A+ Certification Training Kit, Third Edition (IT Professional)

Nowhere is a potential buyer warned that there is a third edition of this book. I made the mistake of getting this book. It is a good thing that I also purchased the Readiness Review which which, to my shock, started testing me on things not even mentioned in the Training Kit. To get the most recent edition - so you do not fail the exam - get ISBN 0-7356-1265-X.

Very good book. I did read it twice and with a couple of online test exam questions, I passed!

A+ certification has been revised and everybody now taking the exam must find new training material. Microsoft Press has put together a book that will help you pass the exam once you understand that this book has a tilt towards the Microsoft way of thinking.

Completely updated for the newest exam the self=paced course is very useful in shoeing the user what they need to accomplish in order to pass the exam. The drawback to the self study is you need to provide the equipment and this can get expensive,

Overall you learn at your pace and although there is no review questions this text still provides excellent reference material. You'll cover topics such as number conversions, CPUs, power supply, motherboards and bios, hardware, laptops, networking, operating systems and troubleshooting.

The cd-rom included with the book has videos to enhance the learning process, the entire text in electronic format. What are not included are practice tests to allow the user to have the chance of seeing the exam before taking it.

If Microsoft makes a few changes and updates the cd-rom this book would be one to have. Overall the items missing may make it hard for the technician to compensate for.

Don't get me wrong, this is a comprehensive book, but while reading you have to keep in mind that it is basically Microsofts "opinion". It presents a history of computing that shines a very favourable light on the Windows operating systems and, as should probably be expected, look after their Intel buddies.

It is not the best book for a study guide, but rather is written in a format that is possibly a bit more logical - it's goal is not simply to get you past the exam, it actually tries to TEACH you what the principles of the A+ Certification are testing.

An experienced technician looking to formalise their knowledge with a piece of paper would probably find this book tedious and boring, but for an absolute novice, I strongly recommend that you read another version on PC history AS WELL to maintain a balanced view - a study guide from a different publisher would probably be sufficient to "round out" your A+ certification reading.

As always, complement with online study guides and as many practice tests as you can lay your hands on.

I bought this book to start studying for the A+ Certification, but I got a lot more then what I paid for. As being an IT Tech in the Navy, I found many solutions for some of our computer problems. I'm going to recommend our ADP Department purchase this book and keep it on hand for an easy reference and problem solver.