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Complete Home 3-D By Pam Gleichman Tribune Media Services Sierra�s Complete Home is a five-program suite for the home improvement enthusiast and home designer. The programs included are Sierra Home Architect 2.0, Photo Home Designer, 3-D Deck, Home Improvement Encyclopedia and Electrical Wiring. Home Architect 2.0 lets you build a single or multi-story home complete with a gabled roof and cathedral ceilings. Homes can be completely furnished and decorated using brand-name appliances, countertops, cabinets, etc. With the Photo Home Designer, you can use a scanned or imported photo of your home (inside or out) to see how changes will look. The 3-D Deck, which has animation, illustrations, photographs and audio clips, lets you design your own deck. Then, after you design it, you can print out a shopping list with needed materials, a cut list and a layout diagram. Electrical Wiring�s step-by-step animation help you learn to repair, add to, or redesign your home�s electrical circuitry. The Home Improvement Encyclopedia gives expert advice on hundreds of home projects, featuring full-color videos, photos and illustrations. Our testers were young adults (age 14 to 16). They all had an interest in architecture and designing houses. Initially, they struggled with some of the options. After a while, they couldn�t get enough time on the programs. My own 14-year-old spent five hours one afternoon designing a home. The 3-D view is very realistic and gives you a great idea of what the home and individual rooms will look like. Publisher : Sierra Home, 3380 146th Place SE, Suite 300, Bellevue, Wash. 98007, (800) 757-7707, http://www.sierra.com . Category : Home Improvement. Age : 14 to adult. Installation : Easy. Use : Home Architect 2.0 is very user friendly, however, the program is complicated and sophisticated and takes a little time to learn and understand. Graphics : Good. We were a little disappointed with the print quality. Written Materials : A 200-page User�s Guide is included, along with a magazine that has over 250 ready-made home plans. Also included is the book, "Home Repair Essentials". System Requirements : Minimum � Pentium 60 MHz, 16 MHz RAM, 39 MB free HD space, SVGA (256 colors), 2X CD-ROM, Windows compatible sound card. Recommended�-Pentium 133 MHz, 32 MHz RAM, 90 MHz free HD space, High color (16 bit), 6X CD-ROM, 16 bit stereo Windows compatible sound card. Tested Version : Windows 95/98. Cost : $49.95. Rating : Four stars. If you are interested in home design or home improvement, Complete Home offers great content and value. DEAR PAM : What is DVD and what do the initials stand for? DEAR READER : DVD originally stood for Digital VideoDisc. It is now commonly called Digital Versatile Disc because it can also be used to store computer data. DVD is a format based on the compact disc. It is five inches in diameter and can have two layers on each side (DVDs can be double-sided). Each side can store up to 133 minutes of video, together with eight soundtracks, including a 5.1 soundtrack (for example, Dolby Digital) and up to 32 sets of subtitles. DVDs offer excellent picture and sound quality. WEB SITE OF THE WEEK LA CASA DE COMIDA/THE HOUSE OF FOOD http://library.advanced.org/15873/ The site is divided into four sections: the Kitchen, the Zoo, the Lab and the Mind. The kitchen contains an extensive recipe database, a healthy eating quiz and an explanation of nutrients and vitamins. In the eating right area, you�ll find the healthy eating pyramid along with information on diet and cancer. The zoo will teach you about food in nature and the lab discusses the science of food and how nutrients in the food we eat help our bodies function. Finally, in the Mind deals with food in our society and addresses topics like eating disorders and dieting. RATING KEY : ***** — Outstanding; **** — Very Good; *** — Good; ** — Fair; * — Not Worth Purchasing. Pam Gleichman welcomes questions/comments from readers. Write to Pam at Tribune Media Services, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1400, Chicago, Ill. 60611. Send e-mail to [email protected] . � 1999 Tribune Media Services, Inc. Techno file index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA