AmigaShopper15-Jul92.pdf

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EXPERT ADVICE • TOP TIPS • BEST BUYS •
1
r j [ J [ )
T
The top-selling serio
POST CODE!
Where to get your hands on a Postscript
printer driver for £1.75................... page 27
ISSUE 1 5 • JULY 1992 • £1.50 • YOUR DEFINITIVE GUIDE
Al AMOS
How to use AMOS to build your very own
neural network the easy way.......... page 34
MORPHING
Top-notch raytracing from a new low-cost
American graphics package............ page 42
Word processor
£1 .25
S8*-:
24-BIT VIDEO
Just how well does DCTV perform in a pro
set-up? PLUS: Where's HAM-E?..... page 84
Relational database
£1.59
. JsSW**.
Paint package
£1.25
UIX
Animation software
£1.50
Desktop video effects
£3.96
MIDI MUSIC
Find out just how easily SuperJam could
turn you into a star contender........ page 90
Ray-tracer
£1.50
-1
S 07
PC emulator
£1.25
£1 .50
MIDI software
PD WORLD
All the latest low-cost and no-cost software
PLUS: The PD Product Locator.... page 146
£1 .90
Sequencer
ULK
£1 .90
Workbench 2 utilities
Postscript interpreter
£1.75
68000 assembler
£1.50
BEGINNERS
START MERE
We'll show you how to master your Amiga
Comms package
£2.50
TOTAL £23.35
Can't be done? Then turn to
page 16 and find out how
to save yourself hundreds!
ANSWERS
Got a problem? Pages
- We'll solve it! 45-79
1 [| First news of the year's
■ re hiaaest Amiqa launches
Tulure
1 PUBLISHING
four guarantee of value 9 770961 730025
O
T
I
827522528.002.png
IMew PC880B
| Now with X-Copy Professional!
PC501 + RAIVI Card
Our RAM board is designed specially for the new
A500+ computer and comes with IMB of RAM on board
to expand your memory to 2MB of chip RAM. Plug in
and go operation (fits into trapdoor).
Gives you a total of 2MB of chip RAM £49
32 chip RAM card
Commodore
Power Computing have teamed tip with Cachet
of Germany to bring you the ultimate in disk
backup systems.
£39-95
The new PC880B disk drive can be used directly j
with the X-Copy Professional ‘Cyclone’ software
without any extra cables or interfaces.
This gives you the the power and reliability of the
9 prov en ‘Cyclone’ backup software with the conve­
nience of the PC880B floppy drive.
8 [VI B for any A500
The new compact A600 from Commodore
Built-in TV modulator
Workbench & Kickstart 2
Enhanced chip set
1MB of chip RAM
IDE hard disk controller built-in
Credit card size RAM & ROM slot
A600 £399
A600 with 20MB £499
A600 with 40MB £639
A600 with 80MB £739
I w
4 So now you can have two backup systems ‘Blitz’
w and 'Cyclone' available at the touch of a button!
(H Plugs into side slot
| Fully auto config
And the PC880B still has our unique switchable
anti-virus mode, preventing all write accesses to
pujj thru’port
&e bootblock of your floppy disks!
S
Expand 2MB-8MB
OA/fD £ '
M
2MB
8MB
£129
£299
4MB £189
1 x 4Zip £19.95
j'" ' y If you all ready own a PC880B, and the Cyclone
copier, a hardware upgrade is available to take
your drive up to the latest specification.
2 IVI B for any A500
■
----------------- — - — - ---------------- v - -
Economy 2MB RAM externally cased
Commodore A 5 O O-t-
Amiga 500+, 2MB RAM £339
A1500, A3000 also available £POA
Monitors and printers also available £POA
New PC880B with Blitz & X-Copy £99-95
New PC880B (Cyclone compatible) £79-95*
Cyclone hardware upgrade for existing PC880B
V owners £15-00
I ^ ’ *This drive is available only to REGISTERED ow ners of X-Copy
_ C i Professional. You m ust provide p ro o f of purch ase of X-Copy
Professional.
