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1993-08-27
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Opening Format
Summer is winding down, and pretty soon all the youngsters will be
returning to school. Labor Day is near, and that means it is time to
put away the straw hats and white pants. However, as it starts
getting cool out, here at CTM we will keep you hot with great
reviews of hardware and software.
This month we look at the Primera Color Printer, and Wizard 9000VL
Local Bus video card. We also gander at BOCA IDE controller and
video cards, and computer fans. On the software front we have: Golf
courses for Links and MS Golf, WinMaster, HyperACCESS for Windows,
Microsoft TrueType Font Pack 2, Scrabble and Monopoly for Windows.
Also, Office Accelerator which is an add-on to your word processor
to print envelopes, letters, labels and more. We also look at a
great mail reader for Windows that comes from Brazil, in our
ShareWare SpotLight.
Just before our last issue was released, we had a motherboard
failure. The motherboard was only 98 days old. I had a few problems
when I first bought it, and the technician spent several days
getting it to work. When we returned it, we were told that there was
a 90-day warranty. Therefore, we were out the money for the
motherboard. I purchased it from PoinTech Computers. They have
stores on: W. 22nd St. and East Broadway in NYC, and a store in
Queens. I would advise against buying from them. They knew I had
problems at the outset, and still took the attitude that it was
related to my hardware. The technician worked on it, and had
problems with HIS hardware also. Voiding a warranty because it was
eight days past, with the above problems known, is not a reputable
company to me.
On the bright side, and with needing a new motherboard, I went to
Optimized Computer Solutions (OCS) on the advice of an associate of
mine. The people there were very pleasant. I already had a CPU chip.
When I mentioned this to the person I spoke to on the phone (Aaron),
he said to bring it along. When I got there, I gave the CPU to Rick.
He inserted it on the motherboard and even put on a heatsink. He
than sat down and showed me the jumpers on the motherboard, and the
settings in the manual. He set up the motherboard, and showed me
what to change if I added anything. All this and I was NOT charged
for them installing the CPU. I had reason to call them, and once
went there in person. I had changed the CPU, and wanted to make sure
of some things. Rick had me speak to Otto, and he clarified all my
questions. Since then, everything has worked fine. OCS sells
complete computer systems, as well as repair computers, printers,
monitors, etc. After the service I received, I highly recommened
them to others. OCS is located at 39 W. 14 St., Suite 203, New York,
NY 10011, Phone (212) 727-2100, Fax (212) 463-8402.
With this I now will be testing VESA Local Bus video cards. One
review is in this issue.
We have quite a bit of hardware to review in the coming months. I
have a ZyXEL modem, FotoMan, Sheet feeder and transparency adapter
for scanner, sound cards, and more.
Until next month, keep the sunny side up... Please read on for NEWS
UPDATES from CTM. There are NO graphic files in this issue.
Tony Curro...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This month we have a few happenings that we would like to bring to
your attention.
SmartCom UPDATE:
Last month I did a review on SmartCom for Windows. My only fault
with the program was the lacking of a dialing directory. I received
a call from Randy Cooper from Hayes. He had read my review, and
acknowledged that this was so. However, after SmartCom was released,
Randy sat down and wrote a program that will do just this. There is
mention of it in currently shipped copies of SC. The file is
available on Hayes BBS, 1-800-USHAYES, and is called BBSDIAL3.ZIP.
He did mention that version 3.1 should be up shortly. It may be up
by the time you read this.
GRAPHICS CARD and CorelDRAW 3.0 BUNDLE:
Volante, Inc. has announced an agreement with Corel Corporation.
Volante will bundle CorelDRAW 3.0 for Windows with their award
winning WARP 10 Plus and WARP 20 graphics accelerator boards. This
marraige gives you a quality video card and a proven graphics
program for one low price. I know many of you are saying "But, Corel
has released v4.0." Yes, this is true. However, if you are in the
market for a video card, you can buy it and get a FREE copy of
CorelDRAW. You can eventually upgrade to 4.0.
I have reviewed, and was very pleased with the WARP 10 Plus. I have
seen the WARP 20 in action, and it was even faster.
Statistics and Pricing of bundles:
WARP 10 PLUS
Processor BUS RAM TYPE
S38C801 ISA DRAM
Resolution Colors
640x480 16.7 Million
800x600 65,536
1024x768 256
1152x900 16
1280x1024 16
Warp 10 Plus/Corel 3.0 Bundle Price is $329.
Warp 20
Processor BUS RAM TYPE
IIT AGX ISA VRAM
Resolution Colors w/1MB Colors w/2MB
640x480 16.7 Million 16.7 Million
800x600 65,536 16.7 Million
1024x768 256 65,536
1280x1024 16 16
Warp 20/CorelDRAW 3.0 Bundle Price is $399.
Warp20-2/CorelDRAW 3.0 Bundle Pirce is $489.
The bundle packages are scheduled for release in September.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
DISCLAIMER
The information provided in this magazine are the opinions of the
author whose name appears at the top of the article.
We do not wish to discredit a product, company, or author of said
product. The software reviews are based solely upon the opinion of
the author of the review, and his or her experiences from using the
product in question.
We further assume no liability from any problems or dissatisfaction
that a user may have from a product that we have reviewed in our
magazine.
Tony Curro, Editor - ComputerTalk Magazine.