ST REPORT WEEKLY ONLINE MAGAZINE Monday, June 27, 1988 Vol II No. 41 =========== APEInc., P.O. BOX 74, Middlesex, N.J. 08846-0074 PUBLISHER MANAGING EDITOR Ron Kovacs R.F.Mariano ======================================================= ST REPORT EDITOR: Thomas Rex Reade PO Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida. 32236 Headquarters Bulletin Boards ---------------------------- ST Report North ST Report Central ST Report South 201-968-8148 216-784-0574 904-786-4176 ------------------------------------ CONTENTS ======== * From the Editor's Desk.............* Contest Rules................... * Atari Changes (Remember?)..........* LASER QUALITY.without THE PRICE. * ISGUR Reports on Atari.............* ST REPORT CONFIDENTIAL.......... * WHY THE DOUBLE TALK?...............* Another View of European Sales.. * Tasty Tidbits to Ponder............* A Plea - A Call to Pens........ ========================================================================= Serving you on: Comp-u-serve - Delphi - GEnie ========================================================================= From the Editor's Desk: There comes a time in every Editor's quotidian exercise that he comes across those who appreciate seeing him have problems and will go to any extremes in attempting to accomplish this. Apparently this is one of the "not so nice" aspects of doing this job. It is easy to withstand the majority of the comments and justify a reader's dislike of an editor's perception. However, I find it equally difficult to understand disdainful defamation and obtrusive invention. The Atari userbase needs all the help and enthusiasm that can be mustered and I might add, I feel mighty proud to be among such great company. It is a shame that a few Borks find it necessary to utilize slanderous prevarication to foster further division in the Atari Community. Surely all would find this a very contemptible situation, I know I do. As Editor of ST Report, the responsibility is to provide information and news, the good as well as the bad. The compensation for this responsibility is not a cash recompense, it is instead, knowledge that all of the users in the Atari Userbase have accessible, for their use, the current events that effect them as soon as possible. I find that prevaricators are, without a doubt, the lowest life forms living on this planet. Please, excuse my using this area for a rostrum, but I just had to get the fact off my chest that certain people, who, by the way, are presumed to be conscientious members of the Atari Community, would find it necessary to try to sabotage this Editor and St Report by fostering such conspicuous misrepresentations. The good news is...I will continue regardless of any inutile attempt taken by morons who, while slowly ebbing from notability, would exploit any stratagem to remain contemporaneous in the Atari community. T."REX" READE p.s. It is nice to know you saw it here first, no matter how much fanfare may be in the hard copy mags, you still saw it here first..... ------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE JUDGES LIST =============== Service Name ------- ------------ CIS Ron Luks CIS Dan Rhea CIS Mike Schoenbach Delphi Clayton Walnum Delphi Charles Bachand Delphi Maurice Molineux GEnie Darlah Hudson GEnie Fred Beckman GEnie Sandy Wilson -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ST-Report Official Contest Rules ================================ No purchase necessary. Deadline for consideration in this contest is midnight August 31, 1988. Winners will be announced in ST-Report on September 12, 1988. We guarantee to award all prizes. The prize list will be announced during the contest. All readers are eligible to enter except employees of APEInc. Publishing, CompuServe, GEnie, Delphi and their immediate families. This contest void where prohibited or restricted by law. We are not responsible for lost, mis-marked, or delayed art/work. All submissions must be drawn with any Atari ST drawing program. All submissions must be drawn by the original artist. Copyrighted art work will not be accepted. All submissions become the property of APEInc. All submissions must be uploaded to specified BBS systems by the deadline date. All systems have time and date stamping capability. Any entry dated after 8/31/88 will be void from the contest. Art Work Requirements --------------------- All art work considered for this contest must be drawn with any Atari ST drawing program. Any person submitting art work must leave an address, telephone number, and drawing program used. Artwork must contain the following: ST-REPORT The winning entry will be used at a later date for a newsletter or magazine cover. Where to Send ------------- All art work may be uploaded to the following systems. Syndicate BBS (201) 968-8148 Bounty ST BBS (904) 786-4176 Entries by mail are also permitted. Be sure to use a 3.5 floppy S/S! You may send to: ST-Report Logo Contest Post Office Box 74 Middlesex, New Jersey 08846-0074 (Please include your name, address and telephone number) Updates ------- This contest will update uploading areas every two weeks. Contest rules will not be changed, but judges may be added during the run of the contest. Current judge listing will be published next week. This contest commences May 2, 1988 and will end Midnight August 31, 1988. If you have any questions, Please leave email on the services at the following addresses: CompuServe: 71777,2140 GEnie : ST-REPORT : R.KOVACS DELPHI : RONKOVACS The Source: BDG793 Rules and Regulations: 1). Use any full color program written exclusively for the ST to draw your own personal design of an ST-Report logo. 2). Art work ported over from any other computer is void. 3). No X-rated art work will be accepted. 4). Winners will be announced by mail, email, phone call or equivalent on or before September 12, 1988. 5). Judges decisions are final. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A Little Refresher on Current Events ==================================== Compiled by R.F.Mariano Neil Harris, Spokesman ATARI CORP. May 09, 1988 We have several new people on board in the US Computer Division (now called "Atari Computer"). The division is headed by Chuck Babbitt, whose title is President. There is also a new vp of sales, Tony Gould. Changes have been made to the field sales organization to promote the business activities of computer specialty retailers -- specifically, we have stopped using distributors and are in the process of hiring direct, Atari-employed sales reps throughout the country. We are also beefing up the marketing organization at Sunnyvale ... We've already added a new telemarketing group, a newsletter person, and are seeking to fill additional marketing positions. Also, we changed PR agencies, scaling back our old agency and adding a computer specialty firm. We hope to shortly hire an ad agency. ** Reading the tea leaves, I have to think this means that corporate management is getting very serious about the USA MARKETS. They would not be allowing us to spend the money to do all this otherwise. June 27,1988..... MAY 09,1988! This was the beginning of last month! How much of this now famous news item is still in place folks? A mere 45 or so days later and most of the "changes" are CHANGED! We have now the famous Chinese fire drill ..and now the ST is about the same as an AMIGA and can do nothing in the home except play games on...or so the spokesperson for ATARI sez in July's BYTE magazine..... ** Reading tea leaves??? Nah...Smoke 'em! or Chew 'em!, Obviously, reading them did no good at all. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- LASER QUALITY WITHOUT A LASER PRICE! ==================================== by Jim Wallace For many of you who have been anxiously "wishing and hoping" for an alternative to a laser printer and expensive memory upgrades for quality desktop publishing - the wait is finally over! Now, thanks to Hewlett Packard, you can get real "laser quality" output WITHOUT a laser printer! This is a review of the new, HP "DeskJet" INKJET printer that offers real "power without the price" for desktop publishers, and is without a doubt the single most important technological development for desktop publishing to come down the pike since the laser printer! WEIGHING YOUR OPTIONS... It was rumored for some time that Atari might introduce a low cost, high resolution printer that would run with relatively low memory. Instead, they introduced a laser printer for $1,995 retail that requires a minimum of two megabytes of memory to operate. This means that on top of the expense of the printer itself, you must either purchase a new Mega ST with at least two megs of memory for about $1,500, or upgrade the memory of your present ST computer to at least two megabytes. And since the required one meg memory chips have recently skyrocketed to around $40.00 each, you will spend about $700. for a memory board and the required 16 chips it takes to get a 1040ST to 2 1/2 megs. This is because most boards require that you go to 2 1/2 megs instead of just two megs. Again, adding this required 1 1/2 meg to a 1040ST to get it to 2 1/2 megs requires 16 one megaBIT chips since these are measured in "bits" - not "bytes". Besides buying an Atari laser printer, there are of course other alternatives available. You could purchase a Hewlett Packard LaserJet printer or compatible. Unlike the "Atari solution," you won't be required to upgrade your computer memory to run these printers - but, you'll have to upgrade your printer's memory, and this will cost about the same as upgrading your Atari computer's memory. You can of course, also purchase an expensive "Postscript" printer, but this will run you at least $3,500 for one of the "cheap" models! "Souped up" units with more memory and more fonts, faster output, etc. will cost you even more. BITS, BYTES AND BUCKS... This extra memory, by the way, is needed because a laser printer must print the whole page "at once." And for quality desktop publishing, you'll need 300 dpi resolution which interprets into 90,000 bits per square inch that the printer must deal with. For a typical 8 1/2 x 11 inch page, your image area is about 8 x 10, and 8 times 10 equals 80, and 80 square inches times 90,000 bits comes to a whopping 7,200,000 BITS of image, which in turn translates into almost 1 megaBYTE! What all this means is that a typical laser printer MUST have about 1 meg just to create and hold the page for printing. Additional memory is required for fonts and other files. In short folks, there's a BIG "gotcha" anyway you go if you want a laser printer for desktop publishing. In the near future, perhaps as early as late this summer, when memory chips have hopefully come down in price, and Atari introduces a rumored "Postscript compatible software driver" for their laser printer, things should be different. But, if you're like me, and are tired of almost endless "real soon now" promises, and must get things done NOW, an answer has ALREADY arrived. A DREAM COME TRUE... Just introduced in the first quarter of 1988, the amazing Hewlett Packard "DeskJet" printer has solved the output problem for most of us. So finally, the "rest of us" have a relatively inexpensive, practical, and viable answer to high quality output on the Atari ST computer. COMPARING THE TECHNOLOGY... As most of you know, "laser" printers apply their image to paper the same way as most "dry" toner photocopiers. In fact, the only difference between a "copier" and a "laser printer" is what FORM the "original" is in - a "digital stream of bits" or a visible, tangible image on paper. (Note that the new bread of "digital copiers" like the Canon Color Laser Copier, also use lasers to image the drum, yet cannot be connected to a computer). A "conventional" photocopier uses optics and "normal" reflected light to expose an electrostaticly charged drum with a mirrored image of the original. A laser printer or laser copier, on the other hand, uses optics which reflect a high intensity laser beam onto the drum which produces "rasterized" rows of dots which mirror the original, digital computer image. In either case, after the drum has been charged by light, both technologies produce the image onto paper in exactly the same way. This is done by using a dry, powdered "toner" that clings to either the image, or non-image areas of the drum (depending on whether "write black" or "write white" technology is used) and is then deposited onto the paper. This toner, which is basically composed of black carbon and plastic resin, is then "fused" (literally melted, or "glued") to the paper surface by heat and pressure. There is no "ink" involved, and the toner is left "stuck" to the surface of the paper. I've simplified this process a bit for brevity, but I think you get the general idea. BACK TO THE FUTURE... As someone who has been involved in printing and "graphic arts" for many years, I have a "special affection" for the HP DeskJet. This is because it uses a unique "inkjet" technology to put images on paper. Specifically, this unique print method is described as "plain paper drop-on-demand thermal inkjet printing." Much like an actual printing press, the