CompTIA A+ Complete Certification Kit

Author : Quentin Docter Number of Pages : 1743 Publisher : Sybex List Price : $99.97 Amazon Price : $56.33 Used Price : $60.45

Product Description

This boxed contains three books that provides everything you need to prepare for the CompTIA A+ 2006 Certification Exam, including in-depth coverage of all exam objectives, exercises to hone your real-world skills, and a concise review for that last-minute test prep.

CompTIA A+(r) Complete Study Guide

This Study Guide provides complete, in-depth coverage of all exam objectives for all four CompTIA A+ exams in a systematic approach, so you can be confident you're getting the instruction you need

• Hands-on exercises reinforce critical skills
• Real-world scenarios put what you've learned in the context of actual job roles
• Challenging review questions prepare you for exam day
• Exam Essentials in each chapter helps you zero in on what you need to know
• Includes Eight practice exams on CD: 2 each for A+ Essentials, IT Technician, Remote Support Technician, and Depot Technician

PC Technician Street Smarts: A Real World Guide to CompTIA A+(r) Skills

Key information and hands-on practice organized around the actual day-to-day tasks and challenges you'll face in the field as a PC Technician, including installing and maintaining hardware and software, and much more

• Practice what you've learned with challenging real world scenarios
• Follow step-by-step exercises and get the skills you need in the field
• Based on specific exam objectives--use this as a lab manual for certification prep

CompTIA A+(r) Complete Fast Pass(TM)

A concise review tool--and the perfect companion to the CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide--focusing on essential information for all four A+ exams

• Easy-to-use book is organized by exam objectives for quick review
• Exam Essentials in each chapter helps you zero in on what you need to know
• Contains more review questions and practice tools than competing review guides
• Includes four practice exams on CD plus electronic flashcards and a searchable Glossary of Terms

Customer reviews

OUTDATED by .. T. Paslay ()
This would be a phenominal kit if it still applied to the test offered. I didn't realize that the test was updated last year making this book largely obselete. I would say about 75-80% of this book still applies, but not enough to net a passing score as I found out the hard way. I did all the flash cards and practice questions until I got them all 100%. Unfortunately I was only about 3 wrong answers away from passing.

It seems that they've put a lot more weight on the networking side, particularly wireless. If you plan on self-study, make sure you're getting a book that's been updated for the 2007 test. I would almost call this false advertising because it states that it was published in 2007, on the box it says for the 2006 candidate though. I would recommend this guide if/when they update it.

A+ 2006 Edition by .. Jason G. White ()
This book is for the 2006 Edition exam for A+ certification, but on June 1st of every year the test becomes the exam that covers 2007 Edition material. Now granted some of the material is the same but it was not enough to pass either the 601 or 603 (Essentials and Remote Tech) exams. Unfortunately now I have to pay another $168 to retake each of these exam. So before you buy books for certifications, make sure you know what edition exam you are taking and what edition the books you are purchasing are because I have wasted alot of money on not just this book, but many others.

I passed the exams on Aug 19 th 2008 by .. George Ion Vasiliu (Wisconsin Dells, WI USA)
Theese books rock! I bought the cert. library a few months ago and I passed just by using the main book! The Fast Passed is a stripped down version of the main one. I did not use the Street Smarts book.

The book is very comprehensive, but you will need the practice exams (Que A+ practice exams, 2008 ed). For the A+ Essentials, I found a lot of questions from the Que books!!

Even though English is not my native language, I passed mainly using the Emett Dulaney book! (Yes, I had to read the book 7-8 times).

Thanks guys, the book is excellent!

PS: To pass, make sure you read each chapter many times!

Worth the money! by .. proclaimation (Reno, NV USA)
I have been working on computers from 1996, from old 8088's with Dos 3.2 to latest with XP (except ME and VISTA!). But I have no degree; only been doing it on my own, fixing ALOT of people's computers. This book is very well written, with sample tests at the end of each chapters and 2 CD's with flash cards and more exams. Highly Recommended!

Great study guide but... by .. Ari Welch (FL)
...it seems a bit outdated. Even though the publish date is 2006 it talks about the industry as it was in 2003... and that is the latest!
Don't get me wrong, this collection is extremely informative and helpful but it seems like the writer(s) didn't think technology was ever going to progress after they wrote it. I'll give you some examples that I can think of...
"AGP video cards are gaining in popularity"... seriously? This cram book mentions PCI-express... though it is VERY brief.
"The largest size for flash drives is 2gb"... wow this just seriously dates this book. Why did they write it like that?
"HDMi uses a D-shaped connector very similar to DVI"... we all know what HDMI connectors look like nowadays.
And I'm only about 1/3rd of the way through the cram book.

On the plus side, this collection is EXTREMELY informative in breaking down the A+ exam and showing you what you need to know. That is why I find it so helpful. I know how technology has changed but I'm not too familiar with slightly older architecture and other things that are sure to be on the test.

Oh, I have another complaint. The "practice tests" on the CD are good... once. There are about 4 tests and probably 100 questions. I assumed that it had a few hundred or more questions in there "test engine" and it gave you a random 50 for the practice test. WRONG. Same questions same answer choices in the same pattern EVERY TIME! And to make it worse, even though there are 4 test choices, there are really only two tests. The last three use pretty much the same test.

