Study materials

sendalotsendalot Member Posts: 328
What books do you recommend do study for A+ from scratch?
(I have Network+ and CCENT as a background).


Also, I hear there are simulation-based type questions on the new exam.
How would you prepare against that?


Lastly, if I start now, shall I take the newer exam?


Thanks.

Comments

  • DarrilDarril Member Posts: 1,588
    There are many books available. You can go to Amazon and search on A+ Training Kit or something similar to get a listing of available books. You'll find with your Network+ and CCENT experience, you have a lot of knowledge that will directly apply to the A+ topics making it a lot easier for you.

    As long as you can finish prior to August 31, 2013 you can take the 700 series exams and most employers don't really care. However, I've noticed that many of the Network+ topics have migrated backward into the A+ 800 series exams. With that in mind, you might find that the 800 series would be easier for you.

    As long as you have the knowledge related to the objectives, the performance based questions for the A+ exam are relatively easy. CompTIA released a lengthy video about these and talked about using the command prompt to execute commands making this sound a lot harder than it is. Many people report them as being quite a bit easier but just a little different than traditional multiple choice questions. For example, instead of picking one of four possible answers, you might need to match names with pictures.

    Hope this helps.
  • sendalotsendalot Member Posts: 328
    So having Net+ and CCENT, A+'s 800 series exam might be easier for me?

    Thanks.
  • FloOzFloOz Member Posts: 1,614 ■■■■□□□□□□
    I used Mike Meyers All In One and the free Professor Messer videos. Should be all you need
  • sendalotsendalot Member Posts: 328
    What does everyone think about PearsonIT's "CompTIA A+ 220-801 and 220-802 Simulator by Robin Graham, Elizabeth Smith" ?

    For performance based questions.

    Thanks.
  • DoubleNNsDoubleNNs Member Posts: 2,015 ■■■■■□□□□□
    Personally, I loved Mike Meyer's Net+ AIO but couldn't stomach his A+ AIO. Instead I went with the A+ Exam Cram + Professor Messer's videos. I used VLC player and played all his videos on 1.5 - 2.25 x speed.

    I took the 70x version of the exam. As long as you can finish before the end of August I' suggest taking the 70x exam, simply because there is a TON more resources available for the 70x than the 80x.

    Good luck in your studies.
    Goals for 2018:
    Certs: RHCSA, LFCS: Ubuntu, CNCF CKA, CNCF CKAD | AWS Certified DevOps Engineer, AWS Solutions Architect Pro, AWS Certified Security Specialist, GCP Professional Cloud Architect
    Learn: Terraform, Kubernetes, Prometheus & Golang | Improve: Docker, Python Programming
    To-do | In Progress | Completed
  • DarrilDarril Member Posts: 1,588
    sendalot wrote: »
    So having Net+ and CCENT, A+'s 800 series exam might be easier for me?
    That's what I see. I agree with DoubleNNs that there are many more materials out on the 700 series exams, but you probably won't need much to knock out these two exams. For example, 27 percent of the 801 is Networking and you probably won't need much more than a cursory review of these topics. On the 802, 22 percent is on Security and 36 percent is on Troubleshooting and a good chunk of these domains also covers domains.
  • linuxloverlinuxlover Banned Posts: 228
    1.Watch Professor Messer's A+ videos
    2.Read a book and take notes as you read
    3.Overview your notes a few times
    4.Take free online tests

    Don't complicate things with multiple study sources. Pick two, no more no less. A+ is so entry level that you need to pass it without problems if you call yourself tech-savvy. I only read MS Press A+ once and took the exam (801&802) few days after and passed (but I do play with computers since forever). There's a lot of topics to cover, but they're all very basic.
  • sendalotsendalot Member Posts: 328
    Thank you very much everyone for the helpful info.
  • aleynes0627aleynes0627 Registered Users Posts: 4 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Yes, thank you very much for the tip.
  • chastainmlchastainml Registered Users Posts: 3 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Thanks for all the info... :)
  • halfdemonhalfdemon Member Posts: 8 ■□□□□□□□□□
    This info is helpful to me too...I took the 701 exam today and failed it, but I need study tools to help me prepare to take it again...
  • DoubleNNsDoubleNNs Member Posts: 2,015 ■■■■■□□□□□
    Was it a close fail halfdemon?

    What resources have you used to study for the 701 thus far?
    Goals for 2018:
    Certs: RHCSA, LFCS: Ubuntu, CNCF CKA, CNCF CKAD | AWS Certified DevOps Engineer, AWS Solutions Architect Pro, AWS Certified Security Specialist, GCP Professional Cloud Architect
    Learn: Terraform, Kubernetes, Prometheus & Golang | Improve: Docker, Python Programming
    To-do | In Progress | Completed
  • DarrilDarril Member Posts: 1,588
    @halfdemon, sorry to hear you dropped it but good to see you're not letting it stop you. Get the right study tools and with some time, you'll be able to pass and get certified. Get luck.
  • halfdemonhalfdemon Member Posts: 8 ■□□□□□□□□□
    yea it was a close one..638 when i needed a 675..
  • aleynes0627aleynes0627 Registered Users Posts: 4 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Hello Guys, what about the skillsoft training for A+, did anyone ever used it?, by the way, thanks for all the tips and advice.
  • snunez889snunez889 Member Posts: 238 ■■■□□□□□□□
    I agree to what somebody above has already stated. Use two sources to study from, I used professor Messers videos and a Mike Meyers A+ book. Shouldn't be to difficult to you since you are already familiar with Comptia exams.
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