HP DeskJet uses real, liquid INK and literally "sprays" this directly onto (and into) the paper, much like one of those robotic arms which automatically spray paint products on an assembly line. Although inkjet technology has been used for the past few years for high-speed addressing and other low quality "imprinting" applications, Hewlett Packard is probably the first to apply this innovative, high tech process to high quality output for personal computers. The DeskJet uses a unique, replaceable ink cartridge/print head that produces an image by blowing ink through tiny, microscopic holes in it's patented print head. The print head travels down the page in horizontal "passes" from left to right, across the sheet, much like other printers. Unlike printers which use ribbons, an inkjet printer produces perfectly inked images without the annoying white lines, faded areas, and other imperfections produced by even the best dot matrix "impact" ribbon printers. Note that inkjet, wire impact, and laser printers are all "dot matrix" printers. The only difference is HOW they put the dots on the paper. In fact, large-scale inkjet printing technology may someday be used instead of printing presses to print just about everything - including your daily newspaper! The equipment just needs to be built large enough and fast enough to be able to move more paper through the machine. PERFORMANCE?... And just to prove how "good" it really is, the HP DeskJet is not afraid to print large, perfectly printed black solid areas and even fine screens. In fact, fine screens look so good you can't tell whether they were produced by inkjet or by offset printing. You see nothing but a solid gray, no lines or streaks whatever - but that's not all folks! While producing perfect solid blacks, it also produces the finest hair lines. Pages produced by this amazing printer are picture perfect, and are as good (and in some cases better) than anything you can print on even the Atari laser printer. And I use the Atari laser printer for comparison because it produces probably the best image quality of any laser printer on the market today. And yes, it is virtually impossible to distinguish the difference between the same pages produced on both the Atari laser printer and the HP DeskJet. The DeskJet is normally slower, but the quality is the same. And since the DeskJet can be purchased for much less than $1,000, combined with the fact that it operates just fine on one megabyte of memory, this makes it a real "power without the price" product! In fact, the DeskJet is to printer price/performance what the Atari ST is to computer price/performance. As you may have already guessed, I'm really sold on the Hewlett Packard DeskJet! But..... to put this opinion in perspective, I've been in the graphic arts industry for many years. I've set REAL metal and wood type by hand, and I've also set type on some of the leading photo and digital typesetters used in commercial typesetting. In other words, I'm into desktop publishing "from the top down," instead of from the "bottom up." And because of my background in printing and advertising, it takes quite a lot just to get my attention, let alone my "admiration." Since purchasing the DeskJet, I've really "put it through it's paces." I've tried the "hard stuff:" large black solids, fine screens, and I've looked through a jewelers "loop" to see if the fine "serifs" are printing well. I've also tried printing both very small, and very large digitized photographs scanned on a Navarone scanner at 300 dpi. Comparing output from the DeskJet with even a great laser printer like "Atari's own," I've yet to see anything that is not equal in quality. In fact, I've even made a "game" of it. By printing the same pages on both the Atari laser printer and the DeskJet, I have given these to people just to see if they can tell "which-is-which." And so far, no one has been able to tell the difference! However, don't get me wrong, there IS a way to tell the difference. But the "secret" is to look at the BACK of the sheet! Yep, because inkjet printing uses real INK, it normally "wrinkles" the paper ever-so- slightly wherever it deposits the ink. This is not a "problem" however, it is simply one of those subtle little differences that are a part of any printing process. For instance, experienced printers can easily differentiate between sheets which have been printed by offset, letterpress, gravure, silk screen, and other printing processes by simply knowing what "clues" to look for. FEED THE KITTY... Besides outstanding print quality, another advantage to using the DeskJet is that it uses cut sheet, plain paper. And while some paper prints better than others, almost anything works. The convenient paper tray holds up to 100 sheets, and the automatic paper feed mechanism functions perfectly and is very easy to use. Another major advantage to using cut sheet paper is that paper alignment is no longer a problem. For instance, if your software was set for a half inch margin all the way around the page, then that's EXACTLY what you will get! No more wasted time trying to align the horizontal and vertical position of tractor feed paper! Although any decent "bond" type paper works fine for most work, I've discovered by trial and error that for the finest reproduction possible you should use "Hammermill Laser Plus." It even has a special "wax hold out coating" on the back for paste-up of camera ready masters. For the finest "reproduction proofs" this premium paper is tops. For a free sample pack of this fine paper and a Hammermill dealer near you, you can call them toll-free at 1-800-621-8272. The DeskJet not only feeds paper sizes up to 8 1/2 x 14, but will also feed envelopes! But because the paper must wrap around a roller (called a "platen") much like a typewriter, this limits the paper thickness to about 60lb. stock. NO NO'S It cannot feed "thick" postcards, and mailing labels are not recommended. Small, die cut labels might possibly come off and stick inside the machine which could cause problems. When printing envelopes, these must be fed by hand. The envelope feature is included for people who don't have a typewriter and simply want to print simple addresses and the like on standard sizes up to a #10 size business envelope. You can print on these by using almost any word processor, but the process is slow and is only included as a "convenience feature." Personally, I simply use my now "almost obsolete" dot matrix printer to print labels the "old fashioned way." And for postcards and other thick stock, I just create an original