*---== CPU NEWSWIRE ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---* """""""""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine" _____________________________________ from STR Publishing Inc. """""""""""""""""" January 05, 1990 Vol. IV ~ No.401 ======================================================================= CPU NewsWire Online Magazine¿ featuring STReport ~ Online __________________________ Post Office Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32205 ~ 6672 R.F. Mariano Publisher - Editor _________________________________________ Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT BBS: 904-786-4176 12-24-96 HST/14.4 FAX: 904-783-3319 12 AM - 6 AM EDT _________________________________________ ** F-NET NODE 350 ** 500mb Online ** Our support BBS carries ALL issues of CPU/STR Newswire and An International list of private BBS systems carrying STReport for their users enjoyment __________________________________________________________________ > Issue: #401 CPU Newswire¿ The Original 16/32 bit Online Magazine! ------------------------ - The Editor's Podium - CPU REPORT - FCC T/A Delays, REAL? - LYNX -> HOT!! - TOS 1.6 & STE Overview - CIS & BIX DEAL - Detroit's Atari Dealers - CHAOS STRIKES BACK II - BATMAN THE MOVIE An Overview - CPU Confidential ---===*** SEARS FUMBLES LYNX TELE-CATALOG Nos. ***===--- ---===** CES PRELIMINARY INFO **===--- ---==* FCC CLEARS THE AIR! *==--- ========================================================================== CPU NEWSWIRE¿ "UP-TO-DATE News and Information" -* FEATURING *- Current Events, Up to Date News, Hot Tips, and Information Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports ========================================================================== CPU/STR's support BBS, NODE # 350 invites systems using Forem ST BBS to participate in Forem BBS's F-Net mail network. Or, Please call # 350 direct at 904-786-4176, and enjoy the excitement of exchanging ideas about the Atari ST computers through an excellent International ST Mail Network. ========================================================================== AVAILABLE ON: COMP-U-SERVE ~ DELPHI ~ GENIE ~ BIX ========================================================================== > The Editor's Podium¿ Next week, CES will be in full swing. You can expect pertinent highlights from the Consumer Electronics Show to be featured in next week's edition. For now, contained in this issue are a few major developments and 'hope to' items which will be covered in depth next week. In an on-going attempt to enhance and streamline our online editions, we have made some modifications to our publication, we will be featuring special departments which will focus on specific subjects. Also, STR will showcase various usergroups and, at the same time, provide an opportunity for the those usergroups to have articles written by their members published for all the users to enjoy. Henceforth; we will be known as: CPU NewsWire Online Magazine featuring STReport ~ Online As some of you may have noticed, we have already changed the headers and area titles to reflect this change. You may ask why the name change? Easy! We are engaged in staying contemporary with the recent positive advancements made by Atari, with the new titles reflecting an edition featuring much more than simply ST coverage, we have allowed ourselves the opportunity to provide, in depth, coverage of the Portfolio, STE, Megas and of course, the complete lineup of Atari computers. OOPS! Almost forgot .....The Lynx!! Now this is a dynamite little goodie that is simply entrancing and spectacular! According to the most recent reports, the LYNX is now generally available in Maryland, Virginia, Atlanta GA., Glendale CA. in Montgomery Ward, Toys R Us and K & B Genius stores. Sears appears to be temporarily sold out. Our volume numbers and issue numbers will reflect some changes too. Its not complicated, they simply point to the year and issue number in one number, therefore, they will change annually. example: 401: [4] volume no. [01] issue number this volume. STR Publishing promises to continue to provide late breaking news, interesting articles, technical information and of course, our extensive and exclusive reporting will bring you, the reader, the finest online tabloid possible. Your suggestions and ideas are appreciated. STR Publishing is proud to provide one of the best information sources available online today. Thanks for your continued strong support, R.F. Mariano STR Publishing Inc. "THE NEW WAVE OF ATARI!" ********************************************************************** IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ====================== Please, be advised that beginning with the current issue, CPU NewsWire will be available for Download regularly between 6 - 7pm friday evenings. The reason for the recent fluctuations over the past few weeks are far too numerous to mention here. The fluctuations are however, at an end. We apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. Henceforth, you may rely on our being on time, with the latest info and news Fridays between 6-7pm. With the advent of ARCSHELL 2.1 and ARC 6.02, with their ease of use, increased speed, reliability and efficiency improvements, PLUS the portability of the arc format to many other computers than just the ST has given us good reason to no longer upload CPU/STR Newswire in dual formats of ARC/LZH. Therefore, beginning this week, 01-05-90, we will upload to the major services in the ARC format only. Please, do not misconstrue this decision to stay with the latest arc format as a blanket denunciation of all other file compression techniques as this is definitely not the case. Thanks for your support, Ralph F. Mariano STR Publications Inc. *********************************************************************** NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY COMPUSERVE WILL PRESENT $15.00 WORTH OF COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE TIME to the Readers of; CPU NEWSWIRE ONLINE MAGAZINE¿ featuring STReport Online Magazine¿ """""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine"½ NEW USERS; SIGN UP TODAY! Call any of the St Report Official BBS numbers (Listed Above) or Leave E-mail to St.Report - R.Mariano Be sure to include your full mailing address so your Compuserve kit can be immediately mailed to you! NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE *********************************************************************** > CPU REPORT¿ Issue #48 --------- by Michael Arthur Remember When.... In the Autumn of 1985, Steve Jobs sold 1,350,000 shares of his Apple stock for $22 million after being pushed out of Apple Management, with rumors circulating that he was going to start another venture in the computer industry, and how Steve Jobs (at that particular time) still was Apple's largest stockholder, with over 9 percent of the company's shares? CPU Systems Roundup¿ XIX ======================== Graphics Processors, TIGA, and the TI 34020 Chip ------------------------------------------------ Graphics processing has come under a lot of attention recently in the computer industry, as many graphics-intensive tasks, such as ray tracing, realistic animations used in real-time simulations, and even work in normal 3-D CAD programs, often take up a comparatively enormous amount of CPU time. However, while advances have been made, most graphics chips, such as the Amiga's Agnus and Denise chips, or the ST's Blitter chip, are either custom-designed for a particular system, not powerful enough for sophisticated tasks, or aren't versatile enough to handle many of the operations involved in computer graphics by themselves. For example, while the blitter chip can display a circle which is generated by the GEM VDI very quickly, it cannot draw the circle itself. Texas Instruments has developed their 340x0 line of graphics processors, which claim to provide the speed and versatility needed for fast graphics operations on workstation-class systems. Since Atari is readying to introduce its TT030 line of microcomputers, which will provide workstation-level capabilities, it is necessary to examine the options and needs of workstation-level computers. In order to understand what potential graphics processing may have, let us examine this example.... The TI 34020 chip is a graphics processor. Unlike graphics coprocessors, which only handle specific commands given to it, this type of chip is a general-purpose microprocessor, which is geared towards performing graphics operations. The TI 34020 can independently access to the main CPU's DRAM and VRAM, has a local and host bus interface, and can be fully programmed like a normal processor. It is the descendant of the TI 34010, the first of TI's 340x0 line of graphics processors. The TI 34020 is a 32-bit chip with a 512 byte instruction cache, which is capable of performing 10 million instructions per second, or from 5-10 times faster than the TI 34010. Designed to perform graphics operations, it supports most standard graphics and text operations, as well as providing functions like area fills, Bit block moves (or BitBlit, one of the functions of the Atari ST's Blitter chip does), calculations on fields in memory, and built-in support for windowing. It supports data transfer rates of up to 20 megabytes per second, and is also capable of displaying fonts, by storing them as bit-mapped patterns. It has an array of raster operations as well. It goes far beyond the concept of an ordinary graphics coprocessor, providing many of the amenities needed in graphics work. TT Video Boards, Standardization, and the TIGA Specification ------------------------------------------------------------ Given its capabilities, several hardware companies began making graphics cards which used the TI 34020 as a graphics chip. However, these boards were very diverse in abilities, and were all incompatible, meaning that video drivers had to be written for each of them, and that software programs had no standard with which to truly utilize the 34020's more sophisticated capabilities. In order to solve this dilemma, Texas Instruments announced TIGA, a software interface for 34010-based video displays which works independent of graphics resolution, the size of the color palette, and the amount of displayable colors available on a board. TIGA is actually a set of functions, or primitives, which act as a programming "language" in much the same way that a program can use GEM's VDI to display graphics. TIGA is made up of three elements: - Applications Interface, which is the actual set of commands which applications use for graphics operations. This basically provides the same function as GEM's VDI. - Communications Driver. This is a TSR program which sends commands given by the AI to the 340x0-based video circuitry, and passes the results back to the computer. - Graphics Manager. This program communicates with the CD, and acts as the board's driver software. It accepts commands given to it by the CD, processes them with the video circuitry's hardware, and outputs them back to the CD. While the Graphics Manager makes a 34010 board TIGA-compatible, the Applications Interface is the foundation of the TIGA Standard. It consists of over 150 functions and primitives, which come in three types: 1) Core Primitives: These instructions, which are standard with TIGA, perform basic graphics functions, such as screen clears, cursor shape and displaying, and background/foreground colors. 2) Extended Primitives: These instructions (which are used only if an application needs them) provide more sophisticated commands, such as performing drawing operations. This set supports most of the 34020's capabilities, such as drawing lines or circles, array functions such as BitBlit (which is performed by the ST's Blitter Chip), displaying fonts, and CAD operations like panning and zooming into pictures. 