They finally have the past 70 years of TRAINS magazines on DVD. Here’s the link.
http://www.kalmbachstore.com/15100.html
Wow I can’t believe they finally did this. I can wait to buy it and get rid of 3 boxs of paper magazines.
Wow…That’s interesting news. I’ve {mostly}, subscribed…and bought off the news stands for decades. Have boxes of the magazine and really, they just are that for the most part…Put away in boxes.
Wonder If I would bother to wonder thru the DVD’s…Anyway, I agree, it’s a good idea. I’ve been wondering what to do with a couple boxes of TRAINS mags…
Definitely worth getting at that price for the search feature. Just hope it is of better quality than the National Geographic DVD versions.
Still nothing like holding the paper version for reading though.
Jay
That was one of my first thoughts on seeing the Trains on DVD offer. I find the Google Books user interface to be a bit more friendly even though it is over a not very fast DSL connection.
On the other hand, it would be a nice way to fill in the gaps in my collection and would be easier to find than many of my paper collection.
It is certainly worth considering, in paticular with the searchable index. Among other things, it would free up several feet of bookcase, at least temporarily__.__ I wonder if they intend to do an annual update perhaps with a cummulative index.
On the other hand, at that price ($150) you have to be pretty certain you would gain some utility from it.
I am so excited that this is coming out. I have a few of these collections, including the National Geographic one. I think you are referencing an older version of the Nat. Geo collection. the latest one only costs about $50 from Amazon and it’s amazing. They use Adobe Air and everything is search able and great quality. I know there were problems with an older version that came out on CD-Rom.
If you are a fan of these magazine collections you should also check out the wealth of content on Google Books. They have all the old copies of Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, and Life Magazine among others.
The listing for the Trains DVD says that it will include up to Dec 2010. Should I assume that it won’t be available to ship until next year?
I’ve hoped for such a thing for years. I’m thrilled that it’s finally going to happen.
I hope they follow through with some other DVD collections for their other magazines like Model Railroader, Classic Toy Trains, Trains Classic/Classic Trains, a special issues collection, and maybe even one for some of their obscure dead magazines (Didn’t they at one time have a magazine dedicated to airliners?).
Well, questionable for us Mac dinosaurs without Intel, but then again, the requirements are a little inconsistent:
Apple®
· Mac OSX® 10.3.8 or higher
· Intel Processor
The only MacOS X versions running on the Intel machines are 10.5 and 10.6, so something in the listing is out of kilter.
I probably should resist getting the DVD, though, because I spend too much time on my computer as it is. Kind of like Ron White and his dog Sluggo, for those who are familiar with his comedy concerts on DVD.
I wonder what the shipping date is projected to be – if it is on the website, I missed it. Since it is going to contain the December 2010 issue, it can’t be made until that issue is put to bed, presumably around November 1st.
The freeing up of shelf space in the Dungeon is the most appealing thing to me. I’m pretty sure I’ll get it, then offer (at a reasonable price, plus mailing) back issues to folks who need to fill in gaps. Might be able to recoup some of the cost that way. My collection is reasonably complete from the mid-1950s through the 90s; I may have lost a couple of recent issues to flooding a few years ago (not this most recent time).
Pete,
That is good to know. I have either the first or second edition of the National Geographic on DVD. While better than nothing it leaves a lot to be desired.
Last Christmas season, Costco had new NG DVD sets which I considered buying but assumed it was the same as the one I have with only a few years of the newer issues.
Jay
Great to see all the enthusiasm for this product. It will be available in mid-November.
Thanks for the interest!
Agree.
Now, if that search feature can replace the “I****ndex to Magzines” which used to be at the bottom of the page . . . [:-,] I wonder if I can get a substantial discount from Kalmbach for all the times I cite to those old issues, which of course ought to encourage everyone to go out and buy their own copy of that DVD . . . [swg] [:-^]
- Paul North.
I would think that someone who has subscribed for 30 or so years and bought a complete set over time (yes, even including “Vol. 1, No. 0”) would be ahead of you in line for any discount. [:-^]
TRAINS on DVD? You are welcomed to it! Having all the TRAINS paper
issues, not minding giving them shelve space and hating reading on
computer monitors’ screens, I will certainly not buy the DVD collection
itself but would eagerly go for a disc containing the general index if it
was made available separately. As for the Nat Geo collection to which I
saw references in the Forum, I was given one and find it useful although
I am very disappointed that such a vaunted organization as Nat Geo did
not make sure its software included a way to rotate vertically-printed
landscape oriented photos 90 degrees so that the latter are displayed
horizontally on the computer screen therefore my neck aches after each
viewing session… If there is a way to view such photos the “right” way,
I missed it and will appreciate it very much if someone points it out to
me. Hopefully Kalmbach will strive to better Nat Geo in that respect.
I received my copy in the mail today. It is installing now. It looks like a LOT of PDFs on two DVDs.
I’m hoping to find a way to easily read these on my Ipad. Once I have a chance to look at this a bit I’ll post some more.
OK, some initial reactions:
The whole shootin’ match is 15.4gb installed. There is no way to use it without installing everything. That’s a lot of space and took a few hours as the instructions said it would.
Individual issues are password protected so they can only be opened from within the program. You can’t even get into them from the folder access. So much for loading up issues of interest on my Ipad. Boo…
On the plus side the program is simple and loads fast. The scans seem to be very good from the few I’ve taken a look at so far. You can print (kinda defeats the purpose but yay anyway.) Search seems to work well.
There doesn’t really seem to be any top level index or info other than the search. The program shows covers of the issues and you double click to open. In list view it just shows issue and year. There is a “pages” field but they all say 1-1. Once you click into an issue then click back to the list view there are more fields with article titles and author filled in. You can also look at thumbnails of the pages once inside an issue.
I’m disappointed that each PDF is password protected and that fact is keeping me neutral at this point. I think I’ll be glad I bought this collection once I see a reference to an old article that I want to look up and read.
Has anyone else received their copy? I’m interested to hear some other opinions
Folks!### Those of you who purchase the TRAINS Magazine DVD, and have an attendant collection of magazines that you will then want to dispose of…### I would suggest a donation to the library of your local railroad club,### [ if it is available(?)]### Most Public Libraries will sometimes be hesitant to accept loose magazines, especially if the have not subscribed to it already.### Back issue may be a drag on your particular situation, but there ARE Clubs. and Rail Fan Organizations that would be willing to accept them as an addition to their resources.### I would simply not just throw them out.### Somebody else will appreciate them,as much as you have!
Folks!### Those of you who purchase the TRAINS Magazine DVD, and have an attendant collection of magazines that you will then want to dispose of…### I would suggest a donation to the library of your local railroad club,### [ if it is available(?)]### Most Public Libraries will sometimes be hesitant to accept loose magazines, especially if the have not subscribed to it already.### Back issue may be a drag on your particular situation, but there ARE Clubs. and Rail Fan Organizations that would be willing to accept them as an addition to their resources.### I would simply not just throw them out.### Somebody else will appreciate them,as much as you have!
I started my install the other night and had to go out before disc 1 was finished. I expected to come back to finding it waiting for me to put in disc 2. Instead, I found that it had closed and the partial installation was useless. So, it looks like you can’t leave it unattended. I had planned to buy an e-reader to use for reading these magazines but now I don’t know if that will work or not. Anyone have any ideas about that?