in classroom setting. The cd-rom comes with 150 questions and you can unlock 650 more for a small fee. Although for the price of the book I think this should have been included. The cd also has 44 lab exercises to coincide with the text. Overall a very good value for the money.
Rating:
Summary: A+ Certification Training Guide, Third Edition
Review: Having read several A+ books and passed the A+ exams avaliable since 1995 I feel that I have a pretty good feel for what works. This book, like its predecessor, is well written, easy to follow, technically accurate and maps back to the A+ objectives to a tee. I would encourage any interested in obtaining A+ certification to use this book as thier study guide, as well as, a reference resource in the field.
Rating: 
Summary: Good big reference
Review: I just passed (January 2003) both A+ exams, using this book as one of my references. It is a solid, comprehensive book. I would recommend using this book as a supplement to one or more of the slim A+ Adaptive Exam books by either Meyers or Crayton.
Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive on EVERYTHING a PC Tech Can Know
Review: I purchased this book while just walking through the store and browsing. The illustrations are abundant and detailed. The level of knowledge that this book teaches you is high but it is (similiar to other reviewers) overkill for the A+ examinations. I took both exams after studying with this book and working for around a year in IT and got a 815 on the OS and 831 on the hardware. The book is great to cover everything you would EVER need to know as a PC technician. I found that NT 4 was the majority of the OS questions and this book includes information along with Windows 2000 where other books focus on 2000 primarily. I say that it is a valuable addition to any IT professional's computer library.
Rating:
Summary: NEW RIDERS gets an A+ for the A+ Training Guide!
Review: I studied this book inside and out over a 4 week time period and found it to be an excellent buy! The book goes beyond simply preparing you for the exam by including information you will need to know to DO THE JOB. Many readers may be too short-sighted to appreciate this point but it is an excellent one nonetheless. If you want to ace the exam AND know what to do on the job... Buy this book.
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