My Core results...

lazyart

I may have spent more time scribbling my notes before the test than actually answering questions.

No SCSI, No IRQs, No I/O addresses. Not even a laser printer question.

Anyhow, I landed a 911 in about six minutes time. I used the Syngress text as my primary study tool. The practice exams here are a good indication of what you will see.

Huge recommendation:

Buy a voucher here: http://www.getcertified4less.com/comptia.asp

When you do you will get a link with downloadable .pdf's - A study guide an a practice test book. The questions there are GOLDEN.

I haven't used any braindumps... but I tell you, nearly every question on the exam -- easily 85%-- was something I'd seen elsewhere online for free.

I'm now heading off to install Win2k on my spare machine. My goal is to sit for OS before August 1.

Thanks for a great site. Very helpful. I will (of course) stick around to help others.

Webmaster

Congratulations

kesjw

Congrats!! Way to go pal! I'm sitting the Core on Tuesday. Just hope I get off like you (no irq's i/o's etc)

ghaouf

wtg

lazyart

kesjw wrote:

Congrats!! Way to go pal! I'm sitting the Core on Tuesday. Just hope I get off like you (no irq's i/o's etc)

Considering your other post, I didnt have to identify any connectors either. I had one "visual" question, which required me to locate the AGP slot.

Webmaster

Please note that A+ core question pool is very large, and you only get 20-30 questions, so the type of questions other people may get, may differ a lot... even all..

lazyart

I agree. I was a little disappointed that it wasn't more difficult. Guess I was prepared. In studying for the exam I certainly learned a lot. That's the bottom line.

Drakonblayde

Well, I'm going to take both exams on the 7th. I'm praying to bog that the Exam Fairy overlooks any questions on laser printers, as that's the one piece of equipment I don't have any measurable hands on experience with and have had to resort to rote memorization. Everything else I'm fine with.

bellboy

lazyart wrote:

I haven't used any braindumps... but I tell you, nearly every question on the exam -- easily 85%-- was something I'd seen elsewhere online for free.

that's the thing about a+, there are only certain ways that certain things can be asked, so it's quite easy for original questions to be almost the same as the real ones, and the exams are that popular that free exam sites will have built up a massive collection of genuine questions.

because i started a new job a week or two after my core exam, i was unable to do the operating systems portion for something like six months, during which time i had found most of the free practise sites, purchased some exam software and knew the subject inside-out, and ended up doing an exam where i had seen every question before. i was so disappointed and felt like i had cheated.

it was different with network+. when the objectives where changed last for this, they must have given their pool of questions an overhaul, as the sites that seemed to have so much a+ material word-for-word, had very little network+ material that was on my paper.

i was given a link a week after i did the exam, and told to compare their questions to those on the network+, and was shocked to find that questions and exhibits where exactly the same as what i had been questioned with. the site has subsequently started charging a fee to do their tests, so i am not seeing red as much when i see their name.

it would be nice to know, that when comptia starts testing the new a+ objectives, that they will retire some of the questions that have been posted over the internet on what they have asked so far.

lazyart

bellboy wrote:

i was so disappointed and felt like i had cheated.

I was very disappointed. I wanted to sweat a little bit over the test and feel like i had "accomplished" something.

I would've liked to haven seen questions derived from a common scenario.

I was going to wait a month before taking OS, but i've decided to accelerate that to the 17th of July. Network+ studies begin that evening.

bellboy

on the subject of "being cheated". the adaptive format of the a+ exams made them feel like an anti-climax for me - studying for months, checking readiness using practise exams, finding weak areas and improving until i reached what i hoped was a high standard - only to get asked twenty questions in two separate exams that took 45 minutes to drive to the exam centre to take and ten minutes or less to do.

i felt more accomplished with my network+ exam. is was in the traditional format, i hadn't seen many of the questions before, i had to think about some of the questions.

i am not trying to run down the a+ exam, i enjoyed studying for it and i believe it has made me a better technician for it, therefore it has made me more employable. that's why i wanted to help out on the a+ forum. the exam is typically one of the first a tech-wannabe will undergo - it will help them decide if they want to begin on a path of taking cortifications to prove jobworthiness and give them solid foundations to build upon should they decide to go down the path.

that's why i believe that changing the a+ back to traditional exam format is good. somebody who recently passed a+ and did both exams in under 10 minutes each is going to get a kick in the teeth when faced with two hours (or whatever) of scenario questions if they follow it up with microsoft's 70-210!

lazyart

I second the motion on a return to traditional format. There is so much that I didn't see. How can I be judged on SCSI knowledge when the only time I saw mention of those 4 letters was in regards to a jumper block?

In the end this will just motivate me more. I relish a challenge. A+ Core wasn't quite what I was hoping for. 70-210 is on my radar after Network+. Aaaah, a plan.

trick000

lazyart wrote:

I second the motion on a return to traditional format. There is so much that I didn't see. How can I be judged on SCSI knowledge when the only time I saw mention of those 4 letters was in regards to a jumper block?

In the end this will just motivate me more. I relish a challenge. A+ Core wasn't quite what I was hoping for. 70-210 is on my radar after Network+. Aaaah, a plan.

well even though you didn't get tested comprehensively on SCSI you still studied and learned it right? Maybe the creators of the test decided that people will study the same amount of material if not more for an adaptive exam as compared to a linear exam. Most people do anyway. I mean I wouldn't want to blow $145 because I didn't study enough.

cyborg

Good Luck as you prepare for the exams in 1st of August!!!!!