Rating: 
Summary: A ++
Review: I read this book along with the exam cram and passed both exams in one sitting! The book to read if you wish pass the first time round.
Rating: 
Summary: Not focused enough on the A+ exam
Review: I recently took the newly updated A+ exam for 2003 and used this book to study for it. I read the entire book and did all the practice questions. I then went back through the main points of the book to make sure that I new the material. When I then took the exam I was surprised at how many questions on the test that were not even addressed in the book.My experience with books that cover certification tests is that you want a book that will cover just the test specific concepts. That way you can focus on passing the exam. The book covers much more than the test and as a result causes you to study pointless topics that will never be asked on the test. The book also misses a lot of what will be asked on the test. Certification books usually will have a small two minute drill like format at the end of each chapter to help go over the main topics and ideas that will probably be asked on the test. This does not have that and makes you have to skim through the entire chapter to try and do a quick review. This book is great if you are new to computers and need an all in one reference, but if you want an A+ exam book that is focused on the exam with little fluff I would look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Great book for 2003 A+ exams
Review: I saw that a previous reviewer claimed this book doesn't cover the new A+ material ... ?? What does the October publishing date have to do with anything? We've been hearing for ages about new A+ exams, and CompTIA's web site has listed the new objectives for months (not that I've gotten around to studying for the new stuff till now--heh). Lots of new A+ books came out this fall, and I'm sure they all cover the new exams. I just got this book a few weeks ago, and it looks like it's aimed squarely at the new A+ exams. From what I've seen, it does a great job of covering all the material. (I found out how much I still have to learn about Windows XP and wireless!) It's time for me to finally buckle down, study, and get my A+, and I know this book will help get me there. Good luck to everyone else out there who's studying for the A+.
Rating:
Summary: passed hardware, failed OS
Review: I used this book as my only study guide and i passed the hardware core part of the exam with a pretty decent score. I took the Operating System part today and i failed. As others have stated, this book and the study questions provided only help you with about 25% of the questions on the OS exam. I am retaking the exam next week and hopefully i'll do better..
Rating: 
Summary: Book Was Over My Head........
Review: I'm a software trainer who wants to become certified as a PC technician. The author claims that this book will be able to teach the novice (non-PC technician) everything he/she needs to know to pass the A+ certification exams. That's a joke. The first few chapters start out fine, and seem to provide explanations that are thorough and clear enough for the novice. But then at some point (right around chapter 6), the author forgets who his audience is and seems to assume we're all working as PC technicians already. His explanations start to get more more vague, and he uses more and more tech jargon and inside jokes that only a tech would get. It's obvious who he's really writing for.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Read Informative to say the Least!
Review: Ive been building computers for years and ive taken my A+ classes in college back in 2001 and recently a job opportunity was coming my way and I needed to get some certifications and I decided to get A+ certified and knowing my luck the exam was just updated for some new 2003 objectives. So I was in a bind of needing to get some study material and since I had mike Meyer's network+ book I figured might as well get his A+ book since ive heard such rave reviews. So here's my review. The book is VAST and covers topics in great detail ( for example he has and beyond A+ section in the book that goes into advanced topics - though sadly not enough detail on those - such as the cipher command in windows XP which helped me with my MCSE 70-270 studies ) And will help keep you up at night as his writing always does. The operating system section has to be one of the best sections as well as a few others. Now time to talk about the bad parts of the book. Mike has a way of explaining things in a way that either you will get or you won't know what the heck he is talking about. What I mean is he comes up with these crazy analogies that make hardly any sense at all ( such as the section on the CPU ) I wont to learn about the CPU process I can do without an analogy of a little man in a box turning on light bulbs come on this isn't an elementary school class type of book its a college+ book! Also the book doest cover all you really need to know in a way that clicks all you need for the A+ exam and takes the privilege of drilling into your head useless information that the exam isn't even going to ask about and skims over the topics the A+ exam cares about ( kind of like comptia read all a+ books and made sure no book covered half of the test! ) Also the questions are simple at best and the learnkey videos require internet connection to use ( I got dial up and sadly cant wait all day to view free movies =\ especially sad when I paid as much as I did for the book that I need to register some part to view a "FREE" video ). However id be remiss if I didn't say that this book is a great reference book and anyone starting out in computers should really read it and take it to heart hence why im giving it a high score even though it doesn't include 100% of what you need to know to pass the a+ exam. If passing the exam is your prime objective id recommend getting exam cram 2 book ( doest cover all you need for the test and also drills in useless information that isn't covered on the test as it seems most all a+ 2003 books are doing ) because it is cheap and the preplogic tests are always nice. Then id recommend either class training or some training videos such as cbtnuggets videos by Christopher Rees he truly can explain this subject in granular detail, enough for the basic concepts to be learned anyway. As I feel you cannot even try and take this A+ test and not have worked on a computer or at least seen someone else work on one ( I mean why would you! ). Bottom line this is a good book to read and for reference just not " all you need " for the a+ exam. ( and yes I passed both tests in 3 weeks of study time and I know that the topics drilled in my head by both books were a waste of time and the topics I skimmed passed were heavily focused on the exam - KNOW YOUR SCSI! ) And of course you can look on the bright side as you only need to score a 500ish score out of 900 which means you can still miss a whole lot!