3) User-extended (Custom) Primitives: Programmers can design their own TIGA primitives, in order to make the 34020 perform operations which are typical of the graphical user interface which is in use. Texas Instruments itself wrote a TIGA Device Driver for Microsoft Windows by designing Custom primitives, so all of Windows' screen operations could be performed directly by the 34020 chip. Since Extended and Custom Primitives are basically the same, a PC Windows application would perform just as quickly with a TIGA Device Driver for MS Windows as if it were specially designed to work with the TIGA Extended Primitives. This has great portends for operating system performance. Several months ago, Sam Tramiel announced (in an Online Conference) that Atari was developing a high resolution VME Color board for the 68030 TT. Given the 34010's capabilities, if Atari made this board TIGA compatible, and had Custom Primitives written which would completely match the commands in GEM's VDI, then such a Video board would bring enormous capabilities to the 68030 TT, such as: - Since the 68030 TT has 512K of ROM space (of which around 300K is empty), Atari could release a new version of TOS (TOS 1.8?) for the 68030 TT which had this TIGA "Device Driver" built into it. It would not only enable TT Users with an Atari video board to run ST GEM programs at a greater resolution, but would provide tremendously increased speed for graphics operations. - ST Programs like DynaCADD and Drafix 1 could utilize the 34020's special capabilities directly (using TIGA's standard set of Extended Primitives) for tasks like redraws and zooming to/from images. On sophisticated CAD images, these operations are usually CPU-intensive, and take up a lot of time. Using the 34020 and TIGA, these operations could be done VERY quickly, and wouldn't have to take up a fraction of the processor time that it would ordinarily take. This would result in a LOT faster system performance.... - If Atari wished to make a version of the TT which used the 68040 chip, and was geared towards the high-end of the workstation industry, it could build a TI 34010 Graphics processor into the motherboard, and use the same TIGA "Device Driver" to let it handle graphics operations. This would mean that anyone who bought an Atari TT video board would not suddenly have "obsolete equipment", because the graphics chips used would be the same. This is what Atari has always strived for, but it seems that this method would make this aspiration a lot easier for Atari.... - The TI 34020 chip is downward compatible with the 34010 chip, meaning that if future versions of the 340x0 chip are developed, TIGA will already take advantage of increased speed. Many PC Companies are already exploring options similar to the above. For example, one company wrote a TIGA device driver for AutoCAD which allowed AutoCAD to use the 34010's capabilities. Not only did this result in high-resolution graphics, but using the 34010 as a display list processor made AutoCAD complete graphics displaying almost instantaneously. However, there are several negative marks against this idea, one of which is the price of such a Video Board. A 50 MHZ 34010 costs around $30 - $60, and the component cost for making a 34010 video board is considerable. This would mean that if Atari developed a VME Color Card for the TT, that it would cost at least $700 dollars. Even though the person that is most likely to own a TT would want this type of expandability, this is a serious business issue. Also, there is the cost of writing a TIGA Device Driver for the TT, and whether it is feasible to undertake many of the other costs which are part of designing any computer hardware.... One of the favorite uses for computers are their graphics. With the 68030 TT both powerful and versatile enough to provide workstation-class capabilities, all of the available options for utilizing that power must be examined. This essay on TIGA and the TI 34010/34020 line of graphics coprocessors is meant to be a "first step" in evaluating these options, and exploring the possibilities which microcomputers make so eminently tantalizing.... But ponder, if you will, these questions: 1) What are other applications which workstation-class microcomputers make possible, and are they feasible at this time? 2) How does the design of a computer system's external appearance determine its popularity in the computer industry, and can a computer make it in the computer industry based on price/performance alone? CPU STATUS REPORT¿ ================= Columbus, OH BYTE Magazine is reportedly negotiating to have their ------------ Online Service, BIX (or Byte Information eXchange), merged into CompuServe. BIX would be accessed through an online "gateway". While CIS also bought The Source, another prominent Online Service, in 1989, it seems that this decision may just be a way to make BIX more accessible, since it currently has to use Telenet's services to have a nationwide node network. However, this rumor, if true, may indicate BIX's departure from the Online Service industry.... Compuserve is also planning to launch the Compuserve European Information Service, a network which would make CIS's services available in Europe at the same access rates that CIS's US Userbase pays, by the Summer of 1990. Ottawa, Canada A bill has recently been introduced into the Canadian -------------- House of Commons which would give integrated circuits the same rights to legal protection which is given to other "intellectual property". Other industrialized nations, such as Japan and America, already have laws providing this support. If passed, this will protect registered chip designs for 10 years, and would allow companies to "reverse engineering" clones of that chip. However, if a chip design is sold to another company, then no one can limit the use of that chip design.... White Plains, NY IBM has announced the PS/2 Model 70 486, a new version ---------------- of their PS/2 computer line which uses a 25 MHZ 80486 chip to perform twice as fast as a 33 MHZ 80386 PC. It will come with 1 Meg of RAM, VGA Graphics, and a high density floppy drive as standard. Cost: $12,400 with a 60 Meg Hard Drive, and $13,000.00 with a 120 Megabyte Hard Drive.... The Intel 80486 chip uses built-in versions of the 80387 math coprocessor and the 80235 Cache Controller, has an internal 8K instruction cache, and is completely compatible with Intel's 80x86 microprocessor line. IBM is also shipping the 486/25 Power Platform, an add-in card which brings the 80486's speed to their 386-based PS/2 Model 70s. Los Altos, CA Paul Heckel has reached an out of court settlement with ------------- Apple about his lawsuit, which charged that Apple's Hypercard violated patents pertaining to his Zoomracks database program. In this settlement, Apple will license part of Hypercard's file format to HyperRacks, a company (owned by Paul Heckel) which is developing an add-on to HyperCard which will provide it with abilities found in Zoomracks. In exchange, Apple will license Zoomracks' patents for a "substantial sum of money." The money that Paul Heckel gains from this lawsuit will be used to help HyperRacks Inc. get its product to market. However, QuickView Systems (who actually owns the Zoomracks patents) will use the legal precedent gained by Apple's settlement to pursue other companies who have violated its patents. Paul Heckel intends to use both the money gained by future lawsuits, and some of the revenue which HyperRacks will bring, to both pay off Quickview Systems' enormous outstanding debt, and to develop GEM-based versions of Zoomracks for the IBM and Atari ST, as well as a Mac Zoomracks.... London, UK The Software Toolworks, a US software house, has agreed in principle to acquire Mindscape Incorporated in the US, and Mindscape International, its European subsidiary, based in the UK. Terms of the deal have not been revealed. The merger has been unanimously approved by the board of directors of both The Software Toolworks and Mindscape, and is now subject to the approval of the shareholders in Mindscape, which is expected to be granted at a special shareholder's meeting due to be held in March, 1990. According to Les Crane, chairman and CEO of The Software Toolworks, the Mindscape acquisition gives the company access to Mindscape's established European and Pacific markets, as well as Mindscape's licensing agreement with Nintendo America. "We're also delighted that Roger Buoy (Mindscape's chief executive officer) will serve as president of our international entertainment divisions, and as creative director of the combined companies,". . +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > Conference Info CPU/STR NewsWire Infofile¿ ------------------------------------------ ONLINE CONFERENCE SCHEDULES """"""""""""""""""""""""""" GEnie Atari ST Roundtable ------------------------- January 10, 1990: featuring; Bob Brodie, Atari's Manager of User Group Services Bob will be the featured guest. Bob will be on hand to discuss Atari user group plans and activities and answer the user group and show related questions and any other questions he cares to field. (That guy knows a great deal about many things!) January 17, 1990: featuring; "Is There Life Outside The Atari ST Roundtable?" This conference features SysOps from some of the other GEnie roundtables as our guests. Get a flavor of some of the other services and entertainment that is at your beck and call on GEnie. I'll post a guest list later. Should be fun! January 24, 1990: featuring; Faster than Light - Software Heaven Our guests will be representatives from FTL Software, the makers of the hit Atari ST games, DUNGEON MASTER and CHAOS STRIKES BACK. Come and find out all about these smash hit games and the masterminds behind them. Please join us for what is sure to be a VERY popular conference. All conferences begin promptly at 10:00pm EST. Hopefully, By NEXT WEEK we will be able to provide a schedule of online conferences for all the services thus allowing you to set your dates and not miss any of the conferences. Ralph... ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > TOS 1.6 CPU/STR Review¿ Taking a closer look... ====================== First Impressions of the Atari STe and TOS 1.6 ============================================== by Darek Mihocka Branch Always Software. (C) 1990 It's finally here. Atari kept its promise of shipping the STe before the end of the year, although they didn't quite keep their original promise of shipping in October. All other developers that I've contacted are still waiting for Atari to ship them their machines, and I'm told the STe has yet to make its appearance in the U.S. They are plentiful here in Canada, having arrived a few days after Christmas. According to Atari Canada, the list price of the STe is $1100 (Canadian) which is $900 and change in US dollars. You wouldn't know it based on the prices that stores here in the Toronto area are selling them for. Try $699 (Canadian), almost 40% off the list price, which is barely higher than what a 520STFM costs, and less than what most stores sell the 1040ST for (although the prices are starting to come down fast). Although I had sworn to never again buy another Atari computer, I'm not going to pass up a bargain. With the money I can get for my old 1040ST, this machine hardly cost me anything, and I don't even have to pay for the TOS and blitter upgrade! So, what's inside the cardboard box? If it wasn't for the very tiny letter E on the label, you'd think you were opening up a 1040STFM box. The computer itself looks identical to a 1040STFM, except for the extra joystick ports on the left side of the keyboard and the two audio jacks on the back. Yes, unfortunately, the mouse still plugs in underneath the keyboard. When the machine boots up, the desktop looks just as it always has. Clicking on Desktop Info produces the same Rainbow TOS display as TOS 1.4, except that the actual version of TOS in the STe is TOS 1.6, with a date of July 29, 1989. Already, I ran into a bug. It seems that in color, the machine always boots in low resolution, regardless of whether you saved a desktop in low rez or medium rez. This can be quite annoying. One way to get around this I found is to autorun a medium rez program like Flash. I've already been told that a patch program will be out from Atari in a matter of days to fix this bug. Another item found is, every once in a while, if I click on a .PRG file, I get the Show Print Cancel box. If I click Cancel and click on the file again, it usually loads fine, although earlier today, I had to click on FLASH.PRG about 6 times before it finally loaded. I have had this problem happen on earlier versions of TOS, but very rarely. On the STe it happens quite often and is a bit bothersome. Let's hope a patch for this comes out soon too. Fortunately, I use monochrome most of the time, and the low rez bug won't bother me too much. But before switching over to monochrome, I tried the new Control Panel that the Atari STe addendum mentions. Tilt! I lose! It seems Atari is shipping the old 512 color Control Panel with the STe. I had to go in with a debugger and manually poke into the color registers to try out the new colors. Yes, they do support 16 grey levels of red, green, and blue for a total of 4096 possible colors. To achieve the 4 bits of brightness per color, the unused bit in each nibble of each color register hold the 4th bit. This new bit is the LSB, so it has a minimal effect. Old ST software which uses only 8 brightness levels, formerly 0 thru 7, will now actually be using levels 0,2,4,6,8,10,12, and 14. This seems to be fully compatible with all existing color software. That raises another question. Will we see a Spectrum 4096 program soon? I don't know what Trio Engineering has planned, but based on what I know about the Spectrum file format, all of the display programs out there will support 4096 colors as is. It is simply a matter of modifying the Spectrum or Unispec programs, or any number of Amiga to Spectrum conversion programs to generate 4096 color files. I'm sure that video digitizer software will be upgraded to support the 16 grey levels. VIDI-ST currently tries to emulate 16 grey levels but it still looks bad. Hmmm, I think just editing the color palette files on the VIDI-ST disk should allow me to do that myself. Ok, never mind. I tried out the RF modulator. One of the things that really bugs me about my 1040ST is that it doesn't have an RF modulator or composite video output, even though the original 1040ST manuals all said that they do! Anyway, I plugged the RF output into the RF jack of a Sony KV-1331 television, and the display was quite good. Even in medium resolution, 80 columns was readable, although I wouldn't recommend it for long periods of time. Low resolution was excellent and certainly if all you plan to do is play video games, save yourself the $400 cost of a color monitor and just use a color TV. After I switched to monochrome, I started to test out various programs for TOS 1.6 compatibility. I'm happy to say that Quick ST and all of the Quick Utilities ran just fine. All other programs I tried also worked fine, except for the ones mentioned a bit later. Quick Index reported that TOS 1.6 was installed, and gave speed indexes similar to that of TOS 1.4. GEM drawing speed was about 5% to 10% faster, while BIOS was about 1% slower. So with the debugger again, I took a look inside TOS 1.6. (This part gets technical, so if you're not a programmer, skip it) It seems that Atari may be planning a 68020 or 68030 upgrade for the STe. The ROMs are coded to be compatible with any 680x0 chip. That is, they support both the 6 byte exception stack frame of the 68000, and the 8 byte frame found in the 68010/20/30. Hooray! TOS 1.6 should run unmodified on a 68030. I hope somebody at Atari has tested this. The 1% slowdown in BIOS is probably a result of the extra lines of code required to test a new OS variable _longframe at $59E, which indicates whether a 6 or 8 byte frame is being used. A quick look at the trap #1 handler gives a good idea of how to write CPU independent interrupt handlers, which should also run on the TT. Also changed are line F calls. There are none! This means that TOS is slightly larger than before, but could also be faster. This could be why GEM is so much faster. Even Quick ST speeds up by about 10%. But TOS longer fits into 192K. The ROMs have been relocated from $FC0000 to $E00000. The OS variable _sysbase at $4F2 points to the start of the ROMs, and programs (such as UIS II or DC ShowIt) that assume that the ROMs are always at $FC0000 will fail to run unless patched for the new location. In fact, trying to access the old memory locations will generate a bus error and crash the system. TOS now uses 256K, of which only about 200K is actually code and the rest is empty. Another problem with the removal of line F calls is that certain programs that depended on hooking the line F vector will not run properly, such as Hotwire. Although Hotwire still runs if double clicked from the desktop, the Codeheads tell me that it will not be possible to install it as an AUTO folder program or use the hotkey feature until they fix up Hotwire for TOS 1.6. A patch program is required in any case, and I'm told it may already be out by the time you read this article. Other TOS version dependent programs may also fail under TOS 1.6, and may required either patches or upgrades. (If you're not a programmer, skip to here) While on the subject of compatibility, my dealer tells me that Populous doesn't run on the STe. Too bad, how sad. (I'm not a big fan of video games as you can tell). Otherwise, everything else I tried ran fine on the STe, if not faster. The STe has a built in blitter chip, which is a big plus for all the 1040ST owners like myself who have been waiting for 4 years for Atari to deliver the blitter upgrade they promised when the 1040ST was first released. Software accelerators will still provide a bigger speed increase than the blitter, but heck, if it's free, take it. I took the patch cords from the back of my tape desk and plugged them into the left and right audio jacks on the back of the STe. Sure enough, the keyclicks as I'm typing this now are coming out both channels of my stereo. Reminds me of the old Atari 800 days when I did the same. So what about this new digital stereo sound? Well, since Atari has not yet shipped any documentation for the new hardware, I took out the debugger again and just scanned upper memory for new undocumented hardware registers. I found the blitter chip at $FF8A00, and sandwiched in between the sound chip and blitter chip, at $FF8900, was the new digital sound chip. All I had to go on was a recent magazine article which said what the new hardware is supposed to do. So, knowing what to look for and after several hours of poking around, I finally got it to play digitized sound files (such as the SATAN.SND (the Church Lady) file downloaded from GEnie). Here's the scoop on the hardware... (getting technical again) $FF8901 - this is the location that starts a sound. bit 0 = store a 1 to start playing, 0 to stop bit 1 = a 1 in this bit will keep playing the sound over and over again while a 0 only plays it once bits 2 and 3 - they do something, but I don't know what! bits 4 thru 7 - seem to be unused $FF8903, $FF8905, $FF8907 - similar to the video chip, this is a 24 bit starting address of the sound sample. High, medium, and low bytes. $FF8909, $FF890B, $FF890D - again, as with the video chip, this location gives you the current byte that the chip is processing. This is a read only location. $FF890F, $FF8911, $FF8913 - this is the 24 bit ending address of the sample. Note that both the starting and ending address must be even, and be in the range $000000 to $3FFFFE. If you store larger numbers, the upper bits are just ignored. $FF8920 or $FF8921 - this controls the speed of the sampling, as well as the mode (stereo or mono). According to the article, you are limited to only 4 speeds - 50 kHz, 25kHz, 12.5 kHz, and 6.25 kHz, and sure enough, that's what I got. bits 1 and 0 - this selects the playback speed of the sound samples. 0 is slowest, 3 is fastest. bit 8 = store a 1 to play mono and 0 to play stereo. $8924 or $8925 - these two locations just seem to act as RAM. Can't figure them out. (end technical stuff) So how does one use the chip? First, you load a sound sample into memory. It can either be a standard .SND file, which simply contains a stream of 8-bit sound samples, or a stereo file (which I guess don't exist yet except for the ones I've created) which contains a stream of alternating left and right channel samples. Then you store the starting and ending location of this sound sample into the above hardware registers, select a playback speed and mode, and poke $FF into $FF8901 to have it play over and over again. Some sound files may have to be slightly modified, depending on whether the sound samples are signed or unsigned 8-bit numbers. The sound is played using DMA, so it takes absolutely no time away from the 68000 and allows other programs to play in the background. I modified the SATAN.SND file so that it is in stereo, with the right channel being several seconds behind the left channel. Then I stuff that into the AUTO folder with a small TSR to load the sound sample and start playing it, and off it goes, saying; "Could it be.. Satan?" over and over again. Yes, it gets boring after a while, but it does show quite a potential for new multimedia software products. The sound quality is much better than that of the currently available sound players which try to play .SND files through the monitor speaker. 8-bit sound is roughly the same quality as AM radio, except the frequency response can be much higher if you sample faster. I took our home-built 12-bit audio sampler and was able to play back files easily. The only drawback of using a 12-bit or 16-bit sampler is that the raw sound file will contain 16 bit samples, so when played back in stereo mode, the left channel will play back the sound, and the right channel will have garbage. But it is easy enough to convert from one format to the other. On to video! The new video hardware contains two new registers which reminds me a lot of the Atari 800 video hardware. The screen memory position is now a full 24-bit address. Video memory can be relocated anywhere within the 16 megabyte address space of the STe, and even wraps around at $FFFFFF. The locations $FF8201, $FF8203, and $FF820D make up the 24 bits. The starting location can be any even address, which allows for "fine scrolling" of 16 pixels at a time. The other new register is $FF820F, which tells it how many words to skip at the end of a scan line. Normally set to $00, you can store any value up to $FF into this register, and create a virtual screen that much bigger. For example, storing a value of $28 in monochrome will shrink the screen down to half its height. What purpose does this register have? Well, in the good old Atari 800 days, techniques such as this were available with display lists, and it allowed for smooth screen scrolling in all directions, without having to actually move any memory. This allowed for some very smooth and fast video games (Eastern Front is a good example). One non-video game application that I see is a large screen emulator. Currently there is a p/d program available called BIGSCREEN, which allows a 640x400 monitor to emulate, for example, a 1280x960 Moniterm monitor. The drawback of this software so far has been that the window scrolling had to be done totally in software by copying large amounts of screen memory every second. When