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1997-04-16
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**************************************************************************
* *
* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *
* ~ THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY ~ *
* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *
* *
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Welcome to STEN's semi-regular round-up of firms that are worth doing
business with, or ones to avoid if you value your sanity. This column is
open to everyone and can be used to pass on your recommendations and
warnings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Five recommendations (and a curse )this time. ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The best source I know for unbranded discs is MEDIAVALUE of Windsor.
They're not the absolute cheapest, but they've been around for a few
years and they *always* get my discs to me within a week of sending off
the order. Their current (25/10/91) prices are: 10 discs, 40p per disc;
25 discs, 38p per disc; 50 discs, 36p per disc; and 100 discs for 34p
each. They regularly have special offers for buying disc boxes and discs
together, so check out their ads in the magazines. Their address is:
MediaValue, The Business Centre, Vansittart Estate, Windsor, Berks, SL4
1SE.
ANALOGIC COMPUTERS do a fast ST repair service for a flat charge of
£59.95. They're at Kingston-upon-Thames, and are one of the few firms
that I know of who were willing to take in a dead ST, diagnose the fault,
and put it back in my hands within an hour. Admittedly, I live in
Kingston and was willing to pay cash, but that's a very good performance.
They can be contacted at Analogic Computers, 152, Latchmere Road,
Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, KT2 5TU. 'Phone: 081 546 9575.
The best firm I know for serious games and simulations is STRATEGIC
PLUS SOFTWARE of Hampton. They stock just about every strategy game,
wargame and simulation for the ST, Amiga and PC and are genuinely into
the 'games' they sell. They charge full price for them, but they provide
a fast service and are always willing to chat on the 'phone about new
software that's in the pipeline. You'll find them at Strategic Plus
Software, 28, The Courtyard, High Street, Hampton Hill, Middlesex, TW12
1PD. 'Phone : 081 977 8088.
CLP COMPUTER SUPPLIES of Blandford stock a huge range of paper,
labels and ribbon types. They also have recycled continuous paper and all
the usual accessories and printer stands. I 'phoned them up one time to
ask what printer stand they'd recommend and was surprised when the woman
I was talking to told me that their 'best' one was their cheapest one;
the one that she used herself at home. A really good firm! They're at
CLP Computer Supplies, Unit 7, Holland Way, Blandford, Dorset, DT11 7TA.
'Phone: 0258 459544.
The best place for IMG clip art is IMAGE ART in London, a firm who
specialise in clip art, graphics, serious P.D progs. They have the
biggest selection of clip art that I've seen in any P.D library. They
charge £1.50 for their catalogue (to keep the timewasters away), but
that's refundable on your first order. One thing that they do that I've
never seen any other library do is to send you a laser printout of all
the clips on any of their discs for £1.50 a disc. (This includes a 50p
voucher that you can redeem on future orders.) That way, you can see if
the clips are exactly what you want, or have a hard copy of the contents
for future use. IMAGE ART are at 19, Brenda Road, London, SW17 7DD.
'Phone: 081 767 4761.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And this issue's Curse of STEN goes to DATEL ELECTRONICS at Stoke-on-
Trent. I bought one of their Geniscan hand scanners two years ago and
have found to be reasonably useable, despite having a major bug in its'
Scandy software that occasionally produces IMG files that are too large
to be used in any DTP or WP prog. I've found a way around this, but I
wasn't exactly happy with their 'take it or leave it' attitude when I
'phoned to tell them about it and ask if they'd corrected it. Datel's
service department freely admit that they know virtually nothing about
any software sold with their products, as it's all bought in and can't be
altered.
The latest twist is that I've just bought an STE and found that
the Scandy software won't run on it... I 'phoned the service dept again
and was told that "Yes, that's right, it won't run on an STE. No, we've
got no plans to alter it." So, although they don't mention this in any of
their advertising, their Geniscan will only run on an STE if you use the
earliest (and crudest) version of the software that they supply. This
only allows you to save your scan as a Degas screen, which severely
limits the size of scans that you can produce with it. AVOID THIS FIRM
LIKE THE PLAGUE!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -oOo- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~