Archive Magazine 1996/ARCHIVE_96.iso/text/products/volume_09/issue_05

Text File | 1996-01-12 | 23KB | 426 lines

9.5
17ö monitor for RiscPC Ö The AKF85 is now no more. It has been replaced
by the AKF90 which is ú382 extra to the cost of the Acorn 14ò (instead
of ú326 extra for the AKF85). The AKF90 has on-screen setup including
rotation and colour temperature. However, the resolution (0.28mm dot
pitch) is not quite as good as the AKF85 (0.27mm). This makes the Iiyama
alternatives much more attractive by comparison. The 8617 flat-screen
17ö is ú400 extra and the 9017 Diatron 17ò (0.26mm slot width) is ú480
extra. (If you want to buy either of these better monitors with a
RiscPC, you need to fill in a ÉSpecialist Purchase Formæ Ö give us a
ring and we will send you one.) (Let me declare an interest here... the
dealer margin is better on the Iiyama monitors, so we make more profit
if you buy them rather than the Acorn one! We havenæt seen an AKF90 yet,
but I have no hesitation in saying that both of the Iiyama monitors are
definitely better than the AKF85. Ed.)
9.5
20/20 extended Ö Acornæs 20 month interest free loan scheme has been so
successful that it has been extended until further notice. (Details were
given in 9.1 p2 but ring the NCS office if you arenæt sure how it all
works.)
9.5
A3020/A4000 discontinued Ö Because of new regulations coming into force
on 1/1/96, the A3020 and A4000 can no longer be sold into schools. (They
are, however, still available through the Tesco scheme Ö they bought
them from Acorn in 1995.)
9.5
A7000 price drop Ö All A7000 computers have been reduced in price by
ú100 +VAT so that the entry level 2Mb network-only version (AMC01) is
ú675 +VAT including a 14ö monitor. The 2Mb/425Mb model (AMC02) is ú699
+VAT and the 4Mb/425Mb (AMC03) is ú775 +VAT. One new variant now
available is a 4Mb network-only A7000 (AMC04) at ú749 +VAT.
9.5
Acorn RiscPC 700X Ö Almost available is a RiscPC Unix box, which uses a
17ö Iiyama monitor to give a high enough resolution. The ACB96 with
AKF96 monitor has software which allows you to swap X resolutions and
colour depths at the click of a mouse button to suit different tasks
(1280╫1024      8-bit, 1024╫786 16-bit or 800╫600 24-bit). Up to eight
independent X screens can be supported simultaneously and you can hot-
key between Xáterminal and desktop applications. The ACB96 costs ú2,199
+VAT.
9.5
Acorn RiscPC PC card upgrade Ö Acorn are very keen to encourage RiscPC
owners to move up from the original SX33 PC cards to the faster cards.
To do so, they are offering very generous rebates on old cards: ú117 if
you buy a DX2-66 or a DX4-100 and ú235 if you go for the new 5x86-100
(which are expected to arrive by the end of January).
9.5
This discounted upgrade is available from Acorn-by-Post (Vector
Marketing), or through Acorn Centres of Technology. It is not available
through the normal dealer channel.
9.5
You can send your old card back to us with the order, and just pay the
upgrade price. If you donæt want to be without your old card, send a
cheque for the value of the discount (ú117 or ú235). We will hold this
cheque and reserve the right to bank it if the old card is not returned
to us within 14 days. Then when you return the old card, we will destroy
the cheque.
9.5
So, the VAT inclusive prices are as follows:
9.5
Code  Spec  RRP  Upgrade  Discount
9.5
ACA53  DX2-66  ú293  ú175  ú117
9.5
ACA56  DX4-100  ú351  ú234  ú117
9.5
ACA57  5x86-100  ú586  ú351  ú235
9.5
So, to reiterate, if you want a DX2-66, then send either your old card
and a cheque for ú175 or a cheque for ú175 and a cheque for ú117. If you
want a DX4-100, send either your old card and a cheque for ú234 or a
cheque for ú234 and a cheque for ú117. If you want a 5x86, send either
your old card and a cheque for ú351 or a cheque for ú351 and a cheque
for ú235.
9.5
Acorn RiscPC with PC card Ö Acorn are now offering all the PC cards at a
discount price when purchased at the same time as a RiscPC.