It still gets 4/5 for such a wonderful breakdown of what you need to know for the test. :)

CompTIA Network+ Certification Kit: Exam N10-003

Author : David Groth Number of Pages : 1113 Publisher : Sybex List Price : $99.97 Amazon Price : $54.69 Used Price : $64.17

Product Description

This boxed set includes three books with everything you need to prepare for CompTIA Network+ Certification:

Network+(r) Study Guide: Exam N10-003, 4th Edition

Complete, in-depth coverage of all exam objectives in a systematic approach, so you can be confident you're getting the instruction you need

• Hands-on exercises reinforce critical skills
• Real-world scenarios put what you've learned in the context of actual job roles
• Challenging review questions prepare you for exam day
• Exam Essentials in each chapter helps you zero in on what you need to know
• Two full-length practice exams included on the CD

Network Administrator Street Smarts: A Real World Guide to CompTIA Network+ Skills

Key information and hands-on practice organized around the actual day-to-day tasks and challenges you'll face in the field as a network administrator, including designing, maintaining, and troubleshooting networks

• Practice what you've learned with challenging real world scenarios
• Follow step-by-step exercises and get the skills you need in the field
• Based on specific exam objectives--use this as a lab manual for certification prep

Network+(r) Fast Pass

A concise review tool--and the perfect companion to the Network+ Study Guide, 4th Edition --focusing on essential information for the exam

• Easy-to-use book is organized by exam objectives for quick review
• Exam Essentials in each chapter helps you zero in on what you need to know
• Contains more review questions and practice tools than competing review guides
• Includes two practice exams on CD plus electronic flashcards and a searchable Glossary of Terms

Customer reviews

Perfect prep for the Network+ Exam by .. S. J. Blake (Charles County, MD USA)
I bought this book about three weeks ago and used it as my primary source for studying for the Network+ Exam. The practice questions on the cd and some free online practice exam questions were my only other study source and I passed the exam without even finishing the last chapter in the main book. One of the best study guides I've ever had.

Very Helpful by .. T. Gruver (Ft Worth, TX)
This product is very helpful for anyone who is trying for their Network+ certification. The included disk has a good test engine and a complete electronic copy of the book that comes in handy. Used this to study at work during by breaks by just popping in the cd. I would highly recommend this pack and will use this companies books for my other certifications.

network + kit by .. S. tibbs (los angeles, ca)
I found the kit to be a very good bargain and extremely helpful in my study for the exam especially the street smarts portion for everyday usage in the field.

Passed by .. K. McElroy ()
I bought this as Sybex tends to have very good reference books. This was my only Network+ study guide (I have used other guides in the past for learning networking, but that was more on protocols and actual function of networks, not the practical work side of networking like the Network+ test covers). This was a great guide, very impressed with it. I passed the test, it was rather close, but that was mainly because I didn't read much into the Mac, Novell Netware or Windows 2000 Server sections, cause I saw no point, being that they are kinda rare anymore. Apparently the test thought otherwise, so that was a bit rough. All in all, this was a great way to pass the exam in one package, if you are good at learning on your own of course. Haven't really got into the Street Smarts book, but the little bit I've read seems really good.

This Kit helped me Pass Net+ by .. Matt A. (Norfolk, MA)
This cert kit definitely helped me pass the Net+ exam. The combination of text, flashcards, and practice tests makes for a diverse and effective preperation. The books will also be good resources to have on hand in the future. However, if you want to save some time and money all you really need to pass is the main book, Network+(r) Study Guide: Exam N10-003, 4th Edition. The other two books included in this kit (Fast Pass and Street Smarts) are kind of redundant. I reccommend buying the Study Guide by itself if you're low on funds. If you couple that book with some extra online test questions that can be purchased at sybextestsuccess.com as well as the free ExamCram test engine from the CompTIA site, then you should have enough resources to pass at the right price. I did encounter some questions on the exam that were not covered in the resources I mentioned. If I had to do it over I would probably download the latest test objectives and google anything that was not covered in the study guides (making sure that the info I got was from reputable sites). Overall, this cert kit is useful and helped me pass the exam.

MCSE: Windows Server 2003 Certification Kit (70-290, 70-291, 70-293, 70-294)

Author : James Chellis Edition : 2 Publisher : Sybex List Price : $159.96 Amazon Price : $88.23 Used Price : $88.18

Product Description

• MCSA/MCSE Windows Server 2003 Network Environment Management and Maintenance Study Guide (70290)
• MCSA/MCSE Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure Implementation, Management, and Maintenance Study Guide (70291)
• MCSA/MCSE Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure Planning and Maintenance Study Guide (70293)
• MCSA/MCSE Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Planning, Implementation, and Maintenance Study Guide (70294)
• Plus two bonus CDs featuring an evaluation version of Windows Server 2003 and 300 additional practice test questions

Customer reviews

MCSE Certified by .. Scott P. Fletcher (Cartersville, GA USA)
Just the right product and just in time. Finished my cert with the help of this fine product.

