I loaded mine to my hard drive and love not having to take the DVDs in and out. It took over two hours per DVD to load, but was worth it. You just have to copy them from the DVD to a very specific folder on your hard drive. The directions are in the last of these FAQs in this link to the CNG FAQ page:
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(If Amazon doesn't allow this link here, check one of my responses below this review -- I'll include it there too and maybe it can stay there.)
One of the biggest negatives with this set is that the sideways pictures can't rotate, making them hard to read and enjoy. And there are many such pictures. Hopefully they will come up with an upgrade soon to fix this, as they have received many queries about this.
Although there are some negatives, overall, I am very happy with this set.
The huge plus is you get every issue of National Geographic in a relatively easily readable format when you use the easy-to-use magnifying and dragging features. If you have a 24" monitor, it's pretty readable as is. With magnified reading, when you go to the next page, it resets back to zero magnification, and you have to re-magnify it. But it's fairly easy -- all you have to do is double click on the page, and it magnifies, and you can drag the text and pictures around as needed.
They even include all of the advertisements, which they could have easily decided to omit. (It's fun to look at the ads from long ago. For example, in the April 1916 issue, focusing on the national parks, there's an ad for newly established Cascade National Park, placed by Great Northern Railroad, reminiscent of the days when railroads affiliated themselves with different parks, to boost travel.)
It prints out beautifully, and there is no readability problem with printouts.
There is a handy readlist feature, where you can create your own readlists (very easily done) or look at readlists that the editors have prepared. There are approximately 33 of these already created readlists, covering such things as various editors' favorites, National Parks, The Universe, The Untamed, etc. Just scanning through these articles, it looks like these lists are pretty good and I see a lot of things I want to read.
One problem with these readlists is that they don't give the date of the article. You see something focusing on, say India, and you have no idea if it is from 1915 or 2005. That makes a big difference to me insofar as my interest. They should include the date of the issue in these readlists. When I create my own lists I plan on always including the date.
All in all, I am happy with this set, and would buy again, since it seems to be the best way to get all of national Geographic, short of buying all of the actual magazines for thousands of dollars.
Complete National Geographic: Every Issue Since 1888
2.7 | 174 ratings
Price: 29.94
Last update: 01-11-2025
About this item
Includes bonus DVD with videos documenting the history of the National Geographic Society and National Geographic magazine
Geobrowse helps you easily find articles, photographs, and maps about the location you choose
Browse special "readlists" from National Geographic stars or personalize your archive by creating and saving your own lists of favorite articles
The Complete National Geographic includes every printed page--every article, photograph, advertisement--from 1888 through 2008
Test your knowledge of subjects with a trivia game and reference hundreds of the magazine's classic maps
Geobrowse helps you easily find articles, photographs, and maps about the location you choose
Browse special "readlists" from National Geographic stars or personalize your archive by creating and saving your own lists of favorite articles
The Complete National Geographic includes every printed page--every article, photograph, advertisement--from 1888 through 2008
Test your knowledge of subjects with a trivia game and reference hundreds of the magazine's classic maps
Top reviews from the United States
Sarasotan
You can load to your hard drive - Here's how
Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2009
C. Wong
Disappointed
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2010
DeeJaye6
Great Library with Bad Interface
Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2010