9.5
Code  Spec  RRP  Special price
9.5
ACA52  SXL-33  ú234     ú116
9.5
ACA53  DX2-66  ú291     ú175
9.5
ACA56  DX4-100  ú351     ú234
9.5
ACA57  5x86-100  ú586     ú469
9.5
Archive Internet Glossary Ö The glossary is growing rapidly and is now
over 9,500 words (plus the 11,500 words of the main Archive glossary).
These glossaries are available on a single disc for ú5.
9.5
CD drives Ö The range of Eesox CD drives continues to expand. There is
now a Platinum 6.7 speed SCSI drive which costs ú390 inclusive through
Archive for RiscPC or ú465 as an external version. For the RiscPC
(only), there is a six speed ATAPI drive for only ú240. The price of the
Eesox quad speed ATAPI drive is now ú140.
9.5
ARM Club Ö At the Acorn World Show, the ARM Club launched its new ARM
Club CD-ROM, containing the best of their PD and Shareware collection.
Also available from the club is the new GameOn! release 2. The CD-ROM
costs ú19.50. GameOn! 2 costs ú15 or ú5 for the upgrade from release 1.
9.5
Clearview 2, from DEC_dATA, is a hypertext/multimedia application that
allows you to view information and topics via an indexing and cross-
referencing system. Cross references to other places in a document, or
other ClearView documents, are shown with an underlined word Ö the user
simply clicks to go straight to the reference. External files and
applications can be run from the ClearView page, allowing drawfiles to
be loaded into Draw, or Replay files to be shown etc. There are full
search facilities, including the ability to search for two words/phrases
that are near each other. Clearview 2 Advanced allows a fully working
ClearView file to be quickly compiled using just Edit. ClearView looks
after the text formatting, with no problems of text flowing out of a
frame.
9.5
ClearView Standard and ClearView 2 Advanced cost ú10 and ú33.19 +VAT +
p&p respectively from DEC_dATA.
9.5
Clipart Ö New from DEC_dATA is a collection of clipart covering the
Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, and Greek and Romans. Aimed at Key Stage 2,
each collection consists of full colour drawfiles accessed via a
ClearView file. The file shows each graphic as a small thumbnail, and
has a hot link to load the picture into Draw. In addition, a few lines
of information are given on each picture to help the pupil and teacher
put the image into context. The discs include maps, people of the time,
transport, artifacts, tools, art and music. Each collection costs ú10
+VAT +p&p from DEC_dATA.
9.5
Cumana products ARE available Ö Following a month of trading under
administrative receivership, Cumana Ltd, the Guildford-based
manufacturer of educational IT products, has been purchased by
Sheffield-based Economatics (Education) Ltd.
9.5
Economatics Education has formed a Cumana Products Division to
complement its existing educational technology products business. The
new division plans to offer the full range of Cumana own brand and
related products, including a wide range of CD-ROM drives, the proTeus
optical drive and the SCSI II interface.
9.5
ÉCumanaæ will continue to focus its attention on high quality products
and services aimed specifically at the home and education markets, with
particular emphasis, as always, on the Acorn platform.
9.5
While administrative, distribution and accounts services will be handled
by the Sheffield office, we hope our customers will be pleased to hear
that the core of the sales, support and development team are all
employees of the original Cumana.
9.5
The team, under new management, would like to thank all those who
offered their support through a difficult time, and look forward to
doing business with you again soon.
9.5
Paul McKinnon <[e-mail]>
9.5
Easy Clip from Fabis Computing, does for clipart what Easy Font and Font
Directory do for fonts. It has the capacity to store over half a million
images in most common filetypes, and even compresses them to between 35
and 60%. Features include: large thumbnails of graphics for easy access,
virtual memory manager for thumbnail display; drag and drop between
groups and applications; preview of images in a scalable window. Easy
Clip costs ú35 (no VAT).
9.5
ESP Software Midi synthesizer Ö This software-only Midi synthesizer
developed by ESP, as we said last month, öis designed to work on any
RISC OS machine although best results will be achieved if you have 16-
bit sound capabilityò. However, ESP have not yet got it working properly
on RISCáOS 3.1, so please check before ordering it. It costs ú39.95 +VAT
from ESP or ú45 through Archive.
9.5
EZ135 drives Ö (pronounced öEasy135ò Ö a case of bad cross-Atlantic
translation!) We now have the IDE internal version in stock. These are
3╜ö devices but they come ready-mounted in a 5╝ò frame, so you can fit
them into either size bay on a RiscPC at no extra cost. I tested them
for speed by comparing them with a 270Mb removable drive. I copied a
single 4.6Mb file and then a directory with 182 files in it, totalling
4.6Mb. The resultant (effective) speeds were as follows.
