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REVIEWS * REVIEWS * REVIEWS * REVIEWS * REVIEWS * REVIEWS
OUTWRITE UPDATE BY PETER BELL AND FRANK HARROP
==============================================
Since our review in Sam Supplement 8 of the pre-launch
wordprocessor by R.J. Wilkinson, it has undergone a slight name
change, and had further refinements and alterations, and is now
available in its final version from Chezron Software. We have
now had the opportunity of hands on experience of this later
version, which comes complete with its own comprehensive 16 page
manual.
The first thing you notice is that instead of going to the word
processor proper, as well as an opening screen you are presented
with a Main Menu allowing you the choice of 9 options covering
drive change, file erase, disc format, saving working copy,
changing working colours, user basic, and selecting from several
alternative fonts, - or just proceeding on to the text editor.
As before, the help pages are available by pressing INV, but
both pages have been re-arranged, and altered; some items have
changed, some have disappeared, and others have been added. For
instance, EDIT+A is now "Copy marked block" where previously it
was MOVE block ( which you may remember we found did not in fact
work anyway). There are other alterations which users who have
the earlier copy will have to adjust to but the first help
screen is a better layout for the grouped functions.
Merging can take place, even into the middle of an existing
document; unless it is at the end of the text, then if you wish
to retain the text that follows this point you must make space
for it by adding blank lines (Symbol shift/cursor down),
otherwise it will be overwritten.
When sending the file to the printer you now have the option of
stopping printing at page breaks or continuous printing. The
printer control codes are still on the second help page, but
with more concise instructions. As then, some of the listed
fonts are not available on our respective printers, but the
addresses are given in the manual so that you can, in theory,
alter the control codes if you wish. Two user defined control
codes are also available. Unfortunately the tables on pages 14
and 15, show 49 as the set operand, and 48 for the cancel. In
the case of the Brother M1109, the operands are 1 for set and 0
for cancel - yet the manual strictly forbids 1 to be used as a
control code. The rest of the help page is occupied by
instructions on how to save a marked block as a SCREEN$. The
manual gives instructions on how this help page can be
re-written from the text editor, to replace the existing help
page 2 in your customised programme.
It does seem to be unnecessary to have to re-type the whole help
page in order to make one or two alterations, say to name the
two user defined options. It would be better, as in other word
processors, if you were able to save off the help page as a text
file (it is after all just text), and then it could be re-loaded
as such, modified as necessary, and then saved as help2 to
replace the existing.
There is a slight bug in block marking if the block happens to
be the last section of the document, for you cannot put the end
marker, without getting an error report "below document". If you
put it at the end of the line then it places itself at the
start, and that line is neither copied nor printed. The only
answer is to place a full stop on the line below and put the end
marker after it.
There is a revised menu called when you wish to alter the
printer options which also includes provision to alter the Tab
settings. There are nine of these, but unfortunately there is no
provision to alter the number of TAB settings so if less are
required you still have to set all nine. The menu does enable
form feeding, as well as altering the page length and setting a
left hand print margin. It promises to save the new code with
the revised settings, but although it apparently overwrites the
existing code on the disc, when re-loaded the settings are as
original. It will save them if you return to the main menu and
save the programme as a whole.
There were a number of items we had hoped might have been
included, but some of those that we think are still desirable
are given below.
The facility to extend the line length to 80 columns, or if
necessary, even to 128 columns for printing in condensed font
across a full width A4 sheet.
When drafting any document BLOCK MOVE and BLOCK DELETE are
really essential, the only way it seems to be possible is to
save a block to disc, and then merge it back, but that seems far
too cumbersome, particularly for re-arranging a document. It is
quicker in most cases to delete lines and re-type!
Word search/replace still not available.
The paragraph re-format is now very fast, but it still
re-formats to the left hand margin only - and some of us prefer
indented first line of paragraphs. On the question of justifying
and re-formatting, you have the alternative of F3 or EDIT+F to
re-format the paragraph. By the way, F2 only unjustifies the
line NOT the paragraph - it WILL do it line by line. Note
however, that when a line is split, by SYMBOL SHIFT /Cursor
DOWN, trying to re-format using F3 will spread out the short
line across that line, whereas EDIT + F will re-format the whole
paragraph properly.
As a general comment, it is very nice to have a choice of around
a dozen fonts from which to choose for screen printing, but by
and large with a word processor the end result is the printed
document, and we would have preferred more choice of printer
options, such as page numbering, with a choice of heading or
foot positioning, as well as headers and footers themselves.
