Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 12, 1993 TAG: 9312100060
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder Newspapers
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
There are three titles that dominate the CD-ROM encyclopedia market - Compton's, Encarta and Grolier. Each has come out with updated editions within the past month, and they're all winners.
Even better, the developers are locked in a price war. Between now and the end of December, you can buy Encarta for $99 and Compton's or Grolier for $149 - about half the prevailing prices earlier this year.
On a single disk, you get the text of an entire 20-volume encyclopedia, supplemented with pictures, sound bites, video clips and animated maps.
So which one should you buy? It depends on what you want.
Microsoft Encarta 1994 Edition (Microsoft Corp., (800) 426-9400; Windows; $395 list-$99 street) is the best for younger children, with text written at a level appropriate for elementary school students.
The New Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, version 6 (Grolier Electronic Publishing, (800) 356-5590; Windows, DOS, Mac; $395 list-$149 street) is the most sophisticated, with college-level text. Best for high-school age and above.
Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia, version 2 (Compton's New Media, (800) 862-2206; Windows, DOS, Mac; $395 list-$149 street) is the best for families, offering text that is understandable to younger readers and has enough depth to appeal to adults. Compton's and Grolier, unfortunately, have done a
poor job of labeling their new editions - opening the door for unscrupulous retailers to sell out-of-date merchandise. Check the box to make sure you're getting version 2 of Compton's or version 6 of Grolier. (Microsoft has been more helpful, clearly labeling the new version of Encarta as the 1994 edition.)
by CNB