A+ Guide to Hardware: Managing, Maintaining and Troubleshooting
- 9781435487383
- 1435487389
Written by best-selling PC repair author and educator Jean Andrews, the fifth edition of A+ Guide to Hardware: Managing, Maintaining, and Troubleshooting maps fully to CompTIA’s 2009 A+ Exam objectives. This full-color guide is the most complete, ste
Rating: 
(out of 10 reviews)
List Price: $ 97.95
Price: $ 74.22
Find More Computer Hardware Products
Review by James Milstid for A+ Guide to Hardware: Managing, Maintaining and Troubleshooting
Rating:
As an instructor at a technical college, I’m constantly looking for textbooks that actually teach my students. So many books are just “cookie-cutter” types that merely regurgitate the same exam prep information found in all the others. I needed a textbook that went beyond that. The A+ Guide to Hardware (and it’s companion book, A+ Guide to Software), by Jean Andrews, is that textbook. I’m very happy with it’s accuracy and currency and the students actually read it! The text is very understandable and well written. My students are passing the practice exams with flying colors and several have received their A+ Certification as a result of this excellent text.I highly recommend this text for anyone desiring to understand and pass the A+ Certification exam!
Review by William Trippe for A+ Guide to Hardware: Managing, Maintaining and Troubleshooting
Rating:
As someone who has documented hardware and software–and who has taught a number of technical classes–I appreciate a course book that presents accurate information in a readable, straightforward way. This book does precisely that. The information is accurate, well organized, and maps very well to the CompTIA A+ Upgrade Core Hardware certification curriculum.
I especially like the overall presentation of the material–the design, photography, and artwork in the book. This is an area where publishers tend to skimp, but this book has a rich art program, with lots of appropriate call-outs. The book also has a number of nice editorial features, including notes, A+ exam tips, cautions, and brief sections called “applying concepts.” The book has a useful organizational feature, where pages in the book are highlighted to show where the information maps to core objectives in the CompTIA curriculum.
Finally, the book is tied to a the http://www.course.com Web site, where readers can correspond with author Jean Andrews through an Ask Jean feature (www.course.com/askjean).
Overall, this is a very solid book, where accurate information is presented very well.
Review by Merle Haldeman for A+ Guide to Hardware: Managing, Maintaining and Troubleshooting
Rating:
I purchased this book for a course I was going to take at a junior college. After two classes, I realized that because the book is so very well writen, I could read it and learn the material without all the driving to classes twice a week. So, I dropped the class and saved considreably more than the cost of the text, and am just finishing chapter14 of the 16 chapter book.
The author is so outstanding, that I plan to see what other books she has written and possibly purchase them. Well worth the money and time spent reading it.
Review by Alexander Ariano for A+ Guide to Hardware: Managing, Maintaining and Troubleshooting
Rating:
Acquired this book to learn all about hardware. As an entrepreneur, I have found this guide to provide the necessary knowledge to cope with the world of highly technical hardware issues. Would recommend acquiring it if you are interested in learning more about this subject.
Review by aus73 for A+ Guide to Hardware: Managing, Maintaining and Troubleshooting
Rating:
I’ve been dealing with computers, now, for about 13 years. I can say that this is probably one of the better books out there. It goes in-depth into the hardware and how it works. It also describes some of the methodology needed to actually troubleshoot a computer. I say “some of the methodology” because every tech is going to develop their own methodology to get the job done with certain points that are same between all techs; Ms. Andres tells what those points are and gives ideas on effective methodologies.
The book doesn’t go into that far into software. It only covers enough to get troubleshooting and installation done. It also only gives enough about OS installation to install an OS effectively. However, unlike what someothers in this review thread have said, software is not covered in the A+ exam, anymore, and hasn’t been for about 4+ years. The test is only concerned about how much you know about the hardware, what can go wrong with the hardware, and how to troubleshoot those issues to come up with the correct answer. The A+ domains, or areas that are tested, can be downloaded from the CompTIA website; this will confirm what I’ve said about the software.
The downside to this book, which is a downside to most technical books I’ve read, is that it isn’t an easy read. Most of the chapters are 30+ pages long. If you can stick through it, though, the A+ exam will be a breaze.
The book is also supposed to come with a CD. That CD has practice exam software on it called Certblaster. While I haven’t had much use for it, I have heard others speak very highly of the software.