Your CD-ROM library - 20 CD-ROM reference titles of interest to small business owners - Buyers Guide

Home Office Computing, Dec, 1996 by Dennis Eskow

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DeLorme AAA Map 'n' Go 2.0

Rating: ****

BEST BUY

Map 'n' Go is the most powerful trip planning software we have seen to date. It's visual and detailed without much clutter. It works for short and long trips. It is the easiest program to figure out. As with other packages, DeLorme opens with a map of the United States. Fill in blank boxes for the starting point and destination, and press the red button next to it and the map changes from starting to destination point. Click the Shortest Route button and it draws a line between the two points and gives you a map with an inset driving instruction list, including driving times between points. Or plot the scenic route this way. Map 'n' Go has the usual Web connections, but then it takes another technology leap and offers you Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) tracking. If you rent or own a car with a GPS system, you can get map coordinates from the system. Just plug it into your Map 'n' Go-equipped computer and track your route on the map. Even if you don't use GPS services, DeLorme's Map 'n' Go is the runaway best of class in a road travel package. DeLorme, 207-865-1234, 800-452-5931, www.delorme.com; $39

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ATLASES

Rand McNally StreetFinder 1997 Edition

Rating: ****

BEST BUY

WIN 95 / WIN

Last year's Rand McNally Road and Street Atlas excited us with its new walking tool that allowed you to use your mouse to take an imaginary walk in any city or town. This year the program, which has been renamed StreetFinder, upped the ante with a Wizard that guides you through the walking process with both audio and written instructions. StreetFinder allowed us to plot a jogging path in downtown Seattle and located a hotel within walking distance of Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington. If you buy the Windows 95 version, you can click into the Internet through either Internet Explorer or your own browser. The experience is slightly marred by the inclusion of the Explorer Wizard and Trip Wizard from Rand McNally's other products. Unfortunately, these cute devices are not powerful enough for a serious business traveler who is more concerned with finding the closest OfficeMax than a putt-putt golf course. Rand McNally, 716-871-6715, 800-333-0136, www.randmcnally.com; $49.95

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Pro CD Select Street Atlas 2.0

Rating: ***

WIN 95 / WIN

Pro CD's product is colorful, generally clear, easy to navigate, and useful for those taking a trip or researching a marketing decision. A palette of drag-and-drop symbols allows you to customize maps. Using a dropdown Find tool, you can locate a place by state, city, county, zip code, area code, or street. Pick the Listings icon from the toolbar and you can track down specific businesses within the area. Pro CD Select Street sometimes falls short of perfect at doing what its name suggests: pinpointing geographic sites. For instance, when we wanted to go to Salt Lake City, Utah, and locate the chamber of commerce, we couldn't because the search tool doesn't include points of interest. It does list churches as a category, but that coughs up a page full of Latter Day Saints churches, none of which is identified as the famous Mormon Tabernacle. Still, Pro CD's Select Street Atlas is as good as any paper atlas, and it's certainly worth consideration at its price. Pro CD, 508-750-0000, 800-992-3766, www.procd.com; $49.95