Rating:
Summary: So easy to read!
Review: Mike Meyers obviously loves computers and it shows. Fun to read, and the first book that ever truly explained a bunch of technologies I never really understood. I finally know what a front-side bus really does! BTW, I'm not sure why folks say it doesn't cover the exam - I had no problems!
Rating:
Summary: Best book for A+ hands down!!!
Review: Mike Myers is the king of the A+ certification exam guides. He covers everything you need to pass both the hardware and operating systems exam to gain your A+ certification. He even goes beyond what is required in the A+ exam with sections that cover historical facts to explain why certain things in the PC world ended up the way they are now. He also dabbles in newer technologies that may be included in future revisions of the A+ cert. Don't waste your money buying any other book because this pretty much covers the key fundamental points that any serious technician or technician to be needs to confidently pass the exam. Good reference guide with down to earth english that will simplify and speed up your understanding of various concepts about the PC/OS.
Rating:
Summary: Where's the Beef
Review: The fifth edition leaves you drowning for information. I used the fourth edition to pass the A+ Core exam with flying colors. The fifth edition was used to study for the A+ OS exam, 2003 guidelines. After taking the exam, this book provided at best 25% of the material covered on the exam. While no book should teach to a test, a book dedicated to an exam should teach the material that will be tested. The A+ premium practice exams were purchased from totalsem.com, they too fell well short of preparing an individual to take A+ OS exam.
Rating:
Summary: The *only* A+ book you'll ever need!
Review: There's a reason why Mike Meyers' All-in-one Guides are the best-selling A+ books: quite simply, they work! I passed the OS technologies test with a 608 score (passing mark was 505), and the hardware with a 629 (passing mark was 515). Other than some online practice tests, and hands-on experience (especially with the various Operating Systems), this was the only material that I used to study. Be warned - at 1,100 pages, this is a thick book! However, it is a very easy read compared to most other certification books. Mike Meyers does an excellent job of explaining some very technical aspects of computing in a very non-technical manner, and without over-simplifying anything. I actually read through this book twice; the first time I took very thorough notes, and the 2nd time, I just skimmed through it in the days leading up to my test. As long as you do this, you should easily pass your exams! :) The only bad thing about this book is that there are some various obvious typos/mistakes. Thankfully, most of the time it's obvious what the author meant, and you can find corrections to these errors on Mikes' website - http://www.totalsem.com/support/errata/aplus5.htm In conclusion, some people might not like all the "extra" stuff in the book, but you *must* understand the historical/basic stuff before you can understand the advanced A+ topics. Also, this book is not going to help much if you don't sit in front of a computer and "play around (in the case of the OS), or practice taking apart your computer (for the hardware test). OTOH, if you have a lot of experience with servicing/repairing PCs, then you can probably get by with the much shorter "passport" version of this book. Otherwise, you should go with this book. There's no reason to fail if you study thoroughly enough!
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