Product Reviews

Cramming the entire British Isles, complete with photos and information, on to one CD sounds like a pretty huge undertaking. It's just too big a task, and that's what makes this guide a bit of a disappointment.

First impressions count - and the UK map that greets users on Eye2eye's main page gets off to a bad start. It's wonky, and looks as though someone has scanned it in a hurry.

Click on areas of the map, and a number of dots appear in that region. Click one of these to home in on a town or a place of interest. Eye2eye Britain's makers are very proud of their 'beautifully detailed local maps' -unfortunately all the detail behind the dots makes them rather difficult to read. A little less clutter would

Once you've decided on an area you'd like to find out more about, you can click for a slideshow of photos, along with captions. It's a pretty hit-and-miss affair - you never know whether you're going to get one or 30 pictures. You can choose to view them as a slideshow, to get an overview of the place you are interested in. Unfortunately, the pictures for some areas would be better suited to the cheap section of the postcard rack.

Cherie Blair is quoted on the box as saying that the program is useful for children's school projects. And, indeed, you can search for subjects such as Henry VIII and then browse through the results for places connected with the king. Relevant locations are highlighted by a green dot - again, difficult to see on the busy-looking map. The results are hardly comprehensive, though - I wouldn't like to see what kind of marks the PM's kids are getting from their teachers.

The program adds another historical touch by including a timeline, which enables you to select information on events in your chosen area within a certain period.

Visitors to the UK may find Eye2eye Britain useful as a very broad overview of the country - but it's still a pretty uninspiring one. The rest of us would do better to spend the money on a day trip.