on the DeskJet and then photocopy this on 8 1/2 x 11 inch "postcard stock" and cut out the cards as needed. But shucks, not even laser printers can feed EVERYTHING! Since having the DeskJet, I really haven't used the old dot matrix much - but it's not yet totally obsolete. It has now found a "new career" as a scanner, using the "IMG Scan" attachment. COMPATIBILITY ASSURED... Surprisingly, compatibility is fortunately a "non-issue" with the HP DeskJet printer since it uses some of the most popular printer languages in use today. The DeskJet comes with the HP PCL (level 3) printer language built-in and an optional Epson FX-80 emulation cartridge is now available for about $75. Next to Epson and Postscript, the popular HP PCL printer language is supported by more software than you can imagine. Practically EVERY serious software program for both the IBM and the Atari ST supports this very popular language. This is mainly due to the immense popularity Of the HP LaserJet printers. In fact, there are more HP laser printers and compatibles around than any other type of laser printer, and this includes the Apple LaserWriter. What this means to you is that since the HP LaserJet and DeskJet both use virtually the same language, you can use the popular HP LaserJet drivers for your DeskJet! Note that the DeskJet doesn't need to be "compatible" with the LaserJet - it simply uses virtually the SAME language! I've used my DeskJet with HP 150 dpi and 300 dpi LaserJet drivers with programs like Publishing Partner and Drafix 1 with no problems whatever. NOTE: Specifically, the DeskJet uses HP PCL "level 3" and the HP LaserJet uses HP PCL "level 4." But the subtle difference shows up only when doing justified, "micro-spacing" in TEXT mode when using the DeskJet's internal ROM fonts. Currently, WordPerfect is the only program supporting this feature in conjunction with HP's optional font cartridges which are almost identical to those used by the LaserJet. GDOS OUTPUT: GDOS output is already a reality from programs like Easy-Draw, Athena CAD, Microsoft Write, and TimeWorks Publisher, thanks to the folks at Migraph, who have brought you great, useful programs like Easy-Draw. Migraph has already written special DeskJet GDOS drivers which have been "tweaked" to give somewhat better performance than the LaserJet drivers. Also included with the 150 dpi and 300 dpi drivers are matching fonts for these resolutions. In addition, you get a "screen dump" program which allows you to do an "alternate/help" screen printout in the normal fashion. This is especially useful if you don't have the optional Epson cartridge. A disk containing all of these goodies is now available from Migraph for about $40. In fact, Migraph also sells the DeskJet printer. I've used the GDOS drivers extensively and they work without a hitch. Note that to use these new drivers and fonts you must have the latest versions of both Easy-Draw and it's accompanying "Outprint" program. Since Migraph is also selling the DeskJet printer and have taken the time to write custom drivers for it, they are supporting it very well. You can call Migraph for additional information toll-free at 1-800-223-3729. And don't forget to mention that you heard about it in ST REPORT ONLINE MAGAZINE! EPSON EMULATION: While the Epson emulation cartridge works great, and even adds some special features of it's own, you must remember that the word "emulation" means "to work like something else." So don't expect that with Epson emulation that your output from Epson drivers will magically print at 300 dpi - not so! It's true that your printouts will look much better all around, but the resolution will be the SAME as with an Epson or compatible printer. It works this way on a laser printer, and it works this way on the DeskJet. Incidentally, since there is still no Epson emulator available for the Atari laser printer, DeskJet owners currently have another big compatibility advantage. And, unlike the Atari laser printer which can only be used with an Atari computer, the HP DeskJet, because of it's built-in, industry-standard serial and parallel ports, can be used with ANY personal computer. WANTA RACE?... While the HP DeskJet won't normally beat a laser printer in the quarter mile, it does produce exceptional print quality that equals any laser printer. Speed is a relative thing on any printer, and the DeskJet is no exception. Printouts can take from 30 seconds to about 20 minutes, depending on many factors. TEXT MODE: Like other printers, the DeskJet uses built-in ROM fonts for fast, text-only output. The printer's rated print speed for such "default fonts" is 120 cps at 10 cpi in letter-quality mode, and 240 cps at 10 cpi in draft mode. The printer can use the built-in Courier font, more than a dozen optional font cartridges which even include big-gun "typeset quality" fonts like Times Roman and Helvetica, or "soft (downloadable) fonts" used with optional printer RAM. You can expect to print a respectable 2 pages per minute when using the "built-in" fonts. Draft mode prints at 150 dpi while letter quality mode prints at 300 dpi. Print quality is indistinguishable from even a daisy wheel, and the normal print features like variable pitch, bold, italic, etc. are obviously supported. A friendly printer control panel and easy-to-use, plug-in cartridges with bright green LED's, make using this whisper quiet printer a breeze. GRAPHICS: Here is where the DeskJet really shines! It does full- page bitmaped graphics at 75, 100, 150, and 300 dpi. Margin space around your page at 300 dpi is the same as for a laser printer. You can print as close as a quarter-inch from the edges of the sheet which gives you an effective image area of about 8 x 10 1/2 for a letter size sheet. The time it takes to print a full-page of graphics depends on many factors. These include: the program used to create the page, the type and efficiency of the drivers used, what printer language is used, the amount of computer memory available, print buffer size (the DeskJet comes with a built-in 16K buffer and an optional 128K RAM cartridge is available), whether serial or parallel is used (parallel is much faster), the make-up of your page (text and high resolution bitmaps like photos normally take longer to print than simple "objects" like lines, boxes and polygons), and still other variables. In general, graphic files which can use GEM output - like Easy- Draw - print much faster than programs like Publishing Partner which currently doesn't have fast, optimized drivers. The latest release of "Publishing Partner Professional" (which