Britannica Deluxe CD2000

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PC

Encyclopedia Britannica

$249.95

Review: Peter Eley


"Comparisons are odious" - John Donne (1572-1631). They may be, but when you see two heavyweight products sitting side-by-side, you have to compare them.

Encarta was the product that dealt Encyclopedia Britannica's leather-and-mahogany tradition a potentially business-crushing blow.

One CD-Rom contained as much information as Britannica's entire 32-volume set of books at a fraction of the price.

Britannica showed a stiff upper lip and hit back with its own CD-Rom and online versions.

It mirrors Microsoft in offering standard and deluxe editions, although in Britannica's case both versions have the same number of articles - 83,000.

On the face of it, this gives Britannica a significant edge at entry level.

But Encarta has a strong edge in multimedia content. Its basic version offers 7000 photos and illustrations while Britannica has 4000.

Reference Suite has 21,000 while Britannica Deluxe CD2000 has 8500.

The same differences apply in video clips - Britannica's basic version has none at all.

But Britannica prides itself on content, putting substance before style. And its articles tend to be longer than those in Encarta.

Britannica's deluxe version has a good atlas, and its dictionary is the New Oxford English - a traditional tome in keeping with venerable tradition.

Required: Pentium 133, 32Mb Ram.

Send your comments e-mail to peter_eley@herald.co.nz