running BIGSCREEN all programs run about 30 percent slower and not as smoothly. On the STe, this can all be done in hardware with no speed loss. Look for this feature in the next release of Quick ST. A few more comments about the machine in general. The power supply seems to get a lot hotter than on the ST. Although both my ST and STe are both rated at .8A, the ST has never heated up as much. I realize that the STe probably draws more power due to the extra hardware, but I have always been in the habit of leaving commonly used floppies right on top of the computer. I will probably stop doing this because of the excessive heat coming out of the left side of the machine. My 1040ST has lasted for almost 4 years without a hitch, so I hope the STe won't fry too soon. Another thing I noticed is that Flash now toggles screens EVERY time I click on the right mouse button, which of course is how it's supposed to work. On earlier versions of TOS, I sometimes have to click the right mouse button several times for it toggle. Menu bars still have the problem of appearing to lock up if the mouse if moved out of the menu too quickly. The keyboard is a bit flaky as before. It feels a little bit stiffer than the one on my 1040ST, but it still has the same problems with pressing too many keys at once. Unlike a PC keyboard, the ST cannot detect when more than 2 or 3 keys have been pressed, and when you do press a few together, it generates the wrong keystroke. Then there are the new joystick ports. They are two 15-pin connectors, like the ones used in VGA cards. According to the STe addendum, each port has enough pins to support two joysticks and a paddle, giving a total of 6 joysticks and 2 paddles for the whole machine, and as the manual says, it can even support a light pen. Once again, memories of the Atari 800 fill my eyes with tears . I don't know where one gets the 15 pin to 9 pin conversion cables, or how to read these new joysticks from software, but who cares. If you want a game machine, buy a Nintendo. Well, that about wraps it up. The STe at the current prices is definitely a great deal if you were planning to upgrade your existing ST. I'd recommend to anyone who currently has a 520ST or 1040ST to dump your old machines while you can still get any money for them, and buy an STe. Not only can you very possibly make a PROFIT on the deal, but you also get a blitter chip and TOS 1.6 to boot. As for buying an STe if you don't already own an ST and haven't invested a lot of money in a system, well, I wouldn't be too quick to recommend it. Regardless of what ST owners may think of PCs and Macs, there are good qualities in each. I prefer to use a PC for doing any sort of word processing or spreadsheet work, just because the PC software is still years ahead of ST software. And I've seen some amazing graphics and digital sound hardware for the Mac II, but I can't afford it. The 68000 is still my favorite chip for programming, but most people aren't programmers, and Atari's future isn't bright yet. Probably 99% of the software that runs on TOS 1.4 will run on TOS 1.6, and the possibility of a 68020 or 68030 upgrade for it sounds very appealing. This may turn out to be a very low end TT, something that most of us would be able to afford. I like the new sound chip a lot. I like the new video hardware quite a bit. The only question is, will future software be written specifically for the STe, or for the ST (and thus be STe compatible) or are we going to see separate versions for both? I can really only see this affecting video games in the near future, but the ability to have high quality digital sound will definitely open the door to a new type of software. Already on the Mac II, CD-ROM players are being used for some multimedia (the buzzword of the 90's) products. If Atari ever decides to ship their silly CD-ROM player, it might even be possible to take ordinary audio CDs, load sections into the STe's memory, edit the sound samples, and play them out the audio jacks. Certainly, all of the cheap 8-bit digitizers already out for the ST will be able to play the sounds samples back at very high quality. It should even be possible to wire up a resistor network to combine the left and right channel outputs and create a CD quality analog output. Who knows, maybe the chip already does that. I also wonder how soon it will be before some of the hardware accelerators and boards like PC-Ditto II will be available for the STe. Although I haven't taken the machine apart, yet, I have heard that the chips are all different shapes and this should make it really fun for the board makers. But I can't help wondering what Atari has planned, if anything (that could be asking too much of them). Is this machine just an Atari 800 wanna be which will be nothing more than a very advanced game machine, or is this machine only intended to take away some Amiga sales (I'm sure it is), or does Atari really plan to exploit the new features? Who will release the first 68030 board for it? Is it possible to modify an existing ST to relocate the ROMs so that TOS 1.6 can be used on any ST? Will Atari ever release docs on the STe or is it up to users to figure it out for themselves? Most of Atari's documentation has been pretty lousy so far. How soon before the 520ST and 1040ST are totally phased out? Why does the STacey (which hasn't even shipped yet), still use TOS 1.4? If Atari is planning to phase out the old STs, then the STacey certainly isn't going to help. And if the STacey is being aimed at musicians, then why didn't they include the new sound chip on it? Will the new sound and video hardware be available as an upgrade to existing STs? Since they never did come out with the blitter upgrade, I would guess not, unless a third party does it. Well, I'm sure these questions will all be answered soon enough whenever the STe finally hits the U.S. market. I can finally stop complaining and get to work on the STe Xformer . _____________________________________________ > TYPE ACCEPTANCE CPU/STR FOCUS¿ Are the delays for real?? ============================= IS IT REALLY THE FCC'S FAULT? ============================ by Charles Medley STatus Disk Magazine Today, January 4th, 1990, I called the FCC and spoke to various representatives of the FCC in doing research for article intended for STatus Disk Magazine. We wanted to explore the phenomenon known as "vaporware" and in particular, the delays caused by FCC testing. While we understand that developing hardware while conforming to the FCC's standards is a bit rough on certain manufacturers, we also wanted to uncover some of the facts involved with getting a product tested and type accepted. For example, let's say you are making a portable computer. If it is to be used as a stand-alone machine it must be certified as a Class B computing device, not a Class A industrial device. A Class A computer would be tolerable if its sole purpose was to drive other Class A industrial machinery. This would severely limit the usefulness of a portable, and you certainly couldn't use it on an airplane! Also, the process of getting a product certified is really simple (in theory). You usually design your product, get an independent testing firm to put it through its paces, and then they submit an application, along with the pertinent information to the FCC. At this point, the FCC will take between 2-8 weeks (in the case of most computers) to reply. The FCC also reserves the right to pick a product, usually at random, and test it themselves. This can add "a few weeks" to the amount of time it takes for the product to hit the shelves, but it certainly (and this was stressed) should not drag on for 8-12 months.... I also wanted to check on some various products and what their FCC approval dates were. However, I found out very quickly that companies, such as IBM, often buy the work of smaller companies who have already received FCC certification for their hardware, and then remarket them, much the way Atari has done the DIP Portfolio. So, in some cases, you have to be a pretty good detective in order to follow the threads of who did what and had gotten whatever device approved for type acceptance by the FCC. The FCC welcomes calls from the media, as well as the public, about their policies. The number to use for this process is (202) 632-7000. This is the "information" line. If you know product I.D. numbers, you can call (301) 725-1585 and as for "FCC Status" and get the current information regarding your favorite products that are in the process of getting approved by the FCC... ______________________________________________________ > BATMAN CPU/STR OnLine¿ Batman the Movie, an overview..... ===================== Ctsy; GEnie Atari ST Roundtable Category 9, Topic 36 Message 1 Mon Jan 01, 1990 JEFF.W [RTC Sysop] at 21:23 EST Ocean Software has turned 1989's Batman movie into a computer action game featuring Batman's crusade to stop the Joker from bringing Gotham City to it's knees. BATMAN is a much superior game to Ocean's previous BATMAN: THE CAPED CRUSADER. At least, that is my opinion. I found THE CAPED CRUSADER to be much to difficult and way too repetitive. On the other hand, the movie BATMAN game features 5 different game sections, although the first and final segment are similar. In BATMAN, you start out at Axis Chemicals, using your Batarang (and rope) to climb and swing from catwalk to catwalk and as a weapon to fight Jack Napier's thugs and goons, who come at you from every direction. If you make it through the chemical factory, you'll find Jack Napier and knock him into a vat of chemicals. "Jack is dead. The Joker lives..." Next, you are in control of the Batmobile. You drive the Batmobile at breakneck speeds through the streets of Gotham City to outrace the Joker's henchmen who are in fast pursuit. Avoid crashing into other cars and running off the road. Use your grappling hook on lamp posts to make hairpin turns around corners at 90mph! If you make it through the streets of Gotham City, you find yourself back at the Batcave where you must solve the Joker's Smilex products mystery. You must find which three products together form the lethal Smilex compound, killing its victims and leaving them with a ghastly smile. After that, you take out the Batwing to save the city from the Joker's deadly Smilex-filled balloons. Use the Batwing to cut the ropes holding the balloons in place they'll drift away where they can't harm anyone. Be careful not to pop the balloons or fly the Batwing into the ground. Finally, it's time for the final confrontation with the Joker. Enter the cathedral and make your way to the top. Like the Axis Chemical plant, you must cut a path through thugs and goons wielding guns and explosives. Oh, and watch out for the rats too. That's the synopsis of the game. Here's my comments. BATMAN comes on 2 disks, and my imported version includes a foldout instruction sheet and a neat bat logo sticker. The disks are copy protected. The game graphics and animation are very nice. I am particularly impressed with the Batmobile and Batwing sequences. The sense of speed and the scrolling in these third person perspective sequences are good enough to be a game all by themselves. My only criticism of these sequences is that the Batmobile (and to a lesser extent, the Batwing) just don't seem manueverable enough. The steering and braking aren't immediate enough for my taste, but then maybe that would have made the sequences too easy. The Axis Chemical and Cathedral scenes are the challenging ones to master in my book. Not only are there crooks to deal with in the chemical plant, but you must avoid dripping toxic chemicals and pipes leaking noxious gases. And, as I mentioned in the previous message, there are rats that like to nibble on Bat-toes in the Cathedral, so try to avoid them. I have not yet made it to the top of the cathedral myself, so