The raging onslaught of so-called ‘authorative' Web resources has driven down the cost of optical disc-based knowledge banks, meaning this Britannica-endorsed product will only set you back a tenner. That's fair value in anyone's money, and given that the product serves as a comprehensive catalogue of information on the human body, it's not without significant educational value too.

Sadly, before we could get to the product proper, we hit a bump. Our Vista test machine - and Vista is stated as being supported on the packaging - told us that we didn't have the correct version of Media Player that the program needs. It then, through a tatty pop-up, instructed us to navigate to a folder on the CD and install it manually. That's just the kind of message to send a novice running for the hills, and it didn't set the product off to the best of starts. Try as we might, nothing could get it to work. We even found Windows 2000-related error messages.

But fortunately, improvement was round the corner when we jumped to an XP-based desktop PC. There were still some recommendations to click through regarding screen resolution and Windows taskbar, and this still levels a concern over how a novice user will take to such system messages, but once into the program, it's a fascinating place to be.

Effectively a focussed version of the larger Encyclopaedia Britannica product, Human Body revolves around a first person interface whereby you travel through doors to uncover certain subject areas. In these areas are items you can click on, and these bring up information, sometimes video clips and animations, and an assortment of factoids, all covering different aspects of the functions of the human body.

It's an odd hybrid, because sometimes it acts as a good old-fashioned multimedia encyclopaedia, and at others it tries to jazz things up a little. But where there's little debate is in the quality of the content: you can rarely fault a Britannica product for that. And the interface does have some appeal for the younger audience.

We did eventually tire of the first person interface ourselves, though, and instead availed ourselves of the drop-down menu option, which includes direct access to the 3D models and an investigation research tool. Even here, though, the product betrayed its age a little with clumsy pop-up windows littering the screen.

Still, if you can overcome a few technical foibles and don't mind working with an interface that does date the program a little, then as an information resource this is a good purchase. Broader, DVD-based encyclopaedias are likely to cover much of what's here and a lot more besides if you can afford a little more, but you do get good value for your tenner here.

Verdict
A focussed resource that covers what you'd hope it would with some quality. The multimedia bit lets the encyclopaedia side down a little, but it's nonetheless worth the asking price. Even with the technical problems...

Company: Focus Multimedia

Contact: 01889 570156

Tags: windows 2000 media player windows xp encyclopædia britannica windows vista taskbar dvd compact disc