Unless something is planned to extend into Desk Top Publishing
we could not envisage a great use for the screen save facility,
although useful for re-arranging help page 2.
There are likely to be many owners of the Sam, who have not
previously owned a computer, and have no knowledge of word
processing, so it would be helpful for them if a "Tutor"
programme could be included on the disc, taking beginners
through the various aspects of the programme.
Full information is given in the manual about the programme, as
well as how the speed of the keyboard response can be adjusted
to the users requirement. Chezron Software, which distributes
the programme, has promised continuing support and hope to
include additional hints and tips on the programme from time to
time in its monthly disc magazine OUTLET. It could well be that
further development (which may include some of the above
suggestions) is already in hand.
CONCLUSION.
This production issue is still an excellent buy, our comments
merely being constructive criticism or remarks, and good value
at £12 for OUTLET customers - it can cost more elsewhere.
ENCELADUS 5
-------------
Reviewed by Rob.Evans
As you all now I have reviewed this disc mag before,
and I must admit that issue 5 is very good, the overall quality
of the Programs and Demo's is a lot better.
I still think its over priced compared to our SS or FRED, but
although the price is high, this issue is worth looking at.
Perhaps, if they read this, the price will finaly come down to
around £2; to where its good value for money...
Now for a run down of the Enceladus 5:-
Enceladus is the Editorial this contains:-
NEWS-MAGS(a rundown of mags for the Sam)-REVIEWS-LETTERS-
PD COLUMN-BASIC (for the Sam)-PROG NOTES-FLASH (how to use
it)....
COMPRESSOR:-(screen) fairly good: a bit arkward to use.
LC200:-(I think thay are getting a back hander for this one)
Its mentioned a few times in the text here and there plus a main
review plus a prog... .
BALLS (demo):-who ever wrote this knows what he is doing!!!!
you get balls spining in 3-D then changing to a gun then a
helicopter, these also spin and move around in 3D. (VERY GOOD).
WAVER:-not so good!,a piccy of an indian layed flat then flexed.
BIGTEXT:-this gives you small/thick text and varies text up to
very large, all in DEF PROC'S for any one to use..(this was also
done by Outlet some time a go)...
ITERRUPTS:-music is playing while you text is scrolling or you
do something else...
LEOTROPES 2:-an on going text adventure, with the full solution.
NLQ DESIGNER. A font designer (fair)...
TEXT COMPRESSOR:-This works fairly well, again a little hard to
use...
COLOUR DUMP:-(guess what for) yes you have guesed it LC200:CAN'T
TRY THIS AS I HAVEN'T GOT ONE....
EXTRAS:-this contains:-
MODE SWITCHER:-allows mixed modes...
OVER 3 DEMO:-not bad!,,some interesting pattens and a nice way
to bring some thing on the screen (Iv'e seen this before but not
bad).
SPECTRUM (NOT A COMPUTER):-colour layout. (fair).
TEXT COMPRESSOR MOD:-they were a bit quick with this, as the
comps on this disc,they say this idea came from looking at
Outlet. (make it a bit faster).
COLOUR WIZZER:-very neat this!!you get some very nice affects
with this,,first a fractel is loaded; then do's a full colour
ripple with the whole screen the border as well,(its hard to
do this justice with words) then they draw pattens and ripple
them, you get the chance to load your own piccy and ripple it,
and you can use it in your own demo's...
SOLAR SYSTEM:-waste of time this one...
FLASH-MOD:-this gives you a choice of DIR'S and save piccy as
screen$ you also get the Distorter built in (this enlarges and
also shrinks piccy's).......
ALL IN ALL THIS IS THE BEST YET!!!NOW IF ONLY THE PRICE CAME
DOWN A BIT????????..
The Messenger a review
By
Brian Mumford
The messenger a transfer device rather like the Multiface,only
in this case instead of just copying programs from tape to disc,
the messenger allows you to transfer,programs from the Spectrum
to the Sam,via the midi network. You plug the messenger into the
Spectrum's edge connector,there must be no other items connected
such as an Opus disk drive or Microdriies,as these contain thier
own shadow Rom's which will prevent the messenger from working.
