Britannica (especially the old 9th Edition) is terrific and the OED is incomparable. We, fortunately, have the shelf space!
One thing nice about the actual tomes is finding other stuff whilst toddling about for something ....
You wrote:
“One thing nice about the actual tomes is finding other stuff whilst toddling about for something ....”
That’s exactly why I won’t buy the OED on CD-Rom. Amazon.com may have come out with its Kindle, but I still would much rather hold a book in my hands and let my fingers wander through its pages!