. ,
16-Clhip (lxl DIP)
Xo thru’port £99-95
1.5 IVI B RAIVI Board
Plugs easily into your Amiga
H Fully supports 1MB chip RAM
KgA Fully compatible with Fatter Agnus £79
|g w g || (Kickstart 1.3 and above, not compatible with A500+)
(Your Amiga needs to be opened, this may effect your warranty)
DV/1 iscellaneous
r ; i PC880 Disk drive £49-95
w
PC881 A500 Internal drive £40.00
1 IVI B with Thru'port
Expand your A500’s memory to a total of 2MB without
i
P&L disposing of your existing 512K upgrade. Works with |
* 1MB of chip RAM, simple internal fitting. £49-95
lip , (512K RAM must be 4 chip type, or not exceeding 9cm in length)
I J L J I (Your Amiga needs to be opened, this may effect your warranty)
PC882 A2000 Internal drive £45
10 Maxell disks, optical mouse, Zipstick
Power Mouse £15
Optical Mouse £29-95
Replacement optical mouse mat £9-95
A500 Plastic dust cover £9
Maxell multi colour branded disks (Box of ten)
Floppy disks bulk £POA
£45
A500 Internal anti-click board £9-95
^ A500 RAIVI Card
^jST 512K RAM expansion with battery backed clock and a
r i j free disk packed with useful software (4 chip RAM) £29
P .
Special upgrade
o ffer!
HI If you consider your scanner system to be inferior
to the Power Scanner, we will happily upgrade
your software and interface for only £49-95
(Power Scanner is compatible with most scanning heads.)
£9-95
P 512K RAM card without clock £24
IP * 16 chip RAM card with clock £24
16 chip RAM card without clock £19
(A500+ compatible)
Blitz Amiga
Back up disks at lightning speed
Stops all external drives from clicking
Contains anti-virus from being written into the
bootblocker £25
^
Aries R A IVI
A1500/A2000
2MB £129 4MB £169 6MB £209 8MB £249
s s
' f X ■■
Send your order to Power Computing Ltd, Unit 8 Railton Road, Woburn Road Industrial Estate, Kempston, Bedford MK42 7PN
Ring your credit card order through on 0234 843388 (10 lines) or Fax on 0234 840234. Technical helpline 0234 841882
Ail prices include VAT, delivery an d are subject to change. Specifications are subject to change w ithout notice. N ext day d elivery',£4.50 (U.K. m ainland only), all tradem arks acknow ledged
Power Computing SRL Italy, Via Delle Baleari, 90, 00121 Ostia Lido, Roma
Tel (06) 5646310 (2 lines) Fax 5646301
Power Com puting France, 15 Bid Voltaire 75011, Paris, France
Tel (1) 43570169 (6 lines) Fax (1) 43380435
Power Computing ILS.A. 21 South 5th M ur:. Suite 900. Philadelphia. PA 106
Tel 2159220050 Fax 2H 922•H:6
\
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W E L C O M E
AT A GLANCE
GUIDE
I made these characters a bit smaller this month because
It's entirely possible that some
enterprising developer will come
up with a means of hooking up
forthcoming A600 add-ons to
A500s. Commodore itself
expects this to be the case.
But I guess the most
confused among you will be
those who bought an A500 Plus
five months ago only to find that
it's now an e,nd-of line product.
Cynical marketing ploy to get rid
of old stock? I don't think so. You're readily assured compatibility
with all future software and you can draw on what are bound to
be discounted peripheral prices.
And finally a word to Commodore. Drop the price of the A3000
and A600, get that CD drive on the streets, introduce a trade-up
scheme, and pray you've got it right.
there's so much I want to say. If you flick to page 7 for a
moment and read the headline and first paragraph you'll
probably return to these words in utter disbelief. 'How on
Earth can Commodore discontinue its most popular Amiga?', you
might ask, '...there are nearly a million users in the UK alone'.
Well those were the first words that came to my mind when I
heard the rumours had become an unassailable fact.
