Career change and time limit for A+ cert!!

Hello all,
I'm new to not only this forum but to PC repair in general.
My background in installing Satellite systems, Motorcycle mechanic, and side gunsmith.
Well I was just hired to be a hardware Tech 1 (entry level) for a national company and have passed a few online certs from various companies such as Dell (easy, open book) and IBM (not so easy "to me").
I have a few questions if that's ok?
I was told that I need to get my comptia A+ cert in 90 days and I'm brand new to this stuff.
I have been searching for reasonably priced practice exam (DVD ect) for a while but I've been out of work for almost a year and my savings is used up so ..... It's tough finding good practice info cheap somewhere.
Does anyone know where I can find some practice exams for the current comptia A+ that will help a dummy pass the exams? I'm leaning toward It tech as the additional exam as I like to move around but haven't decided on that second exam yet.
Any info would be very helpful as I have no IT friends or family who know anymore than me. I have been into PC's on a need basis for several years as we've owned Dells and they simply break often..lol

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earweed

Welcome to the forums!
I'd actually recommend you getting the Mike Meyers All in One for the A+ book
Amazon.com: CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Seventh Edition (Exams 220-701 & and as for practice tests you could either go with Transcenders or Testout/Labsim which would probably be better for you. You should be able to handle getting the A+ in about a months time as it's not really all that difficult especially since you already have some PC experience. Go to the Comptia website CompTIA A+ and download the objectives for the exam. They don't really have a PC tech specialty anymore as you take 2 tests thye essentials and the practical which are actually pretty easy. There are posts elsewhere here on the forum where you can find places to buy the test vouchers cheaper.
Good luck in your studies.

Randall68

earweed wrote: »

Welcome to the forums!
I'd actually recommend you getting the Mike Meyers All in One for the A+ book
Amazon.com: CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Seventh Edition (Exams 220-701 &… and as for practice tests you could either go with Transcenders or Testout/Labsim which would probably be better for you. You should be able to handle getting the A+ in about a months time as it's not really all that difficult especially since you already have some PC experience. Go to the Comptia website CompTIA A+ and download the objectives for the exam. They don't really have a PC tech specialty anymore as you take 2 tests thye essentials and the practical which are actually pretty easy. There are posts elsewhere here on the forum where you can find places to buy the test vouchers cheaper.
Good luck in your studies.

Thanks for the info!
When you say "test voucher" you mean the Comptia A+ test has vouchers that allow a discount on the tests?
Do you know what the average is for cost of the two tests?

guitarwar241

Randall68 wrote: »

Thanks for the info!
When you say "test voucher" you mean the Comptia A+ test has vouchers that allow a discount on the tests?
Do you know what the average is for cost of the two tests?

Vouchers cover the cost of the entire exam and are much cheaper than the standard $168. Check out this person on e-bay. I purchased an A+ voucher from him for $115 so he has some unbelievable deals. He has some listed for $126, but you can try and bargain him down like I did. I highly recommend!

testkill items - Get great deals on Everything Else items on eBay.com!

earweed

guitarwar241 wrote: »

Vouchers cover the cost of the entire exam and are much cheaper than the standard $168. Check out this person on e-bay. I purchased an A+ voucher from him for $115 so he has some unbelievable deals. He has some listed for $126, but you can try and bargain him down like I did. I highly recommend!

testkill items - Get great deals on Everything Else items on eBay.com!

That's the costs per test so multiply that by 2. CompTIA tests aren't cheap.

Randall68

guitarwar241 wrote: »

Vouchers cover the cost of the entire exam and are much cheaper than the standard $168. Check out this person on e-bay. I purchased an A+ voucher from him for $115 so he has some unbelievable deals. He has some listed for $126, but you can try and bargain him down like I did. I highly recommend!

testkill items - Get great deals on Everything Else items on eBay.com!

Does that mean it covers both tests I have to take?

kahn

hi, welcome to the forum mate.
and good luck for your studies in IT, I'm sure you will pick'em all up soon.
cheers

Randall68

kahn wrote: »

hi, welcome to the forum mate.
and good luck for your studies in IT, I'm sure you will pick'em all up soon.
cheers

Thanks! I'm hoping so.. I have a condition known as "I hate to study" It's also called ADDHD-ADA-HAHA or something like that. Some of the information I find very interesting, some.....not so much.

guitarwar241

Randall68 wrote: »

Does that mean it covers both tests I have to take?

Unfortunately, it only covers a single test to you'd have to buy 2 of them to complete the A+ cert.

n2wishin

Hey mate, congrats for choosing this career path! put out your best! The cost of certs PAY OFF and are WORTH IT (at least that's what I've heard haha!) so don't get stuck up on that, so focus on getting A+ certified!!!

kevalb

I did the A+ exams recently and I used the Exam Cram book by David Prowse. Lots of practice questions (quite a few were almost word for word on my exam) and decent enough content description to get you through. Just my 2 cents worth.

kidainny

Randall,

There is also some free videos for the A+ online. I used www.professormesser.com He has videos for both the A+ and Net+ and runs them along the objectives. All free. They were pretty helpful in brushing up on some stuff.

As far as not having any friends or family in IT dont sweat it. I can tell you that this site has some very helpful people for all sorts of questions you may have in IT.

Welcome to TE.