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| A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Sixth Edition (A+ Certification All in One Exam) | 
| Author: Michael Meyers
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Category: Book
List Price: $59.99
Buy New: $35.35
You Save: $24.64 (41%)
Buy New/Used from $21.81
Avg. Customer Rating:  (133 reviews)
Sales Rank: 4816
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 6
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 1171
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4.5
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 7.6 x 2.4
ISBN: 0072263113
Dewey Decimal Number: 004
EAN: 9780072263114
ASIN: 0072263113
Publication Date: December 21, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Great book but it doesn't focus on the questions that the Essentials Exam will ask you! March 13, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Mike Meyers did a great job with this book. It's written to where people of all educational levels can understand, and it's a very good refresher for those who already have a background in computers. It would also be a good "on the job" reference.
If you were to only use this book and the disk that came with it, then you should be able to easily pass the IT Technician Exam (220-602). I used ONLY this book and the included disk and I took the IT Technician Exam in March of 2008, and I got a near perfect score of 900 thanks to this book.
However, this book isn't enough to get you through the Essentials Exam unless you already have a vast knowledge of trouble shooting operating systems. I took the Essentials Exam (220-601) in March of 2008, and I would say that 90% of my version of the exam was about trouble shooting. They might as well have called it the "Trouble Shooting Operating Systems Exam". This book can't prepare you for how they're going to ask the questions on the Essentials Exam. I'm just lucky I have 10 years of general computer expericence and a 4-year bachelor's degree in CIS or this Essentials Exam could've been a complete disaster. You will be very disappointed when you see what this Essentials Exam focuses on. Instead of spending all that time reading this 1100+ page book and knowing everything in it from top to bottom, I could have just studied trouble shooting for about 4-5 hours. I took a lot of time learing all the technical aspects of every hardware component on a PC, and basically everything under the sun about the software side & operating systems and it seemed like only 10% of that was on the Essentials. To get prepared for the Essentials Exam all you need to do is focus on operating system trouble shooting, diagnostic procedures, configuring operating systems in general and for networks, and the command line interface commands. And the only commands they asked about were the commands that would help you restore and diagnose problems. They asked a lot about restoring and recovery of operating systems too.
Conclusion:
This book is great for the (220-601) IT Technician Exam, but if you don't have much experience in trouble shooting and preventive maintenance of operating systems, then to pass the (220-601) Essentials Exam I would suggest finding some supplemental sample questions off the internet and really focusing on installing, diagnostic procedures, preventive maintenance, and trouble shooting techniques for operating systems and networks.
 great book and reference manual March 10, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is very informative and full of the latest technology in XP and touches on Vista. Keep it around for a great reference manual as well.
The cd in the back is ok. It does not have a complete demo with real type tests. you have to pay a few hundred more for that.
The only study material you'll need January 19, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I spent over a week agonizing over which book to purchase to prepare for the A+ exam. I ended up choosing this because it seemed to me to be the most material for the money and because Meyers, the author, has a reputation for quality in the industry. After working through the book, I am fully satisfied, and passed the exam on the first try. This guide is extremely comprehensive, and laid out in a very logical and easy-to-use way. Meyers' writing style is very easy to read and engaging. Even dry subjects are quite readable. The included materials are also quite good, but I should mention a few caveats. The book advertises 8 practice exams, but that means two for each of the four tests. Because any one person will only take two tests (Essentials and one elective), there really are only four practice tests (however, there is so much overlap, I found taking all the tests to be helpful). Also, each practice test is only 50 questions, but the real test is 100, so each is only half a test. On the other hand, the practice tests are very accurate and the interface is just like what you'll face on test day. Also, if you purchase your exam vouchers from Meyers' website, you will not only save $30 on each test, but also get an additional two practice tests (100 questions) for each exam. Overall, I definitely recommend this book over any other you might be considering, and I plan to purchase the accompanying Network+ book to study for that test.
Excellent! January 12, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is well written and easy to follow. As a result, I was able to repair an issue with my personal PC and in a few more weeks I should be ready for the A+ Certification test.
 Good not Great December 26, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Here's the quick version, read on for full-blown details if you wish:
After passing both of my tests (220-601 & 220-602), my opinion is that this book doesn't quite earn the reputation of covering all the bases for the exams. If you purchase this book with the intent to go completely self-study as I did, you MUST suppliment it with a book of full-length practice tests (there are several available). Doing so may have saved me from two failurs in a row. I believe I passed thanks to some last-minute exposure to numerous topics that Mike has simply left out of his book.
Here's the beef in full:
I recently read this book cover-to-cover in preparation for taking the Essentials and IT Technician exams. I passed 220-601 with a 780/900 and 220-602 with a 810/900. Having done so, I can't recommend this book to anyone who wishes to go full self-study as I did. Here's why:
- The CompTIA test writers like to ask questions on minutia. Mike has included a lot of minutia in this book, but there were several topics that just aren't in there, such as a complete list of all standard IRQ settings (which turned up in two different questions on my exam).
- The chapter review questions are woefully inadequate. Very late in the game I compared Mike's book with some competing authors and found their chapter reviews and excercises to be much more robust.
- The practice tests included on the CD are nothing like the real thing in terms of difficulty. To be fair, nobody should expect a perfect match when using practice tests. I personally felt like the differential was almost unrealistic though. Aside from consisting of a mere 50 questions rather than 90-100, they are very tame by comparison to the actual test.
Sorry to say I won't be a repeat customer for Network+. The competing authors have much more robust study aids than Mike's series has to offer.
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