I don't know if there are yet more obstacles awaiting up in the belfry. These sequences are of the platform nature, kind of like (oh gosh, I forgot the name of that popular arcade conversion that has a little guy climbing up platforms in trees with a grappling hook that shoots from his arm...argh!) ????? or kind of like Rick Dangerous...but much better. The Batcave sequence is a ho-hummer. No action. Just 60 seconds to figure out which 3 products (out of a possible 8 products) contain the deadly Smilex components. BATMAN features some very nice "easter eggs" along the way. As you go into each sequence, you enjoy a very beautifully rendered image from the movie. Going into Axis Chemicals, you see Nicholson (Jack Napier) confronting Batman on the catwalk of the plant with the caption, "Nice outfit". We also are graced with gorgeous pics of the Batmobile, the Batwing, Joker hawking his Smilex products, and that scene where Batman is gripping the Joker by the lapels in the belfry ("I made you. But you made me first."). The only aggravating feature of this game is that there is no save-game feature. You must play it several times to learn each sequence. As you progress through the game, you must replay all previous sequences if you fail in a later sequence. But this isn't really all that bad, because each sequence, except the Batcave, is fun to play. In fact, it's best that you continue to improve your time in the previous games, because the amount of time you have left over after Axis Chemicals (there's a countdown timer that starts at 8 minutes, I believe) goes into the Batmobile sequence. If you take a long time to get out of Axis, you won't have enough time to race away from the Joker in your Batmobile. Finally, there is an original score that plays throughout the game. It is not based on Danny Elfman's score of the movie however. And, fortunately, you can toggle the music off and on. When you turn it off, you hear the various sound effects of the batarang, gunshots, explosions, Batmobile engine, Batwing's flight, etc. Much more entertaining than the music. I'm not usually much of an arcade game player, but my interest in the Batman character in general, and the Batman movie in particular compelled me to buy this game when I saw it at the computer dealer's store. And I'm very glad I did. It has provided many entertaining hours of enjoyment and excitement. Category 9, Topic 36 Message 3 Tue Jan 02, 1990 JEFF.W [RTC Sysop] at 11:01 EST A correction to my previous message. There is a separate countdown timer in each event, however the time is not influenced by the time left over in the previous game sequence. I made this error because when you go into the next sequence, the timer 'holds' the old time from the sequence for a few moments before it resets itself with the new time. When the timer finally reset itself, I was too busy with the game to notice! ___________________________________________________________ > CHAOS STRIKES BACK II CPU/STR Review¿ ==================================== CHAOS STRIKES BACK ================== from FTL Games by Paul D. Gittins When I heard there would be a new Dungeon Master game I could hardly wait. I enjoyed the original DM game more than any other computer game I have ever played. I probably played the original DM through about 6 times. As you can see my anticipation was great. I even took a set of characters and exercised them deliberately to increase their levels as much as possible. (In the DM game you start with very low level characters and the more time they spend using their skills the more they develop.) The target date for release of Chaos Strikes Back (CSB) was to be in time for Christmas 1988. As that time came and went I constantly looked for the release but it just was not to be. Now here it is, Dec. 1989 and only two weeks before Christmas. As always the rumors are flying but still I had seen nothing. This was to be a different day for me however. I walked into the software store and there it was in all it's glory. It didn't take long for me to make the purchase and head straight for my trusty old ST. I had heard that you got into trouble almost immediately when this game started so I was ready. My special characters were strong, Master or Expert in nearly all skills. I sat down to the computer and began the process. First you are required to boot the Chaos Utility Disk and use this to import you characters from you DM save game. Once this is done, a new CSB save game disk is required for all your CSB saves. After all the preparations are complete, you are ready for the Dungeon. My palms were sweating and my throat was dry from the excitement. My adrenaline levels were skyrocketing and little crinklings of nervous tension were running up and down my spine. Into the ST went the CSB disk and then in drive B goes the save game. The screen comes up with the familiar FTL logo and then goes to a huge slab of stone with a map roughly etched out on it. You may at this time either enter the prison where several characters have been frozen and left for you to select or you may resume your previous game. Since I had already made up my character set I selected the resume option and after a long wait I was greeted with the familiar "game loaded" screen. As my audience watched from the rear I pressed the button and popped into the game. Immediately I was confronted by 3 of the ugliest golden brown worms I have ever seen. They are like the purple worms in DM with the addition of armored plates over their heads and a little red flag on the end of their tails. As any DM aficionado knows worms are poison and attack with gusto. Unfortunately all my characters were naked as jay birds and the only things they brought with them were their levels of skill and of course my knowledge and experience. Naturally I figured the poor worms didn't have a chance. Within 10 minutes I was rebooting the game because I had gotten my but thoroughly kicked. All my people were dead and I was hopelessly addicted. I resumed my game from the beginning and with a little fore knowledge was ready for those old worms. I made a mad dash for the sword on the floor in the center of the room and while avoiding the worms prepared a light spell and then a couple of poison cloud spells and some fireballs. The room is square or nearly so and there is a chest in the center. There are coin slots in the walls and small cubby holes which are opened when a coin is inserted. There is one obvious exit which requires the killing of a couple of worms to get to. These FTL people are devious. To get to the exit you must pass through a door and go down a corridor. Even highly skilled people don't do too well fighting worms while naked so you have some poisoned wounds and are hurting a bit while running towards the door. Wouldn't you know there would be a hidden floor switch which immediately causes the generation of a new pair of worms. After about 11 minutes I was beginning my third game and was a little wiser. This time I knew about the worm regeneration switch and avoided it as much as possible. I got the sword and from the chest in the room I was able to partially clothe my heroes. I ran down the corridor where there was a pit trap on the floor. A worm was pursuing me, but there was also a floor switch in front of me which momentarily closed the pit. If the timing was just right I could run from the floor switch down the corridor and across the closed pit. When I woke up and dusted myself off, my heroes were hurt a bit but all were alive. They had to sleep a while to regain strength and let the poison from the worms wear off but were otherwise ok. As I looked around I saw there was a regeneration altar in front of me and some writing on the wall to my right. Each time I turned I saw the same thing again. The only difference was the item placed in the regenerator. This is known as the crossroads and is where the game truly begins. From this point you can select one of the four directions and begin your search in earnest. You may select from KU (fighter), ROS (ninja), DAIN (Wizard), or NETA (Priest) pathways. The object (other than getting bashed ,burned, bonked, broasted and otherwise abused) is to complete each of the four paths and along the way obtain a special element called Corbum which must then be thrown into a special FUL YA (mondo fire) pit where it is consumed. Make no mistake about it, this game is tough! At the time of this writing I have destroyed two of the Corbum elements and completed all four of the pathways up to the Diabolical Demon Director level. There are still a number of puzzles to solve and keys to find. Many of the monsters regenerate, so there is always a new surprise waiting right around the corner. There are new monsters and old ones. I know I have killed at least 13 dragons and several of the stone golems. I have killed more of those infernal poison worms than I can count and the place is littered with rocks and boulders from the dead rock heap monsters. There are several heaps of armor from all the Deth Knights I have taken out along the way as well. Do I like this game? You bet! Occasionally I get online in the ST roundtable on GEnie to see what everyone else has to say and the new CSB section is a virtual hotbed of activity. I'm certain there have been over 300 messages uploaded in the past two weeks. You can be certain this game is a solid hit. The people at FTL have done a bangup job and deserve the heartiest congratulations. The game is very challenging and yet with persistence and skill you can win. You must save your game often and you cannot leave any stone unturned. If you are stumped you can save your game at that location and after turning off your computer you can boot up the utility disk. The utility disk that comes with CSB also contains a hint oracle which will look at your save game and give you specific or general hints about the particular puzzle you are looking at. This is a great concept and I have used and enjoyed it regularly. You can also get information about the various monsters so at least you know what that thing was that just kicked your butt all over dungeonville. Now that I know better, I will give a couple of hints about the first room and leave you with a whetted appetite. Pick up the chest and all the coins you can find. Kill the worms if you need to and take the worm rounds for food. Once you encounter the dragons you won't need worm rounds any more, but for now they are useful. Walk around the room and bump into the wall every step of the way. There is an invisible room containing a complete set of armor which you will need. Pick up the torch and put it into the holder. This opens a corridor and exit from this room. If you are hurt you can rest for a while in the room where the armor is found but when you leave you will probably find a couple of worms waiting. Once you have killed the first couple of worms you can search the room at your leisure if you don't step on the hidden floor switch and make more of the little devils. Finally, use your coins wisely, some items can be used many times and others only once. Now you are on your own. You probably want to know if you must own the original DM game in order to play CSB. Actually, it is not a necessity but without DM you will find the task before you more difficult. It isn't only the original documentation, it's also the experience and the chance to learn the various spells and build up your heroes to their maximum potential. This game requires not only powerful heroes, but you as the player must be experienced as well. In summary, CSB is a great game and a fine sequel to Dungeon Master. At $34.95 the value is excellent. I have put more hours into this game series than I ever will with any of my other game software. It is fun, exciting, challenging, and most important of all, it is winnable. I have fully enjoyed many