9.5
  270Mb  EZ135
9.5
Single file  1350Kb/s  950Kb/s  (70%)
9.5
182 files  104Kb/s  80Kb/s  (77%)
9.5
So, from these brief tests, the drives seem to be about ╛ the speed of
the larger drives Ö not bad when you consider the price differences.
Complete with one cartridge, they cost ú240 inclusive (cf ú370) and the
extra cartridges are ú20 each (cf ú55). Remember though that the
disadvantage of using IDE removables is that IDE was never intended for
use with removables and you need special software (which we supply with
it) to allow the cartridges to be dismounted without switching the
computer off.
9.5
There is an external SCSI version (no dismounting problems!) due öby the
end of the weekò (but I have been told that several times!) which will
also be excellent value at ú290 including one cartridge.
9.5
GT5000 A4 flatbed scanner Ö Epson have released a new A4 flatbed scanner
with a low price tag Ö ú490 including PC software (we canæt buy it
without!) and Acorn software. The optics are 300 dpi. This compares with
the GT8500 (400dpi) and GT9000 (600dpi) at ú710 and ú830 respectively.
The GT5000 comes with a parallel interface and so can only be used with
A5000 or later computers that have a bi-directional parallel interface.
9.5
HP Laserjet 5L Ö An exciting new 600 dpi, 4 ppm laser printer from HP
which has received a very good (unsolicited) review from Keith Parker
(see page 45). It has a small Éfootprintæ and a low price of ú480
inclusive of VAT and carriage through Archive.
9.5
iTV Ö Irlam Instrumentsæ integrated television support for their 24i16
digitiser provides high quality television reception, including teletext
and NICAM stereo audio decoder. Cacheing software provides instant
access to teletext pages, plus network capability. SWI interface with
documentation allows users to write their own specialised applications.
iTV costs ú169 +VAT + p&p from Irlam or ú193 through Archive.
9.5
MenuBar, from Beebug, is a different way of accessing often-used
directories, applications and files, from the usual RISC OS way. In
operation, it is similar to the filer and the pinboard, but it is
presented as a slim bar of pull-down menus at the top of the screen,
complementing the iconbar at the bottom. Menus may be dragged or clicked
open and shut. The menubar may contain up to ten menus, each with up to
30 objects (i.e. directories, applications or files). It is very simple
to add, reposition and remove objects or Menus. MenuBar allows you to
organise files to suit the way you work Ö regardless of the way they are
stored on disc. Each Menu may be given a name so that, for example, you
could arrange for ÉDTPæ to hold !Printers, !Style, !MultiChrs and a data
directory. Or you might have ÉToolsæ containing !Measure, !CloseFile,
!WimpAid, !Pointer, !Flags, !Magnifier, etc. The important point is that
all these objects can be run from within MenuBar by double-clicking or
dragging. Moreover, the Menus are instantly available: no frustrating
delays while you dig deep into the filer hierarchy waiting for all the
icons to be read. By including MenuBar in your Boot sequence, your most
important files are available from the MenuBar on start-up, and no need
for any more messy backdrops! MenuBar requires RISC OS 3.1 or greater.
It works with hard or floppy discs, and costs ú11.95 +VAT +p&p from
Beebug or ú15 through Archive.
9.5
Meta Converter, from Keysoft, is a small utility for converting Windows
metafiles into drawfiles. Metafiles are widely used throughout the PC
world as they can be manipulated more easily than bitmaps and they can
be scaled and rotated without introducing jagged edges. Many PC
magazines give these files away each month on their cover discs
(sometimes in their thousands), and they are also available very cheaply
through the public domain and from several software companies. Meta
Converter costs ú15.99 inclusive from Gordon Key.
9.5
Mice Ö Having sold off my huge stock of (about 150) genuine Acorn mice
at Acorn World 95, I find that I cannot get any more from that supplier
and have to go direct to the Acorn Spares Department. This means that
the price for Acorn mice will have to go up to ú25. However, thanks to
one of the subscribers, we have located a supply of öAcorn compatibleò
mice which we can sell at ú15. (I am tempted to talk about öthe best
laid plans...ò but Iáwonæt!)
9.5
Pages, from SEMERC, is an easy-to-use word processing package. It has
been designed to be as close as possible to paper and a pencil case and
is especially useful for young learners and those with special needs.