may not be out till summer) is supposed to ship with "enhanced" drivers for the HP LaserJet/DeskJet printers that reportedly will speed up the current version by as much as 40%. Average times for Easy-Draw at 300 dpi run about 3-5 minutes per full-page. While Publishing Partner averages about 10 minutes per full-page. But "small" layouts in Publishing Partner have printed out in as little as one minute, while "heavy" full-page layouts have taken as long as 20 minutes. (The 150 dpi drivers are used for fast proofing, and print out in about half the time). Note that the DeskJet only has to make one pass per line regardless of resolution or mode. For 300 dpi it just "blows" more dots onto the paper in the same pass. This is a far cry from my "old" dot matrix impact printer that must make as many as three passes for so-called "high rez" output. ZAPPING A "MYTH:" Most people probably think that laser printers are always "lightning fast," but this is simply not always the case. This probably has to do with the word "laser," which conjures up images of instantaneous light beams shooting everywhere. It's true laser beams are fast, the problem is that they must first be given the "directions" to know where to go. Laser printers (just like the DeskJet and dot matrix impact printers) must first change the printer language used by the software into a bitmap (this process is called "RIP," or "raster image processing"). This is a complicated process which can take a long time to accomplish, since at 300 dpi, the computer must map over 7 million pixels for a full-page graphic! Depending of course on which printing language is used, and other factors, it can take even a $5,000 Apple LaserWriter using Postscript (no speed demon itself) over 15 minutes to create a rasterized image in memory. So, as you can see, it always takes additional time for each DIFFERENT page to print on a laser printer. Once the image is created however, a laser printer can then print COPIES of this "original" image as fast as the printer can physically operate. And for most laser printers, this is about eight sheets per minute. What all of this means is that while both the laser and DeskJet printer need additional time to process the first page, the laser printer is capable of pumping out additional copies of each page much faster, while the DeskJet takes almost as long to print each copy as it does to print the original. But this applies only to graphics. All text pages produced with any printer with built-in fonts will print at the maximum speed of the device. Text pages produced with built-in fonts do not need to be processed as bitmaps since the mapping for the character sets already reside in ROM. To sum up folks, the DeskJet will print, on average, much faster than a "dot matrix" printer, but slower than an average laser printer. Remember that when the DeskJet is printing at 300 dpi, it's printing 90,000 dots (or "pixels") per square inch! As laser printers go, the Atari laser printer, which uses the very fast "DMA" port, is probably the fastest laser printer around. In fact, it can easily print a full-page from Easy-Draw in less than one minute! But don't expect to get this same speed from a HP Laser printer or Compatible. Like the DeskJet, these printers cannot be connected to Atari's own proprietary DMA port and must therefore use either the slow serial port or the relatively fast parallel port. Perhaps surprisingly, I have found that in many cases the DeskJet has actually been faster than some laser printers! I'VE ALWAYS SAID: "That if I only had a printer that would give me beautiful typeset quality, I wouldn't care so much about how long it took to print out." Well, the DeskJet is just that. Since I use it strictly for commercial typesetting, I'm only concerned about getting ONE, good, "camera-ready" page for later reproduction by offset or copy machine. If you need a printer for a large office where each sheet must be printed in multiples, or you need a printer that can be connected to a network of users at the same time, then the DeskJet may not be for you. But if you're like me and just want to produce fine "originals" and will be using the printer just yourself, then the DeskJet may be just the ticket. The DeskJet is advertised as a "personal printer," and for that purpose it is well suited. DOTS OF A DIFFERENT COLOR... It is important to understand that the "dots-per-inch" produced on low resolution, dot matrix ribbon printers OVERLAP. So even though your printer may be rated at "240 dots-per-inch," this is not really accurate. All high resolution devices like the DeskJet, laser printers, and higher output devices like the Linotype digital typesetters produce dots which are SIDE-BY-SIDE, and these dots do NOT overlap! The DeskJet, like other "high-end" printers, produces clean, sharp, and accurately positioned dots. If you wish to check this out for yourself, just use a good magnifying glass or jeweler's "loop" and compare the output from different types of printers. To some of you, this may sound like a minor issue, but the print quality from these different printers "speak for themselves." INCIDENTALS... EASY SET-UP: The DeskJet comes attractively packaged and easily sets up in a few minutes. In fact, you probably won't even need to look at the beautifully printed documentation that comes with the unit! Just unpack it, plug your ST into the parallel port, pop in an ink cartridge, flip the switch, and start producing beautiful, whisper quiet output that rivals anything you may have seen before. The DeskJet is the easiest printer I've ever set-up and used! EXCELLENT SUPPORT Practically no other company supports their products as well as Hewlett Packard. From the moment you open the first-class packaging that surrounds your DeskJet, you are literally "awash" with support from toll-free phone numbers and local and international service personnel available around-the-clock. RELIABILITY The DeskJet has an excellent reliability and estimated usage rating ("MTBF") of 20,000 hours. 