hours with this game and if it weren't for this review I would be playing it right now. One final little hint before I get back into the action. If you have access to GEnie, many people have uploaded powerful character sets which you can download and use as your own if your heroes are too wimpy for your tastes. See you in the dungeon. Review by Paul D. Gittins Portland Atari Club __________________________________________________ > ATARI DEALERS CPU/STR Feature¿ A look at Detroit's Dealers ============================= Atari Support in Motor City =========================== An outsider's view by Gregg Anderson Hi folks, I just returned home from a little visit with the family in Detroit Michigan and thought I'd pass on a few tid-bits of info. Contrary to popular opinion Atari is NOT dead in the heartland of America. And while not as robust as it once was, Atari dealer support there is also far from terminal. Much to the annoyance of my sister and brother-in-law, one of the first things I did after landing at Detroit Metro was to grab six pounds worth of yellow pages and list all the Atari dealers I could find. Would you believe that there are seven Atari dealers still in business in Detroit and its surrounding communities? I thought I'd died and gone to Heaven. I live in South Dakota where the nearest Atari dealer is in Denver, about 425 miles as the Jeep rolls. Despite some of the nastiest Winter weather Detroit has seen in the last twenty years (rain, snow, sleet, ice, power outages, and roads only an ice skating polar bear could love), I pressed on and visited six of the seven dealers. The seventh is primarily a mail order business and doesn't have a real 'storefront'. What follows is a list of the Detroit area dealers with a short description of their shop and what they offer. I'll wrap everything up with a summary of how the surviving Atari dealers responded when asked about Atari and its computers. 1) Basic Bits and Bytes 34815 Ford Road (Westland), 313-595-3171. Basic B&B is a full service Atari dealer offering productivity and entertainment software for the ST owner as well as software support for a handful of 'other' systems. There was a large selection of European games on display as well as the more familiar domestic titles. Basic B&B handles the full Atari line along with a few PC clones. They're also an Atari service center and offer a selection of domestic and imported Atari magazines. There were two 1040ST systems available for demos in addition to a PC clone or two. Estimated cost for a TOS 1.4 upgrade was $99 (6 chip) and for a 520ST 1 Meg upgrade the cost was $150. As a side note; Basic B&B used to be a six store franchise. They are now down to a single sales center of average size (though a busy one, the phone never stopped ringing while I was there). 2) The Soft-House Computer Center 32647 Ford Road (Garden City), 313-422-6760. Hardware-wise the Soft-House handles only the ST line, though they do offer software for a few 'non Atari' systems. Unfortunately, they had to drop their 8-Bit support some time ago. They're serious about selling the ST though and were actively demoing a 1040 system to a new customer while I was there. The Soft- House is an authorized Atari service center (with full time technician) and offers a wide range of domestic and imported Atari magazines. As with Basic B&B, the salesperson I spoke with was well informed on Atari related matters and very positive on the system's capabilities. They offer a wide selection of productivity and entertainment software and have a surprisingly large assortment of European titles not generally available here in the USA. Estimated cost of a TOS 1.4 upgrade was $99 (6 chip) and for a 1Meg upgrade the cost would be $200 (socketed). 3) Rite Way Computers 11557 12 Mile Road (Warren), 313-751-2454. In both total size and overall selection Rite Way is the largest computer dealer I visited. They offer full support for the Atari ST, Atari 8-Bit, Laser Apple clone, and a number of PC Clones. As with the two previous shops, Rite Way is an authorized Atari service center and has a software selection that almost boggles the mind. There were literally rows upon rows of titles from both the US and Europe (though I must admit there were many multiple copies of the same package present). All in all it was an impressive display of both hardware and software. While there I watched a professional demonstration of the ST's MIDI capabilities being given to a customer on a Mega4/SLM804/Megafile system. The individuals I spoke with seemed well informed about their products and more than willing to take the time to help a potential customer. Interestingly enough, the only computer that seemed to attract interest while I was there was an Atari ST system. Rite Way charges $104 for a TOS 1.4 upgrade and $175 for a 1 Meg upgrade. 4) Command Computer Systems Inc. 28630 Ryan Road (Warren), 313-573-8130. Though an active Atari dealer since 1981, Command Systems was the smallest Atari dealer I visited. This by no means implies that they don't support the Atari line, but it does say that they've been forced to expand into other systems at the expense of their Atari availability. Command Computers supports both the ST and the 8-Bit systems and actually sold more 8-Bits over the Christmas holiday than they did STs. The best seller for them this year was the 130XE. Command Computer is an Atari service center and capable of handling repairs on any of Atari's systems. 5) Sector 1 Computers At the corner of 16 Mile Road and Dequinder (Sterling Heights) 313-978-2208. Sector 1 was a major surprise for me, a store totally dedicated to the Atari 8-bit computer. Yes, they have an ST or two available, but 99% of the store is devoted to the original Atari computer and to little else. I saw software and hardware items there I hadn't seen in years, in fact I've not seen this type of 8-bit support anywhere since early '83. The shop is owned and operated by someone who's name should be familiar to any 8-bit owner; Jim Steinbrecker (father of the original A-Modem terminal program). Jim is probably the most knowledgeable man I've ever met on the 8-bit Atari and is without doubt the most supportive of that system. As he says, "it's possible to outgrow a specific computer, but no computer is ever truly 'obsolete'. Least of all the Atari XE which is as capable a system as any". What can I say, if you've a question or a problem with any 8-bit Atari computer system or are looking for that 'specific program' for your 8-bit than this is the shop to visit. 6) Team Computers 22205 Kelly (East Detroit), 313-445- 2983. Team Computers was the hardest for me to find but only because I was starting out from the far west corner of Detroit. Team handles the complete line of Atari computers along with a line of Amstrad PC clones. As with most of the other area dealers they are a full service dealer and registered service center for all Atari systems. Team was also one of the few shops I visited that had a complete Mega4/SLM804/ Megafile30 DTP system up and running on display. In fact they had three ST systems and an XE system set up for demos. Both individuals I spoke with seemed very familiar with the Atari line and only too willing to extol it's strengths and advantages over the competition. Team Computers even use their STs to support an active DTP and graphics production center they operate from their store. As with Basic B&B, Soft House, and Rite Way, they offer an impressive display of domestic and imported software for the ST and a surprisingly large selection of 8-bit software as well. Team charges $99.95 for a TOS 1.4 upgrade and $175 for a 1Meg upgrade on a 520ST. 7) Innovative Concepts 31172 Shawn Drive (Warren), 313- 293-0730 Don't bother to try and visit Innovative Concepts, they don't have a regular show room like the rest of the Detroit area Atari stores. That's because they are first and foremost an mail-order shop for the Atari line. They advertise in many of the more popular Atari related magazines (and many of the larger newsletters). Currently they are enjoying great success with their line of specialty cables for the Blitz back-up system and the always popular XFormer ST to 1050 cable. For specific details on what Innovative Concepts has to offer be sure to check out their latest advertisement in your newsletter or favorite magazine. There you have them, seven Atari dealers in the Detroit metropolitan area. Since Detroit and its surrounding communities have over three million inhabitants, that works out to almost 1/2 million people per Atari dealer. Not so impressive when you consider how many MS-DOS, Apple, and What-have-you dealers are available in the same area. Still, it's better than it might have been and may even improve if Atari takes the right steps over the next year. But before you think I'm being overly optimistic let me point out that the present number of Atari dealers is only a fraction of what it used to be. Three years ago Basic B&B was only one of six stores with the same name, and others have 'bit the big one'. Shops like Strom, United computer, Claus, and others have all either dropped the Atari line or gone totally out of business. But what did the remaining Atari dealers have to say about Atari and its computers? Without exception ALL were supportive of Atari's hardware. They like the ST and feel it offers an outstanding value in the price/performance area. They like the ST's reliability, its power, and even its software. What they don't like is its lack of availability and some of the policies of the Atari corporation itself. The number one dealer complaint was Atari's total lack of national advertising. Most dealers find it difficult to sell a product that no one (outside of the 'inner circle' of Atari supporters) knows exists. The second major problem was a serious lack of product availability. 1040 and Mega2 systems were in serious demand over the last few months here as were monochrome monitors, yet these were virtually unavailable to Detroit area dealers. The third problem (but generally the most mentioned) was the poor dealer support offered by Atari. Often dealers found themselves the last to be notified of new products, left out of distribution chains, and generally ignored except when it came to paying bills. Fourth was the problem of promises made but not kept. Several dealers complained about Atari's promise to not announce or discuss products before shipping them, and then doing exactly that (IE: Portfolio, STacy, TT, ect). This tends to cut badly into sales of current hardware. Coupled with that complaint was Atari's release of the Portfolio with an 'Atari only' order phone number that totally cut out the local dealers long before any of them could get their hands on a Portfolio. The general difficulty in contacting and working with the local Atari Representative was mentioned as a problem, along with a reduction in available software support for the ST (mainly from US companies). Finally the failure of 3rd party companies to repackage older programs 'on the cheap' and release them was mentioned, though this applies mainly to older 8-bit software. Overall the feeling of the dealers was that they couldn't survive as an Atari only dealer, that most had to offer some clone support to stay in business. So how was business? Two of the Detroit area dealers reported that their Christmas season was good to very good, two reported no real change and two reported a decline in sales. As for the overall year of 1989 the report was less encouraging. Four reported that sales were stable but generally below expectations. Two actually had a decrease in sales over the previous year, though they chalked that up to a generally lackluster retail market. This is not good news folks, when the best report I can get is one of 'stable' overall sales. That means trouble even in