Rating: 
Summary: Great for Core, DOS, Win3x.....BUT Win9x fell a tad short
Review: I passed my Core and DOS/Win exam after one month of self study. Having put together several PCs over the past 2 years also helped tremendously, hence keep in mind this book is not a substitute for for experience. Here's an example: I spent A LOT of time on DOS, memory management, and differences between DOS,Win3x,and Win9x. But when I took the DOS/Win test I got hammered with about 12-15 questions relating to Win9x configuration, device manager, Explorer, control panel, printing. Like I mentioned, lucky for me I had prior experience configuring Win9x machines. CORE exam was cake, btw. So what's the solution to this dilemma? Get the Mike Meyers book too. If you doubt technical info from the Exam Cram book, then the Meyers book acts as an reference. Plus it covered more Win9x than the Exam Cram and has nice visuals. Otherwise, I'd have to say Exam Cram is good for those who already "know" about computers. Next stop: CNA, MCSE =)
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: Good Book For Reviewing, Not Enough Pics, Great VALUE!
Review: I used this book after completely reading and highlighting keyfacts of the A+ All In One Certification Guide by Mike Meyers. This book was a great review, and went over a lot of things that the All In One Guide didn't have (but then again, that had a lot that this didn't have). This book had a great way of making my understand some things I didn't get before, but then at some points I felt like I only understood them because I had all ready read through a different A+ book earlier. Also, the book seemed like it would be much shorter than the A+ All In One Guide (this one is only 462 pages while that is 1216 pages) but it ended up not being much shorter because the print was just smaller and this Exam Cram only had a few pictures while the All In One Guide had thousands of pictures. I would recommend this book to anyone who already has some experience in the things that A+ requires, or has already read another book or taken a class before. This is a great review book, and did the job for me, especially on the Operating Systems exam. Before this book, I got a 68% and a 80% on the two practice Operatins System exams I had taken, but yeseterday I got a 86% on my practice exam, which is a decent improvement. Today, I felt ready and went out and took both the A+ Hardware and A+ Operating System exams and pased them both! So I am very happy with this book, as it did the job! The only major drawbacks is the lack of pictures, the fact that you have to already know a little of what you are reading about, and the decieving look of the book which makes you think it's really short but ends up taking quite a while to read! But then again, the great VALUE of this book and all the info it packs in makes it worth the money and 4 stars!
Rating:
Summary: Other Guides Do A Far Better Job
Review: If you never read one of the other A+ study guides, you probably would never know what you are missing. This book is way too short on explanations and the practice questions would never be enough to get you through the real exam. With that said, there is no good reason to spend any time studying this book. There are too many other great alternative sources that can do all the things that this book cannot. First, start with Mike Meyers' All In One A+ Certification. Then, use the Syngress Osborne A+ Certification Guide Third Edition. I breezed through the two tests with just these books.
Rating: 
Summary: If you only buy one, make it this one
Review: No one book contains enough information to "Ace" the A+, the knowledge required for that test is too diverse. You need multiple books plus practical experience to be an A+ expert. But if you get this book and pay attention to every line written within it, you will get your c-card. There is no "fluff" (wasted words) in this book. You need to know everything it says you need to know.
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: 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+" 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: Best way to cram, plain and simple.
Review: This book did a great job summing up the exam objectives. As a core resource, I used the A+ Certification Training Kit by Microsoft (ISBN 0-7356-1265-X). It did a great job teaching in-depth core hardware skills, but skimped on the OS sections (Win NT in particular). It only covered basic DOS, Windows 98 and 2000. It completely ommitted Win 95 & Win NT, which are still in CompTIA's exam objectives list. The Exam Cram book made up for that, fully covering WinNT. After getting hold of the material with the MS book, it only took one day to cram, and pass, the exam.
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