Need Advice for A+

First of all I want to say hats-off to the webmaster for putting up such a great site & resources that are really helpful. I have been here for long but I am not a great poster so you may call me lurking out here and I keep on checking the site whenever I can.
It might quite surprise you that I am MCSE and still going for A+. I have good understanding of hardware but my interviewers want me to have something to put on paper as a proof of Hardware skills. So, I have to get A+ for job. Though I know there is some good stuff in A+ to learn as well.
This is what I have, to go for A+ :
-I have the Mike Meyers A+ Certification Passport - Second Edition(Blue/Red cover) . And I will use the Technotes available at the site plus the practice exams. Will that be enough ?? And I found that the latest objectives are 2003 objectives. Does this book cover those ?( I searched and did not find).Or I need to get another book?
-I heard that there are some discount vouchers at getcertify4less . However, I found that these come with books ,etc. So can you please tell if there is any beneficial offer ? (I dont want to buy any crap with the exam voucher)
-I would be studying myself and plan to have A+ by Novemebr end. Please provide me any tips & things to consider.
Thanks for going through my post. Hope, I expect some good advice.

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Comments

janmike

I'm not familiar with the A+ Passport book, but I've seen the one for 2003 Server. These Passport books are cram books, and if you study it closely it should tell you where you are weak and need further study.

I used All-In-One A+ Exam Guide by Michael Meyers. The present version is fifth edition and covers 2003 objectives. It is very comprehensive and may start at a level too elementary for you. I don't know the proper edition of Passport for the 2003 objectives.

Also, try out the practice exams here on Techexams. They're generally pretty good to indicate your readiness. Also try http://www.mcmcse.com/forums/exams/

Best of luck!

Webmaster

Thanks lost_packet, for the kind words about the site.

I heard that there are some discount vouchers at getcertify4less . However, I found that these come with books ,etc. So can you please tell if there is any beneficial offer ? (I dont want to buy any crap with the exam voucher)

Some time ago (last year or so) CompTIA changed the rules regarding discount exam vouchers. Before then, a company like getcertify4less could sell vouchers without a product. The new rules force them to sell the vouchers only as part of a package. Originally the vouchers were supposed to be an extra, when you buy a book or transcenders for example. Vouchers companies are kinda bending the rules a bit, by selling the voucher and include a product with it, instead of vice versa. (Strictly taken you buy the product and get the voucher as an extra.)

At getcertify4less you can choose several different packages and honestly they are all good (Tcat's guides, Transcenders, Measure Up, all are the opposite of 'crap'

). Apart from that, even if the product was worthless, the huge saving on the exam is still worth buying the voucher (buying it is a simple process, you get a number by e-mail and enter that number when you schedule the exam).

In case you haven't noticed yet, we have a special deal with getcertify4less that allows you to get an additional $1 discount (and at the same time help me and the moderators get vouchers for our exams):

www.getcertify4less.com/techexams.html

Good luck!

lazyart

Johan is correct.. the package included with your voucher is good stuff. Tcat Houser is a great guy and his guides are excellent. The practice tests that come with it are well worth the look. I wish it were part of a test engine, but scroll thru them anyway.

lost_packet

Thanks guys for your inputs. I will keep you updated as I go.
Also it would be nice to know what are the changes in exams? I mean are there some new 'topics' added or just the upgraded and latest standards ?

lost_packet

I am thinking of buying 'Faster SmarterA+' by MS press, Is that good ? Plus the description of the book says it covers the 2001 topics rather than 2003.

I am confused.

janmike

Hey packet,

You want to study the 2003 objectives. The 2001 objectives were for the old exams from past years. Everything is upgraded now. I would encourage you to get at copy of All-In-One A+ Exam Guide, Fifth Edition, by Michael Meyers if you're going with a full exam guide like the MS Press book. The Meyers exam guide, fifth ed. is up to date.

Best of luck!

lost_packet

Thaanks ! Will do !!

skully93

I keep tellling people that a lot of employers want the A+ now, but no one believes me

.

Since you're already likely familiar with a lot of it, the cram books and mayber Mike Meyer's A+ book is probably all you need along with the technotes provided here.

Meyer's website, which eludes me for some reason, sells more practice questions with a discount voucher for a bit less than the cost of the exams themselves ($157 last time I checked...). I found wrapping my head around lots of questions helped me focus my study on the few areas I needed.

They still test a lot on some of the more 'old school' aspects of windows, such as the command line interface, Windows 98, DMA, IRQ, and such. Most experienced techs can do this in their sleep, but I didn't get into it until 2k, so I was spoiled.

lost_packet

while I was reading through the texhexams notes , I realised they are for 2002 A+ objectives. Are there any plans to upgrade the notes as well ?
Plus one thing I am getting confused with : You mentioned the bandwidth in MHz. than in Mbits ?