The user is given a page onto which they can click their chosen
position, and start typing. Once on the page, the text, words or
pictures can be moved around the screen, borders can be added or the
freehand tool used to doodle. Letters, words or sentences can be read
aloud to the learner and, with its built-in spell checker, errors can be
located as they are typed. Pages can be quickly tailored by the teacher
to suit the individual requirements of the child and it can even be used
as an early desktop publishing package. Pages costs ú49 +VAT from
SEMERC.
9.5
PAPERsoft Ltd have been building up a large collection of templates of
labels and pre-printed stationery from companies such as Avery and Paper
Direct. Each disc in the collection contains templates for a range of
papers and label sheets, enabling the user to apply text and graphics
within the limits of the paper design. So far, there are six discs in
the collection covering templates for Paper Direct (Business papers;
Fun/Theme and Christmas), Avery (Laser labels; Inkjet labels and Avery
Indexing System) and Fisher Clark (Laser and Inkjet labels). Template
sets are available for Impression, Artworks, Ovation, 1st Page, Textease
and Draw. Prices range from ú5.95 to ú17.95 from PAPERsoft.
9.5
Picture Book 2, from The Really Good Software Company, is made up of
five programs to help children with reading, spelling and counting.
AlphaBook is the program which lets you see and hear the words you are
using; Flashcard helps children recognise words with pictures or spoken
words; Countæem is a counting program with single or mixed pictures;
Spell It provides spelling from pictures at three grades of difficulty.
Finally, Snap is a game for up to three players matching pictures,
sounds or words.
9.5
Each program uses Picture Book 2æs unique Alphabet files with
professionally-drawn graphics by prize-winning illustrator Walter
Briggs, plus special sound effects and spoken words. Every program is
fully configurable; individually saved Choice files can be arranged to
automatically load a specific alphabet file and run the program with a
double-click of the mouse. To go with it, RGSC have designed AlphaEdit,
an easy-to-use application for creating Alphabet files for use with
Picture Book 2. You can combine Draw or Artwork files with sound and
spoken words to build up your own files tailored to your own purposes.
Picture Book 2 costs ú35 inclusive (if you return the original Picture
Book disc, you get a ú5 discount), and AlphaEdit costs ú15 inclusive
from RGSC.
9.5
Picture Puzzler, from Cambridgeshire Software House, is a program which
has been especially designed with the young in mind. It uses no language
whatsoever and is totally under the useræs control. It will accept any
sprite and divide it into a number of tiles. You simply put the tiles
back in the correct places. You can create 4 tiles with 1 missing, or up
to 36 tiles with 35 missing. Picture Puzzler comes with a range of
ready-made pictures.
9.5
Also from CSH comes What do you Know?, a quiz type program of over 2000
questions and answers, covering TV Soaps, History, Geography, General
Knowledge, Sport, The Arts and Science. It is aimed at age 4 to adult.
Picture Puzzler and What do you Know? each cost ú19.95 +VAT +p&p from
CSH.
9.5
Pioneer 6CD Jukebox Ö We are experiencing difficulty in getting hold of
enough of the Nakamichi quad speed 7-disc CD jukeboxes, but we have now
found a Pioneer jukebox that takes 6 CDs and is slightly faster, 4.4
speed. The Pioneer is ú590 through Archive.
9.5
Sherston Software have launched a number of new products. Arcventure IV
is the latest title in Sherstonæs Arcventure series and covers the Anglo
Saxon period. The package, for junior school pupils, is designed along
similar lines to the others in the series and is centred around an
archaeological dig in West Stow, Suffolk. Budding archaeologists using
the program are able to go back in time and unearth the facts about the
mystery objects they have found.
9.5
Cambridge University Press are in the process of launching a new reading
scheme called Cambridge Reading. To accompany the scheme, Sherston have
launched six new talking stories. The new Cambridge Reading Talking
Books feature Sherstonæs lively animations and amusing sound effects and
are narrated by Barry and Jill Wilsher, known to primary schools as the
ÉWords Aliveæ team.
9.5
Finally, Elf Tales is a new adventure series aimed at young children;
the first two titles are Elf King and Elf Magic. The programs
incorporate maths and language activities in the story lines, and
contain graphics and animations, as well as human speech, to introduce
children to sorting, sequencing and the basics of time, at two levels of
difficulty.
9.5
Arcventure IV Ö Anglo Saxons, is ú34.95 +VAT or ú39 through Archive; a
Primary site licence costs ú52.42 +VAT; Secondary licence is ú69.90
+VAT.
