World Book Encyclopedia 2004 Edition

List Price: $29.99 Discount Price: $18.00

Features:

• PC: Windows 95 or later, Pentium or better, 16MB RAM (32MB recommended), 40MB free HD space
• 16-bit sound card, 16-bit high color, 2X CD-ROM drive, Mouse, Internet Explorer 4 or higher (to use Surf the Ages), Printer (optional)
• Topics
• PC

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Encyclopedia [Posted on 2004-01-17]
I can't believe this Encyclopedia is so inexpensive. It is truly excellent. I bought this for my 4th grader and it has a ton of stuff to help students. There are tools to help with report writing, a "How to study" cd, "sticky notes" you can use to put notes into articles, an integrated dictionary... Well, you can read the list of features in the product description.

I really like that this encyclopedia is so easy to use. I like it much better than Encarta. The articles seem better, with more information than Encarta, too. The installation lets you copy the entire contents of disk 1 to hard drive (~700mb). After that, you only have to insert the second encyclopedia disk if you select something that requires it.

The "Surf the ages" feature is pretty cool. You get a webpage of news from assorted dates in history. I think my son will have a lot of fun with this since he is a history buff. There is also a monthly info summary (can't remember the exact name), but it gives you a single page with a lot of information relating to all kinds of stuff.

My son is doing a report on Thomas Edison for school. I looked him up and got a timeline of his life, a lengthy article on him with all kinds of references to areas of science and technology he influenced.

I then downloaded article updates off the web. There was one about recent Supreme Court rulings related to Affirmative Action. I followed that link, started reading the article and then followed another link into an entire history of african-americans.

There is a wealth of information in this encyclopedia and it is very easy to access. If you have kids, this is the encyclopedia to buy. The ability to easily cross-reference topics and follow links to get more in-depth info on any topic is awesome.

Rip-off [Posted on 2004-09-18]
On the surface this looks like a good offer. The only review at the time gave it a 5-star rating, so no doubts that this was a good deal. BUT!!! The Online update service has been discontinued by World Book, so the data will quickly become out-of-date. I am looking for a better option - no more World Book for me!

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