THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 28, 1995 TAG: 9511280038
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: The Great Computer Shopping Guide
Second of Two Parts
SOURCE: Tom Boyer
LENGTH: Long : 199 lines
Here are our holiday computer gift suggestions. Some are just reaching store shelves this fall, but many, like Quicken and Kid Pix, are old standbys that get better with each new release. All of these are available for the DOS/Windows operating systems, but many have MacIntosh versions as well.
Software prices are approximate and can vary widely from place to place. The same package you see for $40 could be on closeout somewhere else for $20. But generally, good software isn't cheap, and cheap software isn't good. Most of these titles are from large, reputable companies. They should install easily and, unlike a lot of CD-ROMs, work smoothly on a variety of configurations. Before you buy, though, make sure the store has a return policy in case you can't make the software work on your system. [List]
Microsoft Cinemania, about $30. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates dominates the market for operating systems, business software, even word processors. He has no right to make the best movie buff's CD-ROM, but he does. Cinemania lets you browse movies by actor, director, title, content. It contains the reviews of two eminent critics, Roger Ebert and Pauline Kael. It's loaded with stills, sound bites and famous film clips. Cool: 3/ Nerd: 2
Multimedia Beethoven, Multimedia Mozart, Multimedia Schubert, Voyager/Microsoft, about $40 (or $60 for all three). Two years old and already a classic among CD-ROM applications. A very smooth - if not flashy - interface, and the witty and erudite voice of UCLA music professor Robert Winter make these disks one of the best introductions to music. Cool: 4/ Nerd:1
Bicycle card games, Swifte, $30. Many people's introduction to computer games is on the little solitaire that comes with Windows. These are full-featured card games with lots of bells and whistles. The cards make a shuffling sound. Your poker partners are tough, weird characters, and they never betray their hands. Get that Atlantic City thrill of blowing your kids' college fund at the Baccarat table, without leaving home! Cool:3 /Nerd:1 For Kids
Amanda Stories, Voyager, $40. Wordless picture stories about Inigo the Cat and Your Faithful Camel. Technically unsophisticated, these were programmed in the days before computers were fast enough to do true animation. But they're warm and gently surprising. An absolute joy for kids 3 to 6. Cool: 4 ? Nerd: 1
Dazzeloids, Voyager, $40. Princess Anne Dilly Whim and friends rescue children the world from the evils of television. A labor of love from a Manhattan pop artist, Rodney Alan Greenblat. Very cool and witty. Reader Rabbit meets Zippy the Pinhead, as its author puts it. Cool: 4 /Nerd: 1
For home and family
Betty Crocker, Lifestyle Software Group, $40. Yes, the real Betty, on CD-ROM. Punch in what's left in your fridge and Betty will give you suggestions on how to turn it into dinner. The really cool part is when you first install the program: watch Betty morph from her 1930s look through the decades to her 1990s incarnation - all without growing older or fatter!
Cool: 1 / Nerd: 2
3D Kitchen, Books That Work, about $50. There's a plethora of home remodeling programs. This is a good one. It lets you swap your dishwasher and refrigerator and repaint those ugly mauve cabinets to see how it looks without breaking your back or wasting any money on paint. You might satisfy your itch to remodel without having to remodel!
Cool: 2 / Nerd: 1
Echo Lake, Delrina, about $50. An extremely well-designed attempt to turn the family PC into the family album. You store memories in whatever form you have them - scanned images, sounds, notes to yourself, etc. An electronic ``inspirator'' helps prod your memory when you get writer's block. A virtual cabin in the woods - complete with birds and other critters - creates the atmosphere. A virtual tree stump helps you organize it all. Just make sure you back up your files. Scrapbooks don't crash.
Cool: 3 / Nerd: 1
Kid Desk Family Edition, Edmark, about $30. Great utility that covers your Windows desktop with cheerful virtual desks for everyone in the family. Kids click into their programs - but not into your files.
Cool: 1 / Nerd: 3
Quicken, Intuit, $30-$50 depending on edition. The dominant personal finance program. A masterpiece of design; it makes some very complex things seem easy. Millions of Americans have not only gotten their finances in order but they've also become obsessive Quicken Heads, analyzing every penny, planning their finances for the next six generations.
Cool: 2 / Nerd: 2
For players
Sim City 2000, Sim Ant, Sim Isle; Maxis, $20-40. This company specializes in simulations, and these are just a few of Maxis' titles. Your computer lets you play mayor - or God. Sim City, which just about spawned the genre, lets you run a city. Let developers run wild and make a fast buck, or build an island of tranquillity - and worry about how you'll pay for electricity. Sim Ant is a little more subversive - you help an ant colony take over the home of some poor family. Sim Isle, the newest Sim game, lets you manage a rain forest.
