¢ Newsletters Review¢ by¢ Alan Sharkis¢¢¢¢¢This month's user-group article¢round-up includes some oldies, but¢goodies. It also includes references¢to an article published in BetaZine,¢an online newsletter which is¢available on some national Atari echos¢and sorely lacking in 8-bit articles.¢I might try to correct that situation¢this summer. BetaZine does accept¢user-group fees and we might consider¢paying one if enough 8-bit material¢does get published in the¢future. Also, please note that April¢issues may be April Fools issues, and¢that some of these extracts are not to¢be taken seriously. Please ask for,¢and read, the original¢articles to be sure.¢¢¢From (date unknown) B. A. C. E. Line:¢a review of Tetrix taken from the¢March (1990?) issue of MVACE News.¢¢¢From October 1987 Current Notes: Mark¢A. Brown points out several tricks for¢graphics programming on the 8-bit; W.¢Evan Brooks reviews some 8-bit¢programs from SSI after telling us¢that the 8-bit's time for simulation¢games has, unfortunately, passed (so¢much for such statements, three years¢later!); Len Pogialli reviews the¢First Xlent Word Processor (Alex's¢favorite); Alan Friedman reviews two¢ramdisk programs for expanded (320K)¢130XEs; Len Pogialli talks about¢directions he'd like to see Atari¢follow for the 8-bits; and Alan¢Friedman reviews some 8-bit p/d¢software.¢¢¢From December 1987 Current Notes:¢Quotes Atari's John Skruch¢(remember him?) as he speaks of then¢new 8-bit products, including the¢XEP-80 and the XEGS; Len Pogialli¢reviews several 8-bit educational and¢game programs; and, Mark A.¢Brown gives us some disk utilities.¢¢¢From April (uh-oh!) 1990 JACS Between¢Bytes: An article by Robert S. Ely¢about Atari's announcement of two new¢8-bit computers, based on the MC65C816¢CPU chip. They are the 250es and the¢250es Companion. Both machines will¢be expandable to 16 MEG of RAM and¢work in both 8-bit and 816 modes. They¢will be compatible with all previous¢8-bit software, they will have a¢cartridge port and a 40-pin 816¢expansion port. There will be two¢additonal graphics modes, a 16-bit¢stereo sound chip, and a new built-in¢BASIC (in 816 mode) in¢addition to Revision C BASIC. The¢250es Companion will be Portfolio¢size, start with 128K of RAM, and have¢the same display and battery pack as¢the Portfolio. The 250es will have¢built-in RS-232C and Centronics¢parallel ports.¢Its base version will have 256K of¢RAM. Atari also will offer an¢adaptor, the 250esgs, which will allow¢either of the above machines to play¢2600, 5200, 7800 or Nintendo¢cartridges. The adaptor will be¢self-powered, and will feature¢Nintendo-style controllers connected¢through Atari-style ports. Release¢is scheduled for the Fall, with both¢computers selling for $229.95 and the¢adaptor for $129.95 with additional¢controllers at $15.¢¢¢From April 1990 A. C. E. St. Louis¢Newsline: Joan Ryan describes two¢hardware mods she gleaned from the¢magazines. One is a way to adapt the¢Sega light gun to work on the XEGS,¢ and the other is a way to hook up a¢TTL monitor to the XEP80; and in a¢reprint from Michigan Atari Magazine¢D. R. Haulsee writes about replacement¢of defective head-park switches in¢1050 disk drives.¢¢¢From April 1990 The L. C. A. C. E.¢News Journal: John M. Schultz writes¢about the importance of user groups in¢keeping the 8-bits viable; Les Larkin¢sings the praises of MYDOS 4.5.¢¢¢From May 1990 Acorn KERNAL: Bruce¢Nelson describes the presentation¢given by Bob Brodie in Rochester. In¢it, he talks about the last¢production run of 500 130XEs for use¢as spare parts and replacements. Bob¢says that the 8-bit line is no longer¢"power-without-the-price," since the¢cost of the computer, disk drive, and¢interface comes close to that of a¢ 520STFM. It is not cost-effective¢for manufacturers to continue to¢produce 8-bit technology.¢¢¢From March 1990 BetaZine: Mike¢Mezaros, the editor, warns again of¢the importance of backing up¢everything you do. The magazine¢suffered a hard-disk crash and almost¢lost an issue! Also, Kurt¢Arnold discusses several MS-DOS¢keyboards (for those of you who might¢be considering the Transkey mod); and,¢Jerry Morton describes the procedures¢used for safe cleaning of Atari¢computers.¢¢¢ ¢