The most valuable books to pass MCSA/MCSE on Windows Server 2003 operating system. by .. Alexander Ivanov (Vilnius, Lithuania)
a perfect tool to prepair yourself for MCSA/MCSE exam. And, of course, a very powerful written matterial for look-up purposes :)

+1 to authors.

Out of touch by .. Cert Grunt ()
After finishing the 70-290 book in the set and taking the exam, I am shocked at how "out of touch" this book is with the actual exam. Topics that were barely touched upon in the book ended up being huge sections in the test and vice versa. I started buying Sybex cert books because of how well the CCNA book was done and how it actually related to the exam. I'm hoping the other books in this kit are a little more up to par.

Good, but you'll need more to pass the tests... by .. ()
I'm pretty fond of the Sybex books--They're well written and tend to explain things fairly well, however these books are often lacking in detail. The books don't cover some topics at all (ie: Expect a visual basic question in 70-291, yet it's not covered at all in the book) and the upper level books really rehash some of the earlier topics by a copy and paste methodology. For instance, although some topics in 70-293 overlap 70-291, it focuses on planning, which rehashing the 70-291 material doesn't help with. New topics in 70-293 are barely covered (Just 30 pages for clustering, which deserves much more!) I've taken to reading these books first as an overview, then reading the MS-Press titles for the nitty gritty details. The included questions are weak, expect questions about 5 times as difficult on the actual exams... The 70-294 book is about 420 pages, while the MS Press title for 70-294 is almost twice as thick... Not that MS Press titles are good reading, the assume you already know what they're talking about. The point--I haven't found a silver bullet for these certs, but these are a good start.

Excellent!! A SOLID foundation for a BIG field. by .. (Miami)
I'm probably unusual, because I bought this kit AND the upgrade book. However, this kit was just indispensible, because there are sooo many topics you need to have understood and integrated in order to become an MCSE: Active Directory --sites, domains, users and computer, replication. IIS, remote desktop, resource management. TCP/IP, routing, DNS, DHCP, IPSec. Clustering, certificates, load balancing....You just can't get that kind of understanding casually, or even just by working with certain parts of the OS...you need a full course. Sybex was recommended to me by an instructor in my first class as having the best reputation and being the bestsellers, and I'm glad he told me.

MCITP: Windows Server 2008 Server Administrator Certification Kit

Author : James Chellis Edition : Pap/Com Number of Pages : 1820 Publisher : Sybex List Price : $127.97 Amazon Price : $66.90 Used Price : $66.83

Product Description

Security+ Certification Training Kit (Pro-Certification)

Author : Microsoft Corporation Edition : 1 Number of Pages : 512 Publisher : Microsoft Press List Price : $59.99 Amazon Price : $27.00 Used Price : $15.00

Product Description

Customer reviews

Good Information Source, BUT not to pass the EXAM by .. Ziad Turk (LHC, AZ, USA)
bought 3 books, to prepare for the Security+ exam, this one was the most organized,easiest to understand,and study from, ALAS, as indicated by all of the previous reviews, it is not enough to pass the exam, almost 20 of the 100 exam questions, were not even mentionned in this book,I have years of experience in IT, but failed the exam, thought it was my mistake, reviewd the whole book thinking I overlooked something, but no, it was not there at all. found that the Prep logic CDs, and Exam trainings are the best especially if you dont have enough time.

Good Secondary Resource by .. William L. Calderwood (San Diego, CA)
This book was a good secondary resource for studying for the Security+ exam. It was often found wanting on detail and depth. It also gave only lip service to non-Microsoft operating systems (I'm almost surprised they were included at all). This book did provide good back up on particular topics to augment the primary resource for my successful study (the Sybex book). In the used market this book is cheap; buy it on that basis for a secondary study resource only.

One Text You Should Use by .. John Matlock (Winnemucca, NV)
I find that in preparing for any of these kinds of tests that I want at least two books on the subject. While they should both cover the information you need to ever pass the test the words that they use to describe this information will be different. Just reading two versions of the same information is very helpful. Of course the book should talk about the test and of course give a sample exam or two.

This book should be one of the ones you use to prepare for the Security+ certification test. The reason is that this book is a bit more Microsoft oriented (it's published by Microsoft Press) than most of the other books and this alone presents a different set of acronyms, a slightly different line of reasoning than a more generic book.

A CD supplied with the book has the whole book in electronic format, some additional information from other books, and finally a practice test.

Good reminder of what you dont know by .. T. Jensen (ND USA)
I recommend this book if you want to check if holes exist in your security knowledge. It is not in depth, but it throws out enough buzz words that if you dont understand something you know to go and study it. If your looking for a book to cram security knowledge with no experience this will only work as a table of contents for subjects to study. I recommend if you are using this as a refresher to read the corresponding DOD STIG guide. This should fill in any gaps that may be found on the exam.

This could only be used as additional text by .. Arjun Kansiawala (Vienna, VA USA)
This book nicely presents and explains most of comptia's security+ objectives but is unable to provide sufficient depth required in the topics to pass the test. This book can only be used as an addition to your main preparation material.