Cool: 4 / Nerd: 2
Flight simulators, various publishers, $40-$600. A big seller in Hampton Roads, where there are oodles of pilots, former pilots and wanna-be pilots. Microsoft's Flight Simulator has a huge following - the Internet even has a discussion group of aficionados. Aces of the Pacific and Aces Over Europe, from Sierra, let you fly the planes that won World War II. Elite and IFT-Pro are expensive high-level simulators that are admired for their super-realism.
Cool: 2 / Nerd: 3
Jigsaw Power, Centron Software, $35. Lets you take any Windows graphic image and chop it into jigsaw pieces, which you can then spend the afternoon putting back together. It allows you to adjust the difficulty by specifying big or teeny pieces.
Cool: 2 / Nerd: 2
For kids
Millie's Math House, Bailey's Book House, Thinkin' Things. Edmark, about $30-$40. Award-winning programs for preschool and primary-school kids that teach in a subtle, sophisticated, cheerful way. From a company that never seems to produce a dog piece of software.
Cool: 3 / Nerd: 1
Just Grandma and Me, Living Books, about $40. A well-designed interactive story about a trip to the beach that will delight 3- to 6-year-olds. Nearly every object on every page is ``clickable'' and will come alive. Starfish dance, fish jump, balloons fly. The book will read itself, or your kid can click on words individually and a voice will sound them out. Very nicely done, but, like most talking books, a lot of money for something with limited interactive capability.
Cool: 2 / Nerd: 2
Kid Pix Studio, Broderbund, about $40. A kids' drawing program with special effects so neat that artists have been known to buy it. Kid Pix has been around for years, and it keeps getting better with every new edition.
Cool: 4 / Nerd: 3
Microsoft Encarta '96, $50. The slickest multimedia encyclopedia, with a new, lower price. It's no Britannica, but for school-age kids, it's a great starting point. And Britannica never played musical instruments or let you hear the ``I have a dream'' speech. Parents do have to watch out, though: plagiarism is easier than ever before with electronic cut-and-paste capability.
Cool: 2 / Nerd: 2
A PC microphone, $15-50 depending on the brand. Many people have sound cards in their computers and no microphone. More and more software coming to market will respond to voice commands. With a microphone, sound card and the right software, kids can record messages to themselves. It's a great feature for little ones able to click a mouse but not yet reading or writing. You can have your kid record a little song, save it as a sound file, and have it play every time Windows starts up. A very nice thing to greet you in your office every morning.
Cool: 1 / Nerd: 2
For nerds, dweebs
and hacker wanna-bes
Windows 95 upgrade, Microsoft, about $90. A powerful, modern interface makes this the best Windows yet. It'll also keep the nerd of your house happily gnashing teeth for weeks, replacing device drivers and configuring old DOS programs. Just make sure you have a computer powerful enough to run it well. Cool: 1 / Nerd: 4
Random Access Memory (RAM), $30 to $40 a megabyte. RAM is a computer's short-term memory. You know what it's like when YOU run short of short-term memory. Most computers in people's homes are under-RAMmed. They have four megabytes when they need eight, and eight when they need 16. RAM is a major splurge. But if you know someone who runs high-powered applications like databases or drawing programs, or needs to run several programs at once, RAM will make a major difference in their life and productivity. Don't try to install it yourself unless you know what you're doing.
Cool: 1 / Nerd: 4
Subscription to online service/Internet access, $10 to $25 a month. America Online and Prodigy are easy to use. CompuServe is loaded with specialized databases. For a true aspiring hacker, full Internet access through a local dial-up provider such as Infinet offers unlimited territory to explore and technical challenges to surmount.
American Online and Prodigy: Cool: 2 / Nerd: 1
Compuserve and Internet access providers: Cool: 1 / Nerd: 3
A high-quality mouse, Logitech or Microsoft, $50-60. Too many people in the world are using cheap mice that came with their computer, and they have no idea what a luxury it is to have a good mouse. These fit most hands, have a proper weight and balance, and offer truly pinpoint control of the cursor on the screen. A great gift for someone who spends a lot of time at a PC.
Cool: 2 / Nerd: 2
A new modem, $50-$200. To get into cyberspace, you need a fast modem. The slowest acceptable today is a 14,400-baud modem, which can be had for $50-100. The state of the art is the 28,800-baud modem - twice as fast - costing $150 and up. Imagine how much fun it would be if you could buy a car that would take you places twice as fast. To a veteran cybersurfer, upgrading from 14.4 to 28.8 is that same kind of feeling.
Cool: 1 / Nerd: 3
For home and family ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Punch in what's left in your fridge and the Betty Crocker CD-ROM
will give you suggestions on how to turn it into dinner.
Thinkin' Things is an award-winning program that teaches in a
subtle, sophisticated, cheerful way.
by CNB