But is the news necessarily all doom and gloom? What's
happening is a re-structuring of Commodore’s product range with
its entry-level model becoming the A600 and its A3000 at the
top-end. In between there's a gap which will be filled.
The A500 is nearly seven years old and that's an eternity in
computing. The A600 might not be anything like the machine that
should be replacing it, but there are definitely better specified
models in the pipeline. A replacement for the A2000 will be first
on the cards - when I don't know - but it's clear the company is
leaving the 68000 chip behind and is intent on improving the
entire range. This can only be good news.
So what should existing A500 owners do? Two things. One,
upgrade to the new chipset and Workbench 2 as soon as
possible and thereby ensure you can run future software
releases. And two, don't despair about being left out in the cold
as far as new 'incompatible' hardware add-ons are concerned.
To help you find what you want
quickly and easily, this is a cross­
referenced list of all the products
and subjects covered in this
month's Amiga Shopper. The
subjects covered in Amiga Answers
are detailed on page 45; the many
PD programs covered on page 146
are listed there. The page numbers
given are for the first page of the
article in which the product is
mentioned.
A570 ...................................8,118
A600...........................................7
AMOS................................34,101
Amiga Shopper Show..............10
Bulletin boards........................ 97
Buying advice........................ 158
CD-ROM..................................118
CDTV.......................................118
Competition............................170
Databases.............................. 123
Data School.............................. 38
DTP............................................ 80
DCTV.........................................84
For sale...................................140
Graphics...................................42
ImageMaster............................42
Letters.......................................13
Modems.................................... 97
Music.........................................90
Neural networks....................... 30
Post........................................... 27
Programming..................138,142
Public domain...................16,146
Reader ads............................. 140
Shareware.............................. 146
Subscriptions.........................114
Talking Shop.............................13
Editor
DISKZINE SPECIAL
There are thousands of Amiga programs which are
available for little more than the price of a disk. And
many more which allow you to try the software free
before you buy. Each month in Public Domain World
we examine the best of these programs and explain
how to get hold of them.
This month our resident PD sampler, Ian Wrigley,
scans through his latest batch to pick out the top
PD mags-on-a-disk that make for great reading,
viewing and listening. These
MAGAPOPTABULOUS
offerings start on page 146
PAGES DEVOTED EXCLUSIVELY
TO ANSWERING YOUR QUESTIONS
Every month in Amiga Answers our panel of experts
answer more genuine reader questions than any
other Amiga magazine. And for beginners our easy
Expert Tips will help you get to grips with your
Amiga, and understand the other features in this
month’s issue.
We answer questions every month on
Workbench • The CU » Comms • Programming •
DTP • Video • Business software and more.
THE ANSWERS START ON PAGE 45
T H E
Your guarantee of value
This magazine comes from Future Publishing, a
company founded just seven years ago, but which
now sells more computer magazines than any
other publisher in Britain. We offer:
diagrams, summary boxes, annotated
photographs and so on.
Greater relevance. At Future, editors operate
under two golden rules:
• Understand your readers’ needs.
• Satisfy them.
Are there any products
or subjects you'd like
us to take a look at?
Well, just drop a line to:
Amiga Shopper,
30, Monmouth Street,
Bath BA1 2BW.
Better advice. Our titles are packed with tips,
suggestions and explanatory features, written by
the best in the business.
More reader interaction. We draw strongly on
readers’ contributions, resulting in the liveliest
letters pages and the best reader tips. Buying one
of our magazines is like joining a nationwide user
group.
The home of Britain’s finest computer magazines:
Amiga Shopper • Amiga Format • Amiga Power
• Public Domain • Commodore Format
• PCW Plus • PC Plus
ST Format • Your Sinclair • Sega Power
Amstrad Action • PC Answers • PC Format
Mountain Biking UK • Needlecraft • Classic CD
• Cycling Plus • Photo Plus • Total!
Stronger reviews. We have a cast-iron policy of
editorial independence, and our reviews give clear
buying recommendations.
Clearer design. You need solid information, and
you need it fast. So our designers highlight key
elements in the articles by using charts,
Better value for money. More pages, better
quality: magazines you can trust.
