Coriolis A+ Practice Tests book, bad?

[mwarmuth]

I'm gonna be taking the A+ Cert. exam soon (a debateable topic unto its own), and I bought a book at Border's to help out. It's a practice test book from Coriolis (publisher) that was 50% off.

It seems to me that several of the "answers" they had in the back were questionable, and several questions were worded poorly at best. Any else agree with this perception? They don't even have an errata section on their website for feedback....kinda poor compared to Osborne's site for Mike Meyers series of books.

One example. In one book I read that SCSI-3 officially supported 16 devices, not SCSI-2, although many did anyway. In one exam question they ask about it, and they specifically say SCSI-2, with an answer of 16 devices....seems contradictory to me. While I'm on the topic of SCSI, they have a couple questions asking about how many devices can be on a bus, let's say good old SCSI. I would normally say 8, but they say no, it's seven because you need a SCSI controller. Isn't a controller a "device", even if it isn't a storage device?

In another question, they ask what you should make sure of before updating the BIOS on a desktop system, and two of the answers are (1) Make sure it's running off the power supply, and (2) Make sure it's running off the battery. Then they say the answer is make sure it's running off the power supply so the battery doesn't die. Whose desktop runs off a battery? I assume they meant to say laptop in the question, but it sure makes you wonder if anyone is checking the clarity or accuracy of this text.

Sorry for the long rant.

[NooNoo]

This would explain why many new certified A+ "technicians" have problems finding the on switch.

[MorseLady]

I have got two A+ books with practice exams on CD, the big Meyers one and the Microsoft one and I am trying to study the syllabus via LearnDirect online. Between the two books and some demo practice exams I have and Skill Drills, plus the assessments on LearnDirect I am now thoroughly confused because there is a great variation in my progress and it seems to me that the ones I get the highest marks on are easy and can be done in under half the allotted time. On the other hand with the really hard practice exams I get very low scores.

Non of the practice exams I am using seem to go beyond W98 and W2000 and one or two seem to cover DOS very extensively. If they are an example of real exams what about XP especially as all new computers with OEM preinstalled OS have XP now.

At the end of the day I feel it is hands on that really matters so once I have my networking course out of the way I shall sign up for the A+ Course. Having said that, my networking tutor tells me there is little practice and lots of theory.

Good Luck with the Exam!

[faf1967]

The best thing to do is make sure you understand the concepts of how to trouble shoot problems. I even found errors on the test when i took it a few years ago. This is an easy test but you need to learn the basic skills to move forward.

[silencio]

I thought Corlioni was the Godfather. They make books too? Damn. I wonder if the pages are made of olive skins?

[MorseLady]

I totally agree with what faf1967 says about concepts and in fact I quit doing the practice exams a week or two back and the skill drills too because they just make me feel I am regressing and anyway I have used up all my free skill drill demos and run out of new practice exams.

I am a great believer in practical skills actually and we have this issue in ham radio. I am a UK Class A Licensee which is the UK top Licence. When I did my Licence exams in 1986 it was all theory, two part City and Guilds multiple choice. I passed but I had not gained the skills neccessary to know how to prevent giving TV interference or blowing up my equipment with high SWR etc. and I did in fact blow an output transister because I put too much RF back into it from a poorly set up antenna.

It took experienced hams to teach me, via on air contacts, telephone and snail mail, how to be a good ham. I am pleased to say that the ham exams in UK are much more practically oriented now. The only practical exam I did was the morse test at 12wpm and I am pleased to say it was a hard test and I passed and became very skilled over the years.

I am aware that I need to acquire practical skills in computing and whilst all you good people can advise and support me, I have to get in there and do the fixing/upgrading etc. Therefore my next computer will be home brewed, this will surely be a good test of skill or lack of it

[Tacklebox]

Originally posted by silencio
I thought Corlioni was the Godfather. They make books too? Damn. I wonder if the pages are made of olive skins?

Just when I thought I was out, They pull me BACK IN!