Path: cdrom.com!barrnet.net!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!news.cac.psu.edu!news.pop.psu.edu!psuvax1!news.ecn.bgu.edu!willis1.cis.uab.edu!news.cs.uah.edu!malgudi.oar.net!wariat.org!config!info From: info@config.com (config.sys, Inc. Information Account) Newsgroups: alt.cd-rom.reviews Subject: CD-ROM Report Message-ID: <769894398.65snx@config.com> Date: Wed, 25 May 94 19:33:18 GMT Organization: config.sys, Inc. Reply-To: info@config.com Lines: 220 CD-ROM REPORT Electronic Edition #1 Publisher/Editor: Tony Thomas ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Revolution Continues It has been two years since I bought my first CD-ROM drive. It also has been two years since I posted my first review to Usenet. In that period of time, it has gone from an oddity to a staple. CD-ROM drives are now bundled with many new computer systems and are commonly available as a part of multimedia upgrade packages. Newer and faster drives are becoming available just about every month. As a result, I've been forced to keep up with the times and retire my trusty DAK/BSR/Sony drive in favor of a Mitsumi double-speed model. While nowhere near state-of-the-art, the Mitsumi FX001D is currently one of the most popular double-speed drives and therefore makes a good "test bed" for CD-ROMs. It is connected to a Orchid Soundwave 32 sound card and a pair of Labtec CS-800 speakers. It is a decent, inexpensive multimedia system that works pretty well, especially considering the Mitsumi has a small buffer. Anyway, this system will serve as the test system for all the reviews in CD-ROM Report. Your mileage may vary. My goal for this publication is to disseminate information about and reviews of CD-ROMs to the worldwide electronic community. As I don't get paid for this enterprise, issues will come out on a sporadic basis when I can find the time to write them and when there are products to review and issues to discuss. In fact, I've been on hiatus for the past few months due to other commitments. Feel free to share your comments with me via E-Mail. And if you have or know of a product worth reviewing, let me know. Reviews By now, most of you know I'm a big fan of Walnut Creek's products. I feel they offer tremendous value for the dollars spent and are among the finest currently available. Their CICA Windows and SIMTEL discs are ones that spend a great deal of time in my drive. They are updated quarterly and are the most up-to-date shareware discs I know of since they are images of Internet archives. I like their new search engines a lot, although I think that their Windows engine needs improvement. Although the SIMTEL-20 site has disappeared, I believe that it's being maintained by its mirror sites. Anyway, I think that the SIMTEL and CICA discs are "must haves" if you are DOS/Windows user. Some other discs from Walnut Creek worth checking out are: Fractal Frenzy -Visions of Chaos #1: If you are into wild graphics images, pick up this disc! These are FRACTINT derived images in both 640 x 480 and 1024 x 768 high resoluion GIF formats. Viewers are included for PC, Mac, Windows, Next, Amiga, Atari, OS/2, SGI, Sparc, X11 and DECStation. The 640 x 480 images are royalty free. Add them to your artwork or presentations or use them for psychedelic screen savers. Tax Info '93 CD-ROM : File an extension? Too lazy to get those '93 taxes? Then you need this disc to get you going. On it, you'll find every conceivable form and schedule and software that will allow you to send it to your laser printer. Sure beats hanging around the library of post office groping for forms. My only suggestion is I wish they would include the fulltext of some of the IRS handbooks and guides on future versions of Tax Info. Internet Info: Here is a disc I've been waiting for. If you're into FAQs, you'll like it, too. It contains 12,000 documents including Internet FAQs, information of computer security, discussion archives, book reviews, maps, ftp site lists plus lots of info on computer standards, networking and more. It's 9660 format with Rockridge extensions. A great disc! Clip-Art Cornucopeia: This disc contains 5,050 images in PCX and WPG (Word Perfect) format from GEnie' GEnie's Wordperfect Roundtable. Most are in the public domain and can be used freely. Catalogs of each directory are available in PCX format. There are files for MAC users and Picem for viewing the images on a PC. My only qualms about this disc are that all the images seem to be 1-bit monochrome and I wish that vector format (AI, EPS) images were also included. With a program like HiJaak or Graphics Workshop, you can convert the images to TIFFs or just about any other bitmap format you need. Still, it's a great addition to a clipart library. Get Walnut Creek's latest color catalog by calling 1-800-786-9907 or 1-510-674-0821. Their E-Mail address is: orders@cd-rom.com. Another company worth mentioning is American Databanker's Corporation. I recently received their Platinum Collection CD-ROM. It is one of the best shareware collections currently on the market and, IMHO, has the best DOS and Windows interface around. As far as content is concerned, it is a well-balanced collection. All the major "food groups" are represented. The files, however, aren't as fresh as you'll find on the Walnut Creek discs which are updated quarterly. A fine disc! Contact American Databankers at 1-918-497-1201. One