Having conected the Messenger to the Spectrum,you then connect
the lead coming from the Messenger to the Midi In port on the
Sam this is situated next to the NMI button on the rear of the
Sam,beware this is the one nearest to the NMI as there are two
one is the OUT the other the IN. Having done this switch on both
machines,if you only have one TV you will have swop between the
machines to see the displays from each machine. To test the
Messenger you should then press the blue button on the Messenger
and you should get a gently rolling border on the Spectrum's
display. To return to the Spectrums ordinary display press the
space bar. The manual suggests at this point you trasnfer your
Spectrums Rom to the Sam,and gives instruction how this should
be done. To transfer programs you have to load a program on the
Sam supplied on disc, then you load the Spectrum program on the
Spectrum,when it is loaded you push the button on the Messenger
which freezes the spectrum,you then change to the Sam,and push H
on the menu and you will then see both borders flashing,when
the program has been transfered to the Sam the Spectrum will
return to the program and run from where you stoped it,and the
Sam will return to the menu,from where you can press I to try
out the program,when you are satisfied everything is ok, you
press the new NMI button supplied with the Messenger which you
should have attached to the rear bus or Sambus before you
switched on the machines,when you push this button the Sam
returns to the Menu ready for you to save the program to Sam
disc. I found the messenger very easy to use,and a great piece
of kit,I have only found so far two programs that do not
transfer to the Sam,one of these we have since spoken to Andy
about and he say's that it thh potection routine they use this
program is PLOTTING from Ocean,the other program is BUBBLE
BOBBLE,this program loads and runs but corupts the screen,as it
runs to fast on the Sam. The only limitation of the Messenger is
that it will only transfer 48K programs. If you have an
extensive collection of Spectrum games then the Messenger has
got to be thh easist way of converting them to Sam. You need the
program on the Messenger disc to reload the converted files but
this is no drawback as you need the Multiface to reload files
copyed by it. I would recommend the Messenger to anyone,the only
thing is once you have converted all your programs,unless you
keep on buying Spectrum games,it will eventually become
redundent. You can also transfer screens and programs back to
the Spectrum,this is useful if the Spectrum program is a
multiloader. I suppose it boils down to in the end if you have a
spare 40 pounds and a large collection of Spectrum software you
should buy the Messenger,if not then it is an expensive luxury.
THE MESSENGER (additional remarks by Dave Tonks)
First a warning!!!....
On getting a Messenger, my first thought was to convert all
my Opus files over to the Sam. I therfore connected up my
Spectrum, Opus and Messenger using a Currah slot. All went well
until I pressed the messengers button. The Spectrum and Opus
were damaged, and have had to be sent for repair. I talked to
PBT about this, and they said that the Messenger will not work
with Microdrive, Opus, Multiface and probably not Disciple or
Plus D. This would have been fine had Samco mentioned this int
the instructions.
Having said all that, I have to agree with Brian, and say that
the messenger does the job it's meant to quickly and
efficiently.
If you have all your Spectrum files on anything other than tape,
you will have to get the files to tape first, using something
like a Multiface, before you can use the Messenger, but if you
are prepared to do this then much of your software can be
converted.
As to what to do with it when all your files are across, is
another matter. The only thing that springs to mind is if you
play multi-loading games on the Spectrum, you can use the
Messenger to Load in the extra levels via the device.
All in all, a nice device that, at the moment is limited to tape
loading, and util someone comes up with other uses, is limited
to file moving.
________________________________________________________________
JOY MOUSE by BLUE ALPHA ELECTRONICS
Because of the lack of testing time, this can only be a first
impression. The first thing that you notice is that there is no
interface with this mouse. Just the mouse, which plugs into the
joystick port. The interface has been put into the mouse itself,
which makes for a very neat setup. The drawback is that the
mouse is not quite closed properly, because of the extra
internals. The gap has been filled with a strip of foam rubber,
and this does not look very professional.
.
The actual working of the mouse is not bad. It overlays the Keys
6-0 with key 1 as the spare button. This means that it will work
with all programs that use the Spectrums Interface 2, even when
in Spectrum emulation mode.
Flash will work with the mouse, using the joystick option, but
you will need to put a couple of pokes in to make the mouse
pointer move a bit better.
This is probably its weakest point, in that because it emulates
the joystick command, it never feels like a true mouse. It has
to be moved at a slower rate than you would with a "real" mouse,
and without the pokes, there is a delay before full speed is
achieved.
In conclusion, I would say that if you like the idea of a mouse,
and you want one that works on most exsisting games and
programs, then this is the one for you. If, on the other hand
you want a "proper" mouse, then read the next review on the
Samco mouse.
PRICE £29.95
SAMCO'S MOUSE
This is the long awaited mouse from Samco, but was it worth the
wait?. Well what you get in the package is an ST/Amiga
switchable mouse, a mouse house, an interface and a 3.5 disc.
