Not much to add. I took it 5 years ago and passed easily. The advice from everyone is pretty solid. Definitely get some recent practice tests and I would recommend a book if your just going through a 3-day course. I used the Dummies book back in the day and it worked very well.
I used the A+ as a springboard into IT in '99. Once I had that and some homebrew experience I got an entry level tech job pretty easily. I've been a Network Manager (small company but I have a lot of freedom) for the last three and a half years with MS and Cisco certs under my belt.