AMIGA SHOPPER • ISSUE 15 • JULY 1992
J
827522528.004.png
w
. . with Protext 5.5 because the pop-up thesaurus will
provide you with inspiration whenever you need it. With
words provided by Collins the thesaurus has 43,000 main
entries and 827,000 responses!
with Prnteyt 5.5 hemme the DOO - UD thesour
Protext 5.5 introduces enhanced text formatting options.
Automatic hyphenation lets you produce a well-spaced
page layout without the bother of manually putting in
soft hyphens. Protext determines the correct hyphenation
points by algorithms and look-up tables. Elimination of
widows and orphans is also provided. You will no longer
need to worry about those infuriating single lines at the
top or bottom of pages. Protext formats the text to avoid
these os you edit the text. Extra blank lines at the top of
a page can be suppressed.
New document analysis features provide a wealth of
information about your text. You can examine a list of
all the words used - alphabetically or by the number of
occurrences. Other statistics shown include average word
length, average sentence length and a table of the
number of lines on each page.
p t M
w M
t y M
/n e '
•
•
•
ft Enhanced file selector with different sorting
methods, bulk copy and erase.
ft Prodata users - mail merge directly from Prodata
files, no need to export.
ft Mail merge: nested repeat loops.
ft New window-based help facilities.
ft Improved line drawing.
ft Spelling checker finds repeated word and missing
capital letters.
ft Conversion to and from WordStar 5.5 and
Microsoft RTF
ft Full printed documentation of new features.
it's bloody brilliant"
ST FORMAT
/ /
one hell o f a perform er"
COMPUTER SHOPPER
if you need a professional w ord
processor Protext is perfect"
/ / ;
AMIGA COMPUTING
nothing else available comes close
/ / ,
ST APPLICATIONS
a f t t l i t i c t u d M • • •
PRODATA 1.2
PRICES (including VAT and delivery)
For Commodore Amiga, Atari ST or TT.
Protext 5.5
Choice of pull-down menu or keyboard operation,
extensive printer font support and proportional
formatting while editing, up to 36 files open, split screen
editing, characters for 30 languages, index and contents,
footnotes, newspaper column printing, file sorting,
macros, indent tabs, mail merge programming language,
exec files and the fastest search and replace around.
Altogether the most comprehensive word processing
software for your Amiga or ST.
New version of Prodata now with pull-down
menus, mouse or keyboard operation,
automatic record numbering, merge database,
instantaneous filtering, prologue form, edit
fields in any order, 2-across label printing. Full
details available from Arnor.
Price: £85+VAT, upgrade from v l.l £30+VAT.
£152.75
Upgrade from 5.0 to 5.5
£30
Upgrade from 4.2/4.3 to 5.5
£60
Please return your original disks when upgrading
French or German spelling dictionary £35.25
When upgrading please return any extra spell checking
dictionaries for a free update to the revised version.
f t Both Protext 5.5 and Prodata require 1Mb of memory
J k
Amor Ltd ( A S ) , 6 71 Lincoln Road, Peterborough PEI 3HA. Tel: (0733) 68909 Fax (0733) 67299
827522528.005.png
The World of Comms
94
AMIGA SHOPPER
Issue 15 July 1992
Editor: Andy Storer
Deputy Editor: Cliff Ramshaw
Layout Sub-Editor: Diana Taylor
Production Editor: Alison Harper
Consultant Editors: Jeff Walker,
Mark Smiddy
Contributors: Jason Holborn, Paul
Overaa, Gary Whiteley, Phil Harris,
Ian Wrigley, Wilf Rees, Philip
Gladwin, Nial Grimes, Charles
Ostman
Guest Composer: Johann Strauss
Ad Manager: Margaret Clarke
Senior Ad Sales Executive:
David Eckett
Production: Richard Gingell
Fax: 0225 423929
Production Technicians:
Simon Windsor, Chris Stocker,
Jerome Clough
Assistant Publisher: Stuart Anderton
Circulation Director: Sue Hartley
Promotions Manager: Michele Harris
Group Publishing Director:
Greg Ingham
ABC audited circulation:
July-December 1991:
45,209 copies/month
Printed by Redwood Press
News Trade Distribution -
UK: Future Publishing 0225 442244
Worldwide: MMC Ltd 0483 211678
This magazine is copyright © 1992
Future Publishing Ltd. No part of this
magazine may be reproduced without
written permission. We welcome
contributions for publication but regret
that we cannot return any submissions.