a 'slow year'. A lack of growth is the same thing as stagnation, and stagnation is the first step in decay. Not everything is negative though. Most dealers admitted that as difficult as Atari is to work with, they're really no worse than Apple, IBM, CBM or any of the others. In fact several dealers confessed that Atari was generally more willing to listen to them than other computer companies. One dealer explained that Atari's main problem was one of 'no flash', that Atari just isn't as 'noticeable' as the competition. So what's my over all feeling? First of all that there is a lot of support for Atari in the Detroit area, if you're willing to drive a little ways to reach it. Second is that almost all of the area dealers are VERY positive on the ST system and are willing to go out of their way to support it. Third is that Atari itself should try a little harder to help and support its dealer force, and that the Detroit area dealers would be only too willing to help them do that. Lastly is that driving in Detroit is an experience in and of itself. It's not that the roads are in terrible shape (though thanks to the cold, salt, and traffic most of them are), or that they drive like it's the last lap at the Indy 500 (they do). It's more a feeling of being trapped in a combat zone without warning. All kidding aside. Despite the rough roads, high speeds, and ice covered intersections (including the one that got my brother-in-law T-boned), the drivers of Detroit showed themselves to be skilled and courteous, giving this out-of-town visitor more than a few breaks. Gregg Anderson Just as an aside, there is a large and active User Group presence in the Detroit area. User Groups such as MACE, GLASS, MAGIC, and (in Windsor Ontario) WAUG offer support for area Atari owners. For information on these groups see the Detroit area Atari dealers or AIM magazine. ____________________________________________________ > LYNX PREVAILS!! CPU/STR OnLine¿ Positive comments for ATARI'S LYNX. ============================== EVERYBODY LOVES A WINNER! ======================== ctsy GEnie ST RT Category 36, Topic 6 Message 1 Wed Jan 03, 1990 GCC.TECH at 18:17 EST The Lynx is a machine with a lot of potential -- it could be considered a tiny, very fast computer more than just a game machine. What sorts of things are people interested in seeing? One thing that would be possible is to have tons of baseball stats on a card, so that you could look up player's histories when you are watching the games. You could also have multi-player wargames and combat games, allowing people to fly planes against each other (like Air Warrior) or tanks, or even direct entire armies. Atari could develop a home/TV-based version of the Lynx so that you could play the same games on a less expensive machine (by the cost of the LCD display) on a TV set, and then play on the (portable) Lynx when you are on the road. This would be a great competitive advantage against the NEC and Game Boy, which are not comparable. Some way would have to be arrived at to increase the resolution of the display, of course, since 160x102 is pretty low for a video game -- perhaps doubling the resolution both ways and interpolating the colors would work well. There is the possibility of further expansion through the COMLYNX port. How about a numeric keypad and a sophisticated calculator card, or a keyboard and cassette interface, driven by a BASIC (or Pascal, or Forth, or LOGO or whatever) card? A modem that connects to the COMLYNX port would be slick, allowing people to play each other long distance; assuming that the fairly low baud rate of an inexpensive modem (2400 tops) would allow the COMLYNX to function decently. CTSY; CIS ATARI Arts.... Read action ! #: 17054 S2/Games 04-Jan-90 06:25:26 Sb: #16821-A Lynx for Christmas? Fm: Sara Groves 76702,543 To: Gano Haine 73230,2562 Gano, I think portability might be a factor in a more expensive system but there are lots of people who think of portability in a system that goes for $180 as a plus. Many families do a lot of traveling and it can go in the back seat of the car, over to a friend's house, or (yay!) up to their room. I don't think they ought to be taking them to school, although of course they will, but it's less of a factor in the decision I suspect. After all, your kids are, what, 3, 9, and adult? Sara Read action ! #: 17027 S8/Hot Topics 03-Jan-90 22:48:31 Sb: #LYNX Fm: Randy Magruder 73007,1227 To: Harjinder Nagra 72727,1322 I'd like to interject with a comment regarding the situation with the Lynx vs. the gameboy. Anyone who's seen a lynx has immediately trashed the gameboy as a useless piece of junk. I'd like to say that I own a gameboy. There's one thing I feel strongly about. It's not a lynx, but neither is it junk. It's like saying a mac is a piece of junk because it lacks color. It's true the lynx blows the game boy away in capabilities, but then there's more to people buying products than 'which is best'. The gameboy has something the lynx doesn't. NINTENDO's name on the front, along with wide availability tremendous marketing clout, and tons of developers releasing stuff for it. I don't know if I could get a good arcade football game for the Lynx, but I know the name of the developer releasing one for the game boy. I've already got 5 games for the gameboy. I called Sears to order a Lynx, and no dice. There aren't any to be had that way (at least at this moment). Aside from this, the gameboy is smaller, has batteries that last me a month under moderate usage, and fit more easily into a handbag than the lynx. So for commuting on the train, its ideal! I'm going to get a lynx when I can, and I know I won't regret it...I'm looking forward to it! But if you want a wide availability of good games, get both the gameboy and a lynx - they both have their strengths - at least I won't have to mourn the fact that the lynx doesn't have the latest game that the gameboy just came out with! #: 17035 S8/Hot Topics 04-Jan-90 00:05:54 Sb: #17027-#LYNX Fm: Terry May 75076,3576 To: Randy Magruder 73007,1227 Randy... Agreed. I have a Game Boy, and it is far from a piece of junk. In fact, if not for the advent of the Lynx, it would probably be given a heck of a lot more credit than what it is currently getting. The graphics are excellent, albeit in monochrome, game play is good, the controls are good, and it is built _extremely_ sturdy and rock solid. I even like the nice Walkman-type shape of it. That said, the Lynx does blow it away, and I want one bad. But not everyone is going to be willing and/or able to spend $150 or so on a hand-held game machine. I am 'willing' to spend that much on one, but am not 'able' to fit it into my budget at this time. ...Terry ** Editor Note; How gratifying to see strong, positive comments for Atari and one of its exciting new entrants in the USA marketplace. The LYNX, with its COLOR display, super smooth scrolling graphics, and superb sound quality is definitely on its way to becoming THE hand-held Game machine. Yes, this editor owns a LYNX, and yes, I personally feel this IS a remarkable machine deserving of our compliments and excitement. While I do not agree with the labeling of the Gameboy as a piece of junk, I do humbly submit that the Gameboy is so far out-classed by the LYNX that it, (Gameboy), speaking performance wise only, cannot possibly be considered competition. As far as who would be willing to spend $150.00 on a hand-held game machine, the overall sales results will show us that answer. I do know this though, every person I have shown my LYNX to has proclaimed it is superior to what they had already seen and expressed a desire to own a LYNX of their own. Additionally, the price is not out of line when one considers the quality and performance of the LYNX. So far, the LYNX is taking the USA by storm, people are going to outrageous extremes to purchase the delightful and elusive little goodies. And, believe me, it is worth the effort and the bux!! I highly recommend the LYNX for all, young and old alike. Its performance is superb, the colors, animation smoothness and sound deliver flawlessly beyond any expectations possible. LYNX certainly has impressive statistics ---------------------------------------- o 16 MHz 65C02 (CMOS Version of 6502) o 64K RAM o ROM Cards can hold 2 Megabytes o 16 Users supported through comlynx o Comlynx could easily be used for other peripherals o 4 channel sound (each with Digital to Analog converter for perfect digitized sound effects) o Resolution 160 x 102 o Hardware sprite scaling with unlimited sprites o 16 Colors on screen from a palette of 4096 ___________________________________________________________ > FCC CONTROVERSY CPU/STR Feature¿ Was it false? Or not? =============================== JUMPING THE GUN! =============== Another viewpoint ----------------- John King writes: RUMOR ON PROPOSED FCC RULE A rumor is making the BBS rounds that the FCC is considering a proposed rule to assess a surcharge on personal computer modem users accessing the nation's telephone network. ** Editor Note: For what its worth, we found this rather exuberant reply/rebuttal was posted concerning a user attempting to alert the telecomputing community to the possibility of a recently won decision being re-opened and possibly being reversed. Folks, this is not rumor nor, is it actually happening the way its related above. The course of events began in Texas, where the phone company, Southwestern Bell, attempted to surcharge all modem operators simply because they were using modems, this matter was brought before various governing agencies including the FCC. Although the matter has been favorably resolved, the older issues were brought into the picture and therefore the cause for alarm. It is comforting to know there are those people out there who are willing to question the decisions of both the powerhouse telephone companies and the governing/regulatory agencies of these companies. THIS RUMOR IS FALSE! A telephone call to Ms. Jerri Payton, Common Carrier Division, FCC, Telephone:(202) 632-7553, on 29 Dec 89, to find out what the proposed rule number was. Ms. Payton stated no such rule is under consideration. A similar rule, which was turned down, was proposed over two years ago. No similar rules are pending or planned. Over 57 people wrote in to the FCC so far about this rumored rule. The vast majority failed to provide their return address so the FCC can't respond to them. The FCC plans to issue a press release on either Friday, 12/29/89, or Tuesday, 01/02/89, discounting the rumor. The press release will be provided to both the national and local media. Help put this rumor to rest. Please pass on this message to any other BBS sysop who unsuspectingly posted this rule proposal on their BBS. There's no sense getting the FCC upset at modem users by answering a bunch of unneeded letters generated by a rumor when we may need the FCC's help in the future on real regulatory issues. ** Editor Note: Again, we see the blatant, hysterical accusation that the rumor was false. It wasn't false nor was it actually occurring in the manner represented by the original message strings appearing on the various services. It would have been both wise and prudent to point out that the item in circulation was flawed or did not contain complete information. To simply say, the whole issue was false is a gross insult to all modem users. Especially when this issue was resurrected by an serious occurance in Texas where the Telephone Company, Southwestern Bell, attempted to use the very same concepts presented in the proposal that was originally set before the FCC two years ago. This time, though, they directed the rate INCREASE at each and every modem connected to their lines! Additionally, if the FCC was so EAGER to claim publicly that this information was a rumor and was entirely untrue, then, where is the press release? The