9.5
The Cambridge Reading Talking Books are available on Acorn, Windows and
Mac platforms and cost ú40 +VAT or ú45 through Archive.
9.5
Elf Tales, which includes both adventures, costs ú32.95 +VAT, or ú37
through Archive; a Primary site licence is ú49.43 +VAT from Sherston.
9.5
SimpleTouch is a new touch screen from MicroTouch and is being
distributed by Lindis International. SimpleTouch is a resistive screen
which can be attached to almost any normal computer screen, turning it
into a fully functional touch screen. The SimpleTouch software drivers
enable it to be used to control the computer instead of using a mouse,
thereby enabling the user to use virtually any software written for the
appropriate operating system. It plugs into the computeræs serial port,
and can be attached to the top of the computeræs screen by using a
velcro-type pad.
9.5
Continued from page 6...
9.5
The complete SimpleTouch kit for 14ö & 15ò monitors Ö including software
drivers, fitting-kit and cables Ö costs ú225 +VAT +p&p from Lindis.
9.5
Sound Byte Recorder, from VTi, consists of a microphone, interface and
software, allowing users to capture sound using the Recorderæs
microphone or any other source, such as hi-fi or tape recorder. Sounds
from these sources can be captured separately or recorded from both
simultaneously. Sound Byte Recorder can be used to record voice
commentary, sound effects or music to add to multimedia creations in
Genesis, Magpie, Ultima, Animator or other similar packages. At the
moment, VTi have a special offer of a free copy of Talking Canvas
Junior, making it possible to add sound to anything from simple talking
books to more sophisticated multimedia presentations. Sound Byte
Recorder costs ú39 +VAT +p&p from VTi.
9.5
The Patience Addict Ö Creative Curriculum Software seem to have realised
that The Patience Addict was somewhat under-priced, for what it offered,
at their introductory price. The price is now ú16.98 +VAT or ú19 through
Archive Ö but it is still very good value at that. (See review on p.27.)
9.5
The UK Internet Book Ö This 360 page book by Sue Schofield has chapters
on TCP/IP software, email, Usenet, ftp, Telnet, Archie, Gopher, Veronica
and the Worldwide Web. The UK Internet Book has been updated with a new
section on Internet issues and a PC format disc containing 3Mb of text
files on newsgroups, Listservs, FAQs etc. The price including the disc
is ú19.95 from Addison Wesley (ISBN 0-201-87731-7), or ú20 through
Archive including p&p.
9.5
TinyArt is a simple art package aimed at children aged 4/5 and is
designed to encourage the childæs individual creativity. Tools include:
pencil, circle, triangle, rectangle, spray, fill and eraser. An undo
feature reverses the last action performed by the user. Choices can be
set and then locked to prevent children changing the configuration; and
a Prevent Deletion option prevents the accidental deletion of pictures.
Tiny Art is ú14.95 inc. p&p from Rooksoft.
9.5
Touch Typing Tutor has been designed to meet the needs of visually
impaired people wanting to learn to touch type. It provides the means to
set up different colours, dimensions and styles of font for the exercise
text displayed. It also incorporates speech capability, to enable the
program to be used by totally blind people as well as partially sighted
people. The program can be used by older children and adults alone or,
for younger children, with help from a teacher. A full set of exercises
is provided, and it is easy for teachers to add their own. Touch Typing
Tutor costs ú24, fully inclusive, from the Research Centre for the
Education of the Visually Handicapped, at the University of Birmingham.
9.5
ViVID20 Ö RiscPC size desktops for older machines Ö ViVID20 requires a
VIDC enhancer and a true multisync monitor. It offers work areas up to
2048╫1232 including 1600╫1200 in 16 colours at 62Hz and up to 1472╫1070
in 256 colours via a mode selection utility similar to a RiscPC. All
resolutions also support 16 level greyscale and extended 4ácolour
dithering. The price is ú11.50 inclusive.
9.5
Review software received...
9.5
We have received review copies of the following: ÅCalabash Pirates (e),
ÅCine Clips (m), ÅFreddy Teddy Directions (e), ÅGeordian Lock (u),
ÅGraphic Text Adventure Creator (gu) ÅMenuBar (u) ÅMeta Converter (u),
ÅTechWriter/Pro (+EasiWriter2/Pro), ÅTinyArt (a), ÅViVID20 (u),
ÅXenakis16 (m).