Any correspondence will be considered
for publication unless specifically stated
otherwise.
It's o ffic ia l: " 7
Amiga A500 Adieu! ■
Amiga Shopper asks Commodore
why it's ceasing production of its most
popular Amiga and where this leaves
1,200,000 UK owners
How does the latest version of JRComm compare to
NComm? PLUS: automated scripting made easy
AMOS
1 0 1
This month's instalment on how to use AMOS in games
programming PLUS: A beginner’s guide to Basic
Education 109
Ever fancied producing stereo 3D animations? All you
need is some fancy specs and these two pages...
Talking Shop
13
Amiga Shopper's Editor replies to your letters
118
PostScript on the cheap
27 Am’9a ^
Anrl\/ .^tnr^r Innkc
Andy Storer looks at the development of full motion video
and previews a great new fractal generator
Postscript quality print-outs are now possible with a new
PD printer driver. But surely it can't be that good?
AmigaDOS 123
Continuing our guide to writing your own database, we
show you how to add the View, Add and Delete modules
Final Copy 132
A word processor that thinks it’s a DTP package? Final
Copy is here and Mark Smiddy checks out its claims
Expert Tips 137
The 10 top tips for buying a top-notch word processor
Serious about PD?
There's some great PD products out there but do
any of them offer commercial packages a run for
their money? We name the indispensable public
domain programs you should check out before
forking out your hard-earned readies
Programming
138
How to beat your Amiga at noughts and crosses!
Listings 142
A DIY spreadsheet is this month's winning BASIC entry.
But can you do better? Find out how to win yourself £20!
The second part of our new series revealing the secrets of
neural networks and practical Al programming
Touch Typist
37
Is this the easiest way to laern howto tpye?
Data School
38
Could a correspondence course be your best bet for
learning Assembly language?
Amiga Answers 45
23 yes 23 pages of your problems solved by
our unique and unrivalled Amiga Shopper experts’
panel where no question remains unanswered.
PLUS: a special surgery on Star printer problems
Editorial
30 Monmouth Street, Bath BA12BW
Tel: 0225 442244 : Fax: 0225 446019
E-mail: amshopper @cix.compulink
Advertising
Rayner House, 23 Higher Hillgate,
Stockport SKI 3ER
Tel: 061-474 7333:Fax: 061-476 3002
Subscriptions
The Old Barn, Somerton TA11 7PY
Tel: 0458 74011
So since we've got a bit space here how about
winning a year's subscription then peeps! - just
check out this ish and try and find an obtuse
reference to top 1970's kids TV programme
'Vision On'. You got it? Then just send it in to:
'I never wore loons though I did have a Ben
Sherman shirt', Amiga Shopper, 30, Monmouth
St, Bath, BA1 2BW. First out the bag wins 12
free issues (and they'll all be different ones)
Morphing 42
ImageMaster is a brand new image processor hot from
the States. Is it the ideal tool for 3D modelling?
Jeff Walker reviews SaxonScript Professional - a fully-
featured PostScript interpreter for less than £100
Public Domain World
146
DCTV, VideoLab and AVideo 24; all come under the edit
point of Amiga Shopper's resident videographer
Ian Wrigley samples the best mags-on-a-disk
Product Locator
158
Your instant guide to the best in PD software
Win 20 RAM expansions! 170
...complete with hard disk controllers courtesy of Cumana.
Go on - all you have to do is answer 3 easy questions!
MIDI
90
Paul Overaa plugs SuperJam into his system and asks
whether it’s the best composition package in town
AMIGA SHOPPER • ISSUE 15 • JULY 1992
827522528.001.png

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