I took that test back in the end of 98, cost a total of $250, but now they have another cert called network + which I think would help you out more, I still have the 2nd edition book for the A+ kit, totally useless, now the technology in there is so outdated, they talk about the Pentium 3 as a dream, & the pentium 2 are barely in the 500mhz at the time of this book, the dos/windows book talks about win98 as the next os, while they still talk about win 3.11 & win95, technicians are a dead end job, that's what my teachers said when i was trying to get the A+ cert, they said we get paid more in the start, it was words like those that inspired me, i haven't even tried to become a tech at best buy or compusa, the 1st job I had paid so low & the customer that didn't know nothing about computer or thought they knew it all be saying, I've been in this field for 15years, don't tell me I'm wrong, are a needle in the azz to talk/work with, I want to reply with, hope you get stuck with another 15 years without a raise. Building a computer for yourself is fun, even for a friend it's fun, but building a computer for days,months & years isn't fun because when there's a lot of orders, you have to build the same system config over & over & that can be boring, it's not like there's a new product coming out everyday that would make it more fun, I agree with bigshooter, you should try to get a tech job without the degree 1st, if you get it you save yourself $250, & don't go to school to get the A+, buy a book, & a software prep test & the laser printer part of the test just test you about the 7 cycles of the laser printer & common problems it has, it doesn't teach you everything you need to know to fix it. Don't stay as a technician too long, it can make you have a bad temper when all these people with all these common problems come asking for help & not all of them are polite, sometimes I wonder why aren't they polite, the technicians didn't cause the problem but the anger is alway directed at the technicians that are here to help, something that should keep you happy while you're looking for a job is the fact the are so many frustrated people with computer problems & not enough techs to help them & so they can't let their anger out on the wrong person.