2,000 hours power-on and 12,000 printed pages per year, or about 50 pages per day average use. Replaceable, non-clogging print cartridges cost about $17 each and are fully guaranteed. The printer comes with a 1-year "no-nonsence" guarantee against parts and labor. THE BOTTOM LINE... The DeskJet has the same resolution and virtually the same ability to accurately print "dots" onto paper as a laser printer. Thus, the DeskJet's true potential to produce top quality output is virtually dependent upon the capabilities of the SOFTWARE to generate and produce precise fonts and graphics. This is made especially evident by closely comparing pages printed on various laser printers that use Postscript, HP PCL, GEM "meta files," and "proprietary" schemes used by programs like Publishing Partner and Apple's own "Quickdraw." While all of these methods are capable of great output, they ALL have their own strengths and weaknesses. An in-depth comparison of these methods may become a future article, but for now I think that it's sufficient to simply say that all of these methods - whether used on laser printers or the DeskJet, are capable of superior output. In short, IF you think that laser output looks better than DeskJet output, then perhaps you should blame the SOFTWARE - NOT the DeskJet! But enough said! If you would like a free color brochure and additional information about the new HP2276A DeskJet inkjet printer, you can call HP toll-free at 1-800-752-0900. Happy Printing! (EDITOR NOTE: This review was written by Jim Wallace, 1209 S. Chester Ave.,Indianapolis, Indiana 46203, and was published in the June 1988 issue of Current Notes Magazine)... ************************************************************************ :HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT: --------------------------------- To sign up for GEnie service: Call: (with modem) 800-638-8369. "TELL 'EM YOU SAW IT HERE" Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt. Type XJM11877,GEnie and hit RETURN. The system will prompt you for your information. ************************************************************************ ANTIC PUBLISHING INC. COPYRIGHT 1988 REPRINTED BY PERMISSION. ISGUR REPORTS ON ATARI ====================== BY Gregg Pearlman ANTIC ASSISTANT EDITOR The following information about Atari Corp. comes from May, 1988 report from Lee Isgur, first vice president of Paine Webber Inc., advisor to the Antic Publishing board of directors and author of the Isgur Portfolio: * Atari will introduce a 68030-based computer in the fall, as well as a laptop ST with a built-in hard drive. * In January, 1989, Atari will introduce "what will probably be the first 68000-based game machine." It should retail at around $199. * Atari will double the $10 million it spent advertising video games last year. * Management is cautious about video games and expects the current excitement to wane, so Atari plans to undersell the market continually. Atari also will increase its emphasis on software, which is seen as less risky than hardware. * Because of the DRAM shortage, Atari is currently producing a few thousand PC clones a month, but later this year, the company will begin making the PC-5, an 80286 machine. * In addition to the 50 transputers currently in the hands of developers, Atari will have sent 200 more in June. The transputer should be available to the public before the end of the year. * Atari Corp.'s first quarter 1987 results confirm that the company has $68.5 million cash on hand and should earn well over $1 per share in 1988. The Federated retail division, which Atari didn't own during the first quarter of 1987, lost 16 cents a share. * Under Atari Corp., Federated's employees have fallen from 3,000 to 1,900 as six stores have been closed and several others have been reduced. * Demand for Atari products, mostly computers, exceeds supply by at least 50%, and that if DRAM shortages ease in the second half of 1988, so will comparative gross margin declines. * Video game sales this year should be twice last year's $80 million, with the Atari 7800 and XE Game System accounting for more than half of these sales. * Over 80% of Atari's computer sales, around $400 million to $500 million this year, are outside the United States. Management hopes for 50% of computer sales to come from the United States in 1990. * Atari will probably open a factory in the United States before the end of the year. Ed Note: Hope they saw the article in Byte Magazine.... -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ST REPORT CONFIDENTIAL ====================== Psst? Did you know the new Authority on hard disks is now a magazine writer?....yeppers! He has it ALL figured out.....check out your local hard copy magazine and you too can have a 30mb Hard Disk for less than 700.00! With the footprint of GODZILLA! Seems a certain spokes - person for Atari has half the free world up in arms about his opinion of the ST Computer....eeek! here comes JT! We are expecting relief... from CFJ, Charles F. Johnson, ... A BETTER and MORE FUNCTIONAL G-DOS! Spell relief A/DOS! Keep your eyes open for the EPSON EMULATOR for the SLM804, shame is, it's all in GERMAN!...Das is Gut! yuck! Seems the author of Flash (Alan Page) has just about finished a new program that'll allow a person to get all the news 24 hours around the clock with an ST! How in the world is Elizabeth Shook going to talk away the LATEST COMMENTS from the Atari Rubber Band Mill? Seems an Independant Study of Computers in use today in the USA has placed the count of ST type computers at close to 425,000, it further states, the reason Atari admits to only 250,000 is because they do not want to admit that the mail order and distributor sales through ALMO distributors of Pennsylvania outsold their Dealer network. So, the Midnight Oil burns at Atari...BETTER GET A SUBSCRIPTION TO BYTE MAGAZINE. You will need MORE than MIDNIGHT OIL! For the time being, it would appear the better value according to recent sales activities is still the ST, despite crazy comments and "other" well placed "torpedoes"....Folks, PLEASE send the letters to Jack Tramiel, ATARI CORP. 1196 BORREGAS, SUNNYVALE, CA. 94089.....PLEASE!! Tell him of this latest in the long line of Blunders and Double Talk coming from the spokespeople at ATARI? I wonder??..For whose benefit??? ATARI'S??? From the water fountain: The New Atari Factory WILL be in Texas, at least, for this week.....hmmm Long Range, heavy handed, rock solid, decision making, that's what Atari is noted for! The Ultimate kick in the teeth: The new factory will also be building the "ALL NEW 520 GAME SYSTEM"! What will they think of next to perpetuate the Pac-Man mental midget image? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHY ALL THE DOUBLE TALK? ======================== by T."Rex" Reade For those of you who thought I was mellowing, you were right. After having had the EXTREME pleasure of reading BYTE 7/88, I come away well bitten and thoroughly miffed! JUST ONCE, I would love to report that the Atari sales skyrocketed and broke all records, that the ST has finally come of age and is gaining universal acceptance as a viable substitute to the more expensive alternatives, But that is not to be and becomes more apparent with every utterance from Atari. SHEEEESH! The following is an excerpt from JULY'S BYTE MAG....please, YOU read it and see how you feel about the impact it will have, Both here and abroad. * Despite being recognized as technologically impressive personal computers, Atari's ST and Commodore's Amiga haven't had the kind of market success enjoyed by machines from IBM and Apple. SO what's the problem? * Part of the problem is that, "these computers are not powerful enough to be used at home for anything productive," says Neil Harris, Director of Product Marketing at Atari. "I think the ST and the Amiga are in the right direction, but we're still not there yet." * Harris also "blames" the industry press for not covering the Atari machines enough. "The computer press is too busy analyzing its readership," he says. He also cites less malevolent forces, such as the RAM shortage. * As for Atari's success in Europe, as opposed to the US.: "MS-DOS wasn't entrenched overseas, and there's much less disposable income there, so when a lower-cost alternative was introduced, it was embraced" by the Europeans. HOW ABOUT IT ATARIANS??? HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH DOUBLE TALK? WHERE DOES THIS TYPE OF INFORMATION COME FROM? IBM?, COMMODORE?, APPLE? SURELY NOT ATARI! YOU BET IT DID! STRAIGHT FROM THE HEAD SPOKESMAN!! NEIL HARRIS - DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT MARKETING - ATARI CORP. It is time to take the gloves off and begin a true game of hard ball, to openly admit to self and all the world that the ST is a "weak also ran", is absolutely insane!! Hey, Atari, Is this the "New Marketing Approach" in the US??? Or, are you now embarking on a new and different direction called, MAKE 'EM TAKE PITY ON US AND BUY FOR SYMPATHY'S SAKE? I KNOW this much, after reading Neil Harris' stupendously delightful statement about my ST being under powered and in the same class as an Amiga...I now feel like the guy who went in the main gates at Barnum and Bailey and over heard Mr. P.T. Barnum say ...... ** "THERE IS A SUCKER BORN EVERY MINUTE" ** Tell us Neil, Are Our machines really underpowered and underdeveloped?? Is it really true that my new Mega4 is obsolete the minute I took it out of the box? THAT I CANNOT DO ANYTHING PRODUCTIVE AT HOME WITH IT? What kind of answers will you have for us this time? More double talk?? ...more of the same Barrister type banter where you know nothing will be said except hello and good bye? About the income in Europe, Who cares?! If Atari had placed the same effort in marketing the ST here as it did in Europe the figures would have been triple what they are in GERMANY and surrounding areas. I suppose the Swedish Railway System is small potatoes to you that can be handled by the weak and inadequate ST??? A large number of STs were purchased by the railway......so folks, it's not ONLY personal sales of STs in Europe! Even as this is being written the heartbreak being felt by this Reporter is sadness, because with THIS type of CREATIVE MARKETING, the sales, in fact....the FAITH in ATARI is gone down the tubes.....and this guy is trying to cover the tubes with concrete! What about all those new users who just plunked down the long green for the ST computer??? I know I truly want to wrap this computer system around his head forcebly! Frankly, after having had the time to read and re-read that article all that can be said is it's really time for some serious changes at ATARI beginning with the SALES and MARKETING DIRECTOR...... For the last 5 years, this reporter has been an ardent Atari User but I am in a very ANGRY mood and WONDER WHY in heaven's name is Atari's leadership allowing statements like this out? Why not just tell the whole country the computer is not anything more than a fancy game machine or, tell em you are going into microwave sales and dropping computers...hell, Your statement is just as crazy as those at least these are unbelieveable! Darn it! you really have frosted the cake with this...Everytime I read it, I am amazed and enraged at the outright stupidity of putting down your own product! SHAME on you! W.T.F.O. NIEL, *** I am sitting here looking at a MEGA4 ST and saying to myself, "SELF, Your wife bought this ST as a Father's Day present, because you like Atari so much!" Should I let Her read your "utterly devastating" Comments ? ?.............. Well Neil??? DISPOSABLE INCOME = Spendable Monies What the devil do you mean the "DISPOSABLE INCOME" is lower in Europe? If it's higher here....why the hell are you TOUTING EUROPE???? YOU FOLKS HAVE REALLY DONE IT THIS TIME....PURE DOUBLE TALK AT IT'S SCIENTIFIC BEST!!!!! Atari sells better in Europe because people have LESS money to spend than the citizens of the U.S.A.???? To that, I say ....You are full of HOCKY PUCKS! Stop the double talk and take the US market on HEAD FIRST!... WITH: NATIONAL ADVERTISING DISTRIBUTOR NETWORKS MAIL ORDER DEALERS VARS GET SOME REAL MARKETING PEOPLE IN PLACE, ATARI!! TIME TO GET RID OF THE PETS! PLEASE stop trying to copy someone else's success story, MAKE YOUR OWN! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A DIFFERENT LOOK AT EUROPEAN SALES ================================== BY T."Rex" Reade Deciding to get some info, this reporter called a number of contacts who are in the military. The folks called are stationed from the UK to the Middle East....The QUESTION asked was: What does the Atari ST line sell for in the area you are in...AVERAGE ANSWER: The ST computer SELLS for roughly DOUBLE the US PRICES.. It appears that they take the dollar sign off the computer and replace it with the monetary sign of each country... Without any monetary conversion at all! If this is the example of the "EUROPEAN DISPOSABLE INCOME"...they "must" have money to burn! The guy in the street is getting the "short end of the stick" ALL the time...and sooner or later it will catch up to the Atari people in Europe..