Considering planning to do my A+ 2009 exams

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Hi all,

I'm new to I.T. and keen to get CompTIA A+ certified, for my own satisfaction and enjoyment. My home life is quite busy, being the father of 3 boys all aged under 4 years and working full time.

I have considered doing a training course such as Pitman training / Advent training etc.. although without even asking them how much it will cost, I can guess it will be quite expensive - so I figured I fancy the idea of self-study as well.

I have already brought the Jean Andrews CompTIA A+ 2006 In Depth text book and have read most of it. I am considering planning to study for the 2009 exams however and perhaps buying a new book (maybe Michael Meyers 7th edition ?? when it is released). I know the 2006 exams will not retire until July 2010 but I thought it would make sense now to work towards the more up to date 2009 exams.

What do you think? Any suggestions on how I should proceed?

 

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you can take either version of the exam althoug it does not matter wether you have the current version of the exam the new one or the one from five years ago. Once you are certfied for these exams it is for life. No employer will care if you have the newer or older exams.

You definetly need a Meyers book for the A+ as he is the leading authority on it and old pc to mess about with and I would recommend PC Technician street smarts by James Pyles.

I never used or seen Jean Andrews book

 

looking at the book you mentioned on amazon it seems ok but i too have never seen it. Judging from the comments left it seems to do the job and at 1300 pages im sure it covers what you need. What you need to do is download the comptia a+ objectives for either 2006 or 2009 exam (depending one which one you want to do!) and make sure you cover the required material.

Most people use either mike meyer's book or one published by sybex hence it will be recommended a few times on here - as for the pc thats mentioned try get one to pull a part then rebuilding it so you can get an idea of the pieces the book is mentioning.

and finally as for the course that costs loads... forget it save your money and do another cert with it - its called self study and it works mate for anyone and everyone as long as you willing to learn.

 

How long should I allow for study, from start to finishing taking the exams? I plan to read the text books again (perhaps buy the Mike Meyers AIO one too) and do questions and practice exams online from the likes of Proprofs.com. The 2006 retire in July 2010. Should I concentrate on the 2009 exams instead?

 

Stick with the 2006. 13 months should be more than enough time, even with a hectic family/work schedule.
Check out http://www.professormesser.com/2008/03/15/professor-messers-free-comptia-a-certification-training-course/. Ideal for when you're too weary to lift a 1000+ page book.

 

I'd agree with going for the 2006 objectives, 13 months is lots of time to get it done.

Also, you'll find loads of study materials, books, videos etc are already written/made and ready to purchase, whereas with the 2009 version you may find yourself waiting for materials to be released! Best of luck with it...

 

Thanks! I guess 13 months is plenty. I'd better get stuck in studying then