Hi @afofa, I think that studying by book is definitely fine as long as you make sure that you're up to date on what content might have been added to the exam. One that I might recommend is the Comptia A+ cert book, I'm pretty savvy with computers, but this is definitely an easy read and quite interesting, PLUS it isn't that expensive for the amount of knowledge it contains. If you're interested in getting a copy you can get one from Amazon for about $30.
I wish you the best of luck in learning and pursuing your certificate!
Don't take too long, or you'll be frustrated when you finally take it. I studied for about 4 months and scored way higher than I needed to pass. I wish I had studied for 2 weeks instead.
EDIT: I used this book. You can pirate it pretty easily. Might be worth reading through once, then taking the test. http://www.amazon.com/CompTIA-Certification-Edition-220-801-220-802/dp/007179512X
The go-to answer for "what should I use to study for the A+?" is either Professor Messer's video series (available on Youtube) or Mike Meyer's massive tome
Neither covers the 90x series yet, though.
It is definitely something that you can pass without taking a course. I used this book back when it was in it's 4th edition haha It is really good though and had a disc with loads of practice test questions.
Not really the forum for this question, but I'd say the easiest thing to do is buy this book (or even just borrow it from a library if you can find one, the books Edition (age) probably isn't that important): https://www.amazon.com/CompTIA-Certification-Guide-220-801-220-802/dp/007179512X
Read it.
Sign up at https://home.pearsonvue.com/, schedule an exam at a nearby location. (Probably costs you something like $150). There's practice tests you can find online if you just google them.
Now, granted, I've not taken the A+; I've take Cisco exams. I would imagine the entire thing is you, at a computer, answering multiple choice questions. Most exams go like that. So if you can read and remember and understand that book you can tackle the A+ easily enough.
I don't think there was much information about it online. They came into a few classes during the first week and handed us an information sheet. Unfortunately, I got rid of all of my school stuff after I graduated so I don't have the book. It wasn't the exact same one, but it was something like this one, which isn't expensive at all. Plus, that has a ton of useful information for reference.
A PMP, or Project Management Professional certification, seen here, requires, in addition to a BS degree, 4,500 hours of leading or directing projects, and 35 hours of project management education. So that's something that you'll need to spend plenty of time post-school on. That being said, any project management/group work experience is incredibly useful. My last semester at UCF I took a class (and I'm sure you'll take it too) called Managing IT integration. It was online and super easy, but it was something concrete I could use as project management "experience". Realistically, the class was incredibly easy and didn't REALLY give me much useful experience, but it was a good talking point for interviews. I recommended a friend of mine for an internship where I work, and he also cited that class a few times during his interview and ended up getting the internship.
should i do more research before buying this book you think? i have watched a lot of professer messers videos too.
Do you have any experience in the field? If so, Professor Messer is the easiest option. If not, you need to crack open Mike Meyers All-In-One A+ Certification.
That's what this discussion is for. Try to get some good recommendations for each certs and what not. As for books, I think the top two are CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide by Mike Meyers and CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide by Quentin Docter and Emmett Dulaney
You can also look at some of the sites that are listed as well. Some of these sites will give you the videos or mp3 versions of the video so you can listen to them like podcasts.
Currently reading through CompTIA A+ 8th Ed. Exam Guide. Really like it so far but it can be very dense. It's also like 1200 pages so I have a ways to go.
I was looking at this GMU course which is cheaper than other privately taught classes. Its still a lot of money for (relatively) basic topics so I'm holding off for now and because there's so many free online resources. I can send links if you're interested.
The first half of this book will tell you everything about computer hardware that you will ever need to know.
http://www.amazon.ca/CompTIA-Certification-Edition-220-801-220-802/dp/007179512X
It costs ~$300 USD to take the two tests to get certified, so it's not exactly "casual".
Here's the two main resources I used:
http://www.amazon.com/CompTIA-Certification-Edition-220-801-220-802/dp/007179512X (text book style learning)
http://www.amazon.com/CompTIA-220-801-220-802-Practice-Questions/dp/0789749742/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y (comes with a CD-rom loaded with a bunch of practice questions. I basically just took the practice tests and then studied the topics I missed answers on)
There are a lot of great resources out there and it may be a bit overwhelming.
I would not rely solely on Professor Messer's videos. His videos are great, but lack some of the detail that a large certification book offers.
It also depends on yourself. Are you new to the IT field? Have you ever built a computer before, setup a wireless network, or done some troubleshooting?
Mike Meyer's Book This book gets a lot of attention and is a good resource.
Exam Cram Series This book is a great "cram" of all the information. It's shorter than Meyer's book but has a lot of great test preparation questions and strategies.
Those 2 books with supplements from Professor Messer's videos should give you more than enough help. Also don't be afraid to just reserach something that you are unsure of. I use other sources such as Reddit and YouTube just to further dive into things I am unsure of.
I am taking both exams on the 15th of this month and my study habits have been read the books. Then test yourself with exams. Find where your weak points are, and study them. Rinse and repeat. Everyone is different and it all depends on how quickly you want it. A lot of these questions are up to yourself and how you learn/retain knowledge.
Instead of name calling, I'm going to take you down a very basic path and hope that you keep up.
I turn on a fan and aim it directly at you. That fan is hitting you directly, and there is nothing obstructing it. And now I start placing lots of cables in front of the fan, or you, and maybe even a PVC pipe just cause of the size of what we're working with now. If you are going to tell me that you are still receiving unobstructed airflow with these objects in the way, then I can't discuss the topic any further with you.
And remember, even if the PC stays the same temperature with bad cable management, you could be running your fans at a faster rate than needed. This may not be a bad thing short term, but it's better to just not be lazy, do it right the first time, and not have to worry about it for a longer period of time.
The documentation I've read has usually been textbooks, but there are plenty of resources that will agree with me online too. Here are some quick references;
And then on top of that, having loose cables can cause damage to other components as I originally mentioned, and if you have the ability to manage your cables better, don't be lazy and do it right the first time. It's not rocket science. You don't have to get upset and insult people because you were unwilling to learn.
If you need a job handling this kind of stuff to get a better idea of it, PM me and I'll help you find a nearby job. If you're close enough to me, I'll even put in a recommendation.