( The BIG secret weapon the ATARI Users in Europe have is the U.S. SERVICEMEN all over the place who own ATARI and know what the real prices are back home).... These facts are easy to verify, just pick up any computer magazine from Europe and LOOK at the SALES ADVERTISEMENTS for ST Computers... DISPOSABLE INCOME EH?... PRETTY NEAT! Does ATARI really care or give a hoot about it's loyal followers? I think not! How could they care and make statements about the ST being weak and unable to accomplish anything at home! Neil, that was, and is, the MOST CONFUSING and DAMAGING statement to come from ATARI and you!!! TYPICALLY, most of what was said in that article appeared contradictory to all the previous statements by ATARI, like... "The Atari Challenge"... issued at CEPS CHICAGO...It sez, if I may refresh your memory, the great DTP Challenge! What Challenge??? (more hot air?) ***** THIS IS THE CHALLENGE ISSUED BY ATARI ***** At the Corporate Electronic Publishing Show (CEPS) in Chicago last month, Atari displayed new third-party software support for the Atari Desktop Publishing (DTP) system, based on the Atari Mega ST line of computers and the Atari SML804 laser printer. Atari has issued a challenge to DTP systems with Apple or IBM hardware and software platforms, demonstrating complete systems at a lower price with superior performance in most real-world applications. Said Chuck Babbitt, president of Atari Computer, "The press really thought we had something. We were showing a $5,000 desktop publishing solution, and Apple was showing $18,000 to $20,000 systems. We ARE a REAL player in this market." Listen your Numbness, We are really looking forward to seeing some truth from you and your cohorts....you have since gotten rid of WILSON, BROWN, BABBITT, GOULD, FRICK, SCRUTCH and a few other good honest and truthful men in favor of, who knows? .... By the way folks, a set of disks have been sent to the offices of Jack Tramiel. These disks contain all the ST Reports, all the message captures, source articles, corroborating articles and all the articles in general relating to Atari that DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ANALYZE THE READERS! But instead try to understand Atari and it's goals. It seems after this statement in BYTE, ATARI has just taken another shot at the future and has, instead, SHOT ITSELF IN THE FOOT!! WAY TO GO! As a Comedy Act, the BOYS from Atari would be a smashing hit! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tasty TIDBITS to Ponder ======================= It appears that quite a few folks are becoming very upset with ATARI and it's Comedy Act...The now famous Atari Revolving Door has yet to nail the right person(s) ... Here's an item which ran in the S.F. Chronicle not too long ago: Out at Atari Corp.: Charles Babbitt, hired only a few months ago to head the Sunnyvale-based company's U.S. Computer operations. A predecessor J. J. Brown, left similar responsibilities last year after only five months. Atari won't comment, but outsiders blame the revolving door on Atari's negligible U.S. computer sales and Chairman Jack Tramiel's pinch-every-penny mentality . Ummmmmm... what about Walt Wilson... he had ideas to move Atari Corp into the20th Century too...The "revolving door" caught him where he sits down before he hardly had a chance to do much more than call a Press conference...Anyone else get the feeling that the "3 Stooges" are *really* in charge..?? Or better yet...why not a whole bunch of us put up the money to buy the ST line??? Yea, I know...too many bucks, but it's certainly a thought. I'll take my 1040 any day over an IBM PC type of machine. Use *those* all day at work and it's so refreshing to get home to the 1040. Can't understand why companies like Atari do this to themselves. Sigh.... Ya know, ... the idea has occurred to many of us "user group" types.. If Jack Tramiel doesn't really want to be burdened with running "Atari" as a "real" company, why don't we ALLLL get together and buy it off of his hands..? I wonder what it would take...??? Remember... Robert Heinlein showed us what it would take to "Buy the Moon" Speaking of chip shortages...isn't it about time US manufacturers started to crank out these little babies again...hmmmmm???? They claimed at first that they couldn't compete price wise with the Japanese, but that should be changing now. It sure looks as though the market is there for a Motorola or TI or National Semi to start cranking out RAM. Interesting point, on the last chips I bought it said NEC-Made in the USA! Well, Atari probably is having a tough time since the machines are low priced, and have lots of RAM. However, Commodore is still advertising, and seems to be hanging in there. In short, who knows. Well, isn't Atari's manufacturing base much smaller than Commodore's? And from what I've heard, a sizable portion of the ST line was converted to crank out video games. What ST's are left are distributed 80/20, the US getting the 20% while Europe gets the rest. SO I believe their claims. We have just looked over the concerned observations of a diversified group of users of Atari ST equipment. Their names have been omitted to protect them from the (pvt E-Mail) shut-up notices certain people are so quick to send. In all but one or two comments we can detect a bit of disatisfaction about the performance of Atari as a company trying to promote and sell a fine product. It is easy to see why when you carefully look over all the blubbering noise that had been fed to the userbase over the last few years. And now, the latest in the long line of sadistic jabs at a loyal userbase (almost fanatical) .... Niel Harris has outdone himself in his opinion of the ST and AMIGA!!!! Wow! a real authority on ALL computers.....send this guy to join Wilson, Babbitt and the other recipients of the revolving door's action! A Private Comment to Jack Tramiel: My Father-in-Law wears the TATTOO and, to this day, even with the "Reparations", will NOT have ANYTHING to do with anything, or anyone from the GDR...Purely out of respect for ALL the NON-SURVIVORS...... FORGIVE and FORGET? NEVER! IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO FORGET! EVER!.... How can you?...Just for money? REX ------------------------------------------------------------------------- A PLEA - A CALL TO PENS! ======================== TO ALL ATARI OWNERS.....8 BIT - 16 BIT ..ALL OF YOU! Your help is needed....Please send a letter or post card to ATARI. TELL THEM HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT WHAT THEY ARE DOING... ADDRESS IT TO : JACK TRAMIEL C/O ATARI CORP. 1196 BORREGAS AVE. SUNNYVALE, CA., 94089 Be sure to let them know how you felt after reading the article in Byte Magazine and all about it here in ST REPORT. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ST-REPORT Issue #41 June 27, 1988 (c)'88 APEInc. All Rights Reserved. Reprint permission granted except where noted in the article. Any reprint must include ST-Report and the author in the credits. Views Presented here are not necessarily those of ST-Report or of the Staff. -------------------------------------------------------------------------