Rating: 
Summary: This book SUCKS!
Review: After reading through this book, answering the practice questions, using the study guide, and trying to use the CD, I found it to be incomplete of what was covered on the exam. First I'll start with the CD that comes with the book. As with any exam, practice questions are helpful because they are like flash cards. They help you memorize what you need to know. When I tried to use those practice exams, I had to go to Microsoft's website to download a patch so I could see the questions. Even after that, the questions that ask you to identify the different ports and cable connectors for the computer were still not visible. I did pass the exam, but only because I had other stuudy material to help me. I still scored poorly on the exam, but I did pass. However, it was not due to this book. You get what you pay for.
Rating: 
Summary: Better off with A+ for Dummies book.
Review: Faster Smarter would be OK if it supplemented other A+ study books, but don't let be the only guide to passing the certification test. A few problems with this book are:
-sections that end in useless bullet points. Most that don't seem to have meaning toward the test.
-Chapter tests that post the answers directely below the question (who can learn that way?).
-Too many errors. Errors, although not concentrated in any one subject, are in the chapter review answers, illustrations, and text.
If one would have to choose just one book to purchase and pass the test, you would be better off with something else such as A+ for Dummies.
Rating: 
Summary: A+
Review: I gave it 4 stars not for its content, but for its condesed information. I tried to read other books and they would just put me to sleep. This book goes straight to the point and it was perfect for me and my experiece. I passed the test with this book and yes it didn't cover half of the questions that were on the test, but I passed and that's all that matters. I spent 5 days studying the hardware section and 4 days studying the OS section. I thought the OS part was the most difficult so pay a lot of attention to that section.
Rating:
Summary: A+
Review: I gave it 4 stars not for its content, but for its condesed information. I tried to read other books and they would just put me to sleep. This book goes straight to the point and it was perfect for me and my experiece. I passed the test with this book and yes it didn't cover half of the questions that were on the test, but I passed and that's all that matters. I spent 5 days studying the hardware section and 4 days studying the OS section. I thought the OS part was the most difficult so pay a lot of attention to that section.
Rating:
Summary: Not recommended!!
Review: I took the A+ core test recently and barely passed it. I memorized a whole bunch of things and understood most of the book, but when it came down to the test, there was stuff that was not mentioned in the book. One of the things i noticed right away, was that in the exam they asked about wireless technologies and in the book this subject was not covered enough. My recommendation, buy another book, this one is just not for the 2003 A+ objectives.
Rating:
Summary: DON'T BUY THIS BOOK!!!!!
Review: If it wasn't for the fact that I have nearly ten years experience dealing with computers, I probably would have failed the A+ exam. The editing was terrible, with many illustrations not matching there description, especially in chapter 10, where none of the illustrations even match the section they are in. In addition, the book did not cover about 20% of the hardware exam. Furthermore, the practice CDs don't work without email support from Microsoft, which is slow to say the least. If you have some experience and are using this book to supplement some form of training, then it's not so bad...if you can find it for free.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book overall
Review: It was a great book. I used this solely to pass my A+. You will discover that not all the A+ questions you encounter are covered by this book but most of them are. If you know this book well (especially the great cram section notes), you will easily pass. The questions on the CD are OK but some of them are incorrect. You are better off sticking to the book alone.There are some obvious typos but overall it is pretty well written.
Rating:
Summary: mistakes mistakes
Review: there are two ups in this book, one is it has the xp information, which I can't find in other books, the other is the 20% discount in prometric exam.
there are tons of mistakes in this book, I hope these mistakes are made during printing, otherwise I don't know how these people got their certificate. for example, a picture of ring network is where a star network shoudl be.
also, authors made very little distinction between XP home version and XP perfessional, for example, I try to find the backup utility in my home version, only to find out, ASR only works on XP professional.
Rating:
Summary: You get what you pay for....
Review: This book is listed in CompTIA's authorized curriculum for the 2003 A+ objectives, but was published in June, 2003 (the new objectives were implemented in November, 2003). Having taken both A+ tests with the new objectives, I can honestly say that this book doesn't cut it, unless you are all ready very familiar with PC hardware and multiple Windows platforms, in which case this book should give you enough info to pass (I passed using only this book and some online tests.... barely). There were a lot of questions on the hardware exam that were not covered in this book (by a lot I mean about half). The coverage for the OS exam was better, but there were still several topics on the exam that weren't even mentioned. Also, as some of the other reviewers pointed out, there are several errors in the book. Many of them aren't that big a deal (like the star network diagram actually showing a picture of a ring topology), but others could cost you on the exams. For example, almost all of the diagrams in Chapter 10 are incorrect, and the book says that you hold down the Ctrl key while Windows is booting to bypass the Startup group programs (you hold down the Shift key to make this happen). The questions on the CD are ok, but many of them have incorrect answers, so don't rely on them too much. On the plus side, you can get this book for[]really cheap as far as A+ training guides go...
Rating:
Summary: You get what you pay for....
Review: This book is listed in CompTIA's authorized curriculum for the 2003 A+ objectives, but was published in June, 2003 (the new objectives were implemented in November, 2003). Having taken both A+ tests with the new objectives, I can honestly say that this book doesn't cut it, unless you are all ready very familiar with PC hardware and multiple Windows platforms, in which case this book should give you enough info to pass (I passed using only this book and some online tests.... barely). There were a lot of questions on the hardware exam that were not covered in this book (by a lot I mean about half). The coverage for the OS exam was better, but there were still several topics on the exam that weren't even mentioned. Also, as some of the other reviewers pointed out, there are several errors in the book. Many of them aren't that big a deal (like the star network diagram actually showing a picture of a ring topology), but others could cost you on the exams. For example, almost all of the diagrams in Chapter 10 are incorrect, and the book says that you hold down the Ctrl key while Windows is booting to bypass the Startup group programs (you hold down the Shift key to make this happen). The questions on the CD are ok, but many of them have incorrect answers, so don't rely on them too much. On the plus side, you can get this book for[]really cheap as far as A+ training guides go...
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