of the best bargains I've found recently is Sirius Publishing's Five Foot Ten Pack. For $30, you get Doom (shareware version), Stellar 7, Time: Man of the Year, Wayzata's World Fact Book, Aris' Best of Media Clips, Software Tool Works' World Atlas, PC Karaoke Classics, CD-ROM of CD-ROMs, Kings Quest V and PC Animotion Festival. At $3 a disc, you can't complain. I think we'll see more of these kinds of bundles in the future as a marketing vehicle to unload older versions of discs. Contact Sirius at 1-602-951-3288. And speaking of bargains, you might want to look at MEI's Shareware Breakthrough series of discs. I bought a couple and found them to be a good deal for $10. While you can find better collections for more $$$ in just about any of the areas the series covers, they are a good value. I like their Windows interface which is non-invasive and easy to use. At this writing, they are selling three of their older discs for $4.93 (Entertainment & Education, DTP and Utilities and Productivity). A no brainer! Contact MEI/Micro Center at 1-800-634-3478. Another pretty decent shareware CD-ROM is Cream of the Crop. It doesn't have as many categories as you find on most other shareware discs, but it has a decent non-invasive DOS interface. With more and better-defined categories, this could be a really decent disc. However, if you are into shareware discs, this is a worthy addition to your collection. And since we are on the subject of shareware, I had the chance to check out Damar's CD Powerbox and OS/2 Box. These are also pretty decent shareware discs, although I didn't care for the Universal Interface on the CD Powerbox since it didn't display file info unless you selected the file first. The interface on OS/2 Box's interface is much better. For information on Cream of the Crop, CD Powerbox and OS/2 Box, contact config.sys, inc. at 1-800-6CONFIG or e-mail them at joe@config.com. They will send you a complete catalog of programs. Trends and Final Thoughts I applaud Corel Corporation's move to offer a significant discount on CD-ROM only versions of their products. This is a great inducement to get more people to join the CD-ROM revolution! I hope that other companies adopt this policy and offer value-added CD-ROMs at a lower price. Kudos also to PC Magazine who put out its first CD-ROM issue as a test several months ago. At $15 or so, these discs sold out quickly (I bought mine used). Best of all, these discs included a free copy of the Adobe Acrobat reader, WinCIM, WinCMD, MONTOR and a mini version of Computer Select with a year's worth of PC Magazine articles and reviews. It is a great idea whose time has come. Another worthy experiment is the OMB's release of the Clinton Budget on CD-ROM. While not cheap at $30, it is a bargain compared to the cost of the printed version. Files are in ASCII and Acrobat format. Scary reading. Kodak's Photo CD project seems to have foundered in the consumer market. I saw a Photo drive for just $200 at Wal Mart. The pro market has been kinder. It is a great concept that needs refinement. And just when I bought a Photo CD compatible drive! That's all for now!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ About the Author: Tony Thomas is a nationally-known writer with hundreds of published articles. He is currently Home Electronics/Pro Audio Editor of SCENE Magazine in Cleveland, OH and a frequent contributor to Recording Magazine. His work has appeared in publications which include Mix, Electronic Musician, AV/Video, Millimeter and Roland Users Group. Copyright 1994 by Tony Thomas and CD-ROM Report. All Rights Reserved. This publication may be reproduced and redistributed intact for non-commercial purposes only. Any reproduction of this document in whole or part for resale and/or profit is prohibited without the express written permission of the author. All reviews and commentaries are the personal opinions of the author. Contact: Tony Thomas at aa699@Cleveland.Freenet.Edu. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> APPENDUM NOTICE <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< This review was provided by the author along with authorization for redistribution by config.sys, Inc., in an unedited state above this appendum. Reformatting may have been necessary for various operating systems. The reviews provided by config.sys, Inc. reflect the opinions of the reviewer and not necessarily that of config.sys, Inc. They are provided solely to serve as a guide for information to determine the potential purchase of a CD-ROM disc. Any copyrights are retained by the author. Not all CD-ROM discs reviewed are available through config.sys, Inc. A catalog of over 2260 discounted CD-ROM discs is available upon request. The author(s) have not been compensated by config.sys, Inc. Enjoy! Joe Rinehart joe@config.com config.sys, Inc. CD-ROM Division P.O. Box 27 Kent, Ohio, 44240-0001 Tel.: (216) 296.4446 North American Toll-Free Order Line: 1-800 6CONFIG (626.6344) All reviews and our catalogs are also available via anonymous ftp from ftp.wariat.org, in directory /pub/cdroms. -- -- Over 2,250 discounted CD-ROM Titles, accessories, and refurbished CDdrives. config.sys, Inc. CDlist available upon request BBS/G3Fax: 216.296.2244 Information, P. O. Box 27, Kent, Oh 44240-0001 24 Hrs voice: 216.296.4446 finger or email cdroms@wariat.org for list or FTP:ftp.wariat.org:/pub/cdroms