The interface plugs into the mouse port and need a bit of
software to initialise it. Once this is done, the variables
XMOUSE, YMOUSE, BUTTON 1 and BUTTON 3 will read the mouse
position and status 50 times a second.
On the disc is a copy of Flash with the mouse initialised and a
small sliding puzzle type game wich uses the mouse.
The mouse works just like any ordinary mouse, and is very quick
and responsive. There is no delay, as with the Joymouse, and the
joystick port is left free.
On the down side, there is next to no software at the moment
written for it, only the 2 programs that came with it, it is
also £10.00 dearer that its competitor.
If you want a true mouse, and you are prepared to wait for
software to come, (or write your own), this is certainly worth
considering. PRICE £39.95
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ALL FORMATS SHOW (BIRMINHAM 9/6/91)
This was the second time that the All Formats has been held in
Birminghams National Motor Cycle Museum. The first time around,
it was a sellout, but I'm afraid to say that this time was not
so good. I think that these shows are getting a little too
frequent, and both the public and the exhibitors are losing a
little enthusiasm because of this.
The show started very well, with plenty of people coming through
the doors, but sadly by just after lunch, the halls had emptied
considerably.
Of course, we were there, and we had a lot of interest shown in
the Supplement. Some more new members were enrolled, and a few
problems overcome during the day, and all in all we had a good
time.
The absence of Bruce and Alan was again noticed, and PBT was
selling Samcos goods for them. PBT does a nice range of
printers, and for the smaller items like printer leads, scart
leads etc, is worth contacting if you need a non-standard
fitment of any kind.
Blue Alpha Electronic was there, showing off his new joymouse,
along with his sound sampler and speech interface. He has a lot
of ideas for future Sam add-ons, and is worth keeping an eye on.
Andy wright came along, and I managed to get a word with him
about his new Masterbasic, which, from what I've seen, is a
great addition to the Sam.
Ron and Brian Cavers had a stand, selling "OUTLET" of course, as
well as their excellent "OUTWRITER" word processor. At the
moment there seems to be a slight incompatibility with this and
Masterbasic, but they were talking to andy Wright, and I'm sure
that this will not last for long.
Bob Brenchley was there selling his format magazine along with
ZAT who also run a paper mag for the Sam. Dave Ledbury tells me
that he is working on a new program for the Sam, but is not at
liberty to say what.
Enigma made a brief appearance until lunch time, selling the
latest release from Domark "KLAX". This, and Samcos "SPELLING
ATTACK" were the only really new pieces of software available. I
did however get a first level demo of "PRINCE OF PERSIA" which
is out of this world, I can't wait to see the finished program.
Sam and Siclair Computing were doing a good trade with issue 2
of their new mag, and GM Soft had a modified version of their
GM_CALC, which has some new features as well as a couple of bugs
ironed out.
If fact, Team Sam was quite well represented, and a lot of
confidence in the machine was given to the public.
As to the rest of the show, well there was the usual throng of
"box shifters", but if you looked carefully, there was the odd
bargain to be had. I personally picked up a couple of
microswitched joysticks, complete, but in kit form for £1.50 as
well as a couple of Sam type printer leads for £1.00 each.
I think that the All Formats will go well in other parts of the
country, but the organisers must space them out a little more to
save the tedium setting in.
ALL FORMATS SHOW (LONDON 22/6/91)
It's only been 2 weeks since the Birmingham show, but here I am
again, standing by the Supplement stand!!!
This show started badly, and I thought that it would be a
disaster. There was no rush when the doors opened, and it seemed
as though the public would not come. This was not totally true,
as the steady stream continued thoughout the day, without the
normal slacking off after lunch.
This gave a fairly reasonable attendance, averaged out across
the day, but not as good as I have seen.
Another disappointing fact, is that there was an acute lack of
Team Sam exhibitors. There was only us, PBT, Blue Alpha, SPDSA,
Bruce Gordon for Samco and Steve Nutting, which made the square
of stands that they usually fill, seem quite deserted.
The only new thing to report is that Samcos mouse was ready and
on sale. There should be a first impression somewhere in this
issue.
Brent Stevens of SPDSA, spend best part of the time before the
show, trying to constuct a huge 3.5 disc out of blue and silver
balloons, but after many explosions (not good for the nerves in
London), he gave up, and consentrated on telling people about
the wonderful things that you can get for your Sam, through his
PD library. (There you are Brent, you got a mention off me this
time!!!!)
There was no new software for the Sam, and most of the
exhibitors mentioned were selling the same as the prevoius show.
We now have a 2 month break from these shows. Lets hope that
this will give the public the incentive to come, when they start
again in September.
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