bottom line is; Never take a back seat or allow yourselves to be intimidated by _any_ governing body whose major responsibility is to serve and represent you. They (the FCC) are there to SERVE THE PUBLIC, if and when the modem users need to provide input to the FCC, there are rules and regulations in place to readily insure the input is properly and fairly considered. Therefore, please don't think for a moment that the FCC "holds grudges or will be angry with you"!!! We feel the advice to squelch yourselves lest "you get the FCC upset" is pure poppycock! And we add ..Supervisor of Enforcement, Mary Beth Hess, FCC, agrees with this premise fully and emphasized that the FCC welcomes all input from concerned individuals. This message is an example of Politics at its very best! Msg#:19888 *Bulletin Board* 12/31/89 14:39:35 From: JOSEPH ZUCKERMAN To: JOHN KING Subj: REPLY TO MSG# 19868 (FCC WANTS YOUR MONEY) I have been informed by a reliable source that the Senate committee secured an iron-clad commitment from the new FCC chairman that the above mentioned charge will not be implemented. The SEnate has legislation on the back-burner to outlaw it. They didn't bother to bring the legislation to the floor because they made the guarantee part of the confirmation process. Those of you who have access to usenet may have seen the discussion on this. My suggestion is that you ignore the message and relax. Joe ** Editor Summary ----------------- According to our info at the time, provided by Jim Eason a California radio announcer, the Commission was considering to 'review' the old findings and then decide whether to continue. It would appear that if they (the Commission) decide to 're-open' the matter it would be months away from any active procedure. (Submittals & Requests for Opinions) Perhaps the individual(s) who posted the information here and on the other services were premature, or maybe, they did EXACTLY THE RIGHT THING to cause squelching of the matter before it got on its feet. In any case, being alert and eager to tell all of us their findings is, by no means, reason to be faulted. My 'guesstimate' is that the FCC will, without delay, drop the entire matter before it is ever under consideration. It appears that the bottom line here is now very clear. It goes like this, the phone company, Southwestern Bell, had attempted to surcharge every modem user in the state of Texas thus creating a strongly contested matter there. In the process, the FCC was superficially involved in the hearings as certain portions of the old proposal were invoked by Southwestern Bell as precedents. This is where the involvement of the FCC comes in and in NO WAY HAS THE OLD PROPOSAL BEEN RESURRECTED AS PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT. In conclusion, STR called the FCC office of Regulation and Enforcement and spoke to Mary Beth Hess spvsr., and Ms. Payton relative to this entire matter and it was thoroughly discussed. In fact, we fax'ed a copy of this article to her office for verification and correction if needed. We have presented to you, the reader, the entire info line and all the facts surrounding this matter. Again, there was no false rumor just a release from genuinely concerned individual(s) that were not accurate or complete in their information. Bland accusation of false and rather uninformed or unreliable advice such as ("don't get the FCC upset") has no place in a responsible information network. The FCC, Ms. Hess & Ms. Payton have expressed full agreement with this article. And, at the same time, fully resolved this matter and cleared up any loose ends there may have been. As far as we are concerned this matter is closed. _______________________________________________________ > Stock Market ~ CPU NewsWire¿ =========================== THE TICKERTAPE ============== by M. Arthur There was no trading on Christmas Day. Information on Atari Stock was not found on Tuesday. Atari Stock went down 1/4 of a point on Thursday. It was up 1/4 of a point on Friday. Finishing up the week at 8 5/8 points, Atari stock is down 1/4 of a point from the last report. Apple Stock is down 1 1/4 points from Friday, Dec. 22, 1989. Commodore Stock is up 5/8 of a point from 12/22/89. IBM Stock is down 1 1/4 points from 12/22/89. Stock Report for Week of 12/26/89 to 12/29/89 _________________________________________________________________________ STock| Christmas | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Reprt| Day |Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg. | -----|-----------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------| Atari| ----- | ----- |8 5/8 |8 3/8 - 1/4|8 5/8 + 1/4| | | | | | 79,100 Sls | -----|-----------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------| CBM | ----- | ----- |10 1/4 |10 1/4 ... |10 3/4 + 1/2| | | | | | 145,100 Sls | -----|-----------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------| Apple| ----- |35 1/2 - 1 |35 1/8 - 3/8|34 5/8 - 3/4|35 1/4 + 5/8| | | | | |1,360,800 Sls| -----|-----------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------| IBM | ----- |94 1/2 - 7/8|94 3/4 + 1/4|94 1/8 - 5/8|94 1/8 ... | | | | | |1,636,500 Sls| -----'-------------------------------------------------------------------' 'Sls' refers to the # of stock shares that were traded that day. 'CBM' refers to Commodore Business Machines Corp. '-----' means that information on that stock's price was not found on that day. _________________________________________________________ > CPU NEWSWIRE CONFIDENTIAL¿ Sayin' it like it is... ========================= - Lombard, IL. ***** CSS CLOSED DOWN BY LEVY INC. ***** ------------ Tuesday all the employees at Computer Software Services in the Lombard, IL, headquarters (main warehouse) were told to be on time for a "very special meeting". At this meeting, they were told that CSS was closing its doors and everyone would be out of work. CSS is a division of Charles Levy Inc. Many employees will, however, be able to apply and interview for positions within the Charles Levy organization's other entities. At this time, a token management team is on duty at CSS tending to the 'winding down' operations. - Sunnyvale, CA. ****** ANOTHER FOOTSHOT IN THE OFFING? ****** -------------- While casually glancing through the message strings on GEnie, a major international online telecommunications information service, we found the following announcements or, if you will, comments passed online for all to see. --- In response to a question about bundling basic unix (pd) software offerings with a monochrome mega system and marketing it toward the scholastic community.... (A)...Atari would be interested in talking to any VAR that wanted to sell such a system to college campuses. However, Atari does not have the internal organization necessary to make such sales direct, nor does our dealer network. --- In response to the obvious when and where type question.... (A)...Atari will not be showing at CEPS or any Seybold show this year. Elizabeth Shook Atari Corporation Quite clearly, this is no reflection on Ms. Shook. Obviously, Atari is not trying to alienate special interest groups (DTP, etc.) and especially the scholastic community. It would appear however, they are completely out of tune with reality in these two areas. The Atari Computer, simply put...BELONGS in the school system. What better way to ensure the next generation's ability to recognize and readily accept the Atari computer lines as a viable alternative. The $60 - $70 thousand dollars it costs to participate in each of these shows, (CEPS - SEYBOLD), is, without a doubt, the least expensive route offering benefits that far out weigh the already low cost factor. When considering the benefits derived.. ie; opportunity to display a totally positive intent, special interest group support, market exposure and above all else, STRONG GOODWILL..it becomes increasingly difficult to believe Sam rejected these two shows. Let's hope this is not a relapse of the "cheaps" creeping in from the bottom up. Certainly, shunning a few shows because it may cost a few bucks is not Sam's Style. The bottom line here is simple; ..Sam Tramiel is receiving BAD ADVICE from someone. - Skokie, IL. ***** SEARS CLAIMS LYNX "NOT AVAILABLE"!! ***** ---------- We were thoroughly and completely shocked after calling the SEARS "800" number; 1-800-366-3000 attempting to order a LYNX Game Machine, Stock # 49TD75425. After achieving negative results and subsequently speaking to the supervisor of telephone catalog sales, Susan Dees, who explained that there are no Lynx hand held game machines available throughout the continental USA Sears network I found myself somewhat upset. Her parting statement was quite clear and needed no further explanation, she said; "they are no longer available". In pursuing all the facts concerning this matter, we spoke to Dick Niles, TeleCatalog Sales specialist, who stated that the terminology "no longer available" usually means 'temporarily out of stock'. At this point, the decision was made to take this matter directly to the SEARS executive offices. After all, having the telemarketing people furnish misleading information, because of whatever reason, is a disaster both for Atari and Sears. Please be advised, that although the SEARS telephone catalog sales people had stated that their computers reflected the product being no longer available, we have been assured by Dave Lowrey that the LYNX IS available through SEARS, although temporarily back ordered, and will be shipped by SEARS until, at least, August, 1990. Also, the new stock number for the LYNX is 49GY75425. DO NOT USE THE OLDER NUMBER MENTIONED ABOVE. In checking into this confusion, we found that SEARS ordered 2600 LYNX game machines and expects to receive a minimum of 1200 LYNX Game Machines within a matter of days. This information was confirmed through the offices of Dave Lowrey, Buyer - Sears and Ron Stringari, Atari Corp. At this time, both of these gentlemen are attending the CES show at Las Vegas and are unavailable for comment. SEARS TELECATALOG INFORMATION ----------------------------- as of 01/05/90 (verified) 49 GY 75425 $159.00 Lynx 49 GY 75431 $ 34.50 Electro Cop 49 GY 75432 $ 34.50 Blue Lightning 49 GY 75432 $ 34.50 Gates Of Zendocon 49 GY 75433 $ 38.50 Gauntlet III (not available yet) The toll free order line for the Sears catalog is: 1-800-366-3000. - Las Vegas, NV ***** LYNX MAY SOON HAVE A "BIG BROTHER" ***** ------------- The 512k game machine is on the horizon... now, if the wizards are slick and shrewd, they get the "jump" on the game machine industry in the states by making sure they have an adapter that will allow the 512k machine to run the cards for the LYNX and vis/versa thus perpetuating the lineage in the game machine marketplace for Atari. Think for moment, the way the customer's budget can best be served by making the games usable on both the new console and the LYNX. It is reported, that at this time, a number of game machine manufacturers are exploring this approach to the market, hopefully, for the next Christmas season. At CES 1990, Industry mavins predict that the quality of software available for the game machine systems will positively decide the marketshare winners of the future. ___________________________________________________________________ > Hard Drive Info CPU/STR InfoFile¿ Affordable Mass Storage ================================ NEW PRICES! & MORE MODELS!! ============================ ABCO COMPUTER ELECTRONICS INC. P.O. Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32236-6672 Est. 1985 _________________________________________ Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT BBS: 904-786-4176 12-24-96 HST FAX: 904-783-3319 12 PM - 6 AM EDT _________________________________________ HARD DISK SYSTEMS TO FIT EVERY BUDGET _____________________________________ All systems are complete