First of all I believe it should be stressed that this book is not intended for people with no prior experience in this subject matter. If you don't have any experience in this but want to take (and pass) the A+ go with Mr. Meyer's all in one A+ book. Much more depth and detail for people of all levels.
I recently read through this book and took the A+ exams and passed. So here is my review of this book as it pertains to my experience with the A+.
Before you begin know that everything in this book is important! There are no set definitive questions that everyone will have. Your A+ test will be different from the test your peers have taken. Thus one cannot know just what concepts will be covered on this exam.
Second this book is excellent in that Mike and Tracy break things down and explain even the most complex concepts in a nice, consise and easy to follow manner.
However there is one glaring fault:Oftentimes Mike and Tracy ask you questions at the end of the chapter (and on the CD-Rom) about things that were never covered in the chapter or anywhere else in the book! A prime example of this is on loopback analog and digital tests. So if you do pick up this book know that you will have to look up references elsewhere for this (and other) material.
Besides that rather nasty fact this is a very well written and good book! I passed the A+ using only this book and the upgrade off of the enclosed CD for testing material.
Speaking of which:
I highly recommend the upgrade! It's ... and with it comes more practice questions plus a whole bunch of tools to tell you what areas you are weak on and what your strong points are. Before going into the exam, be sure that you can answer any and all of these questions consistantly with test scores in the high 90's. When you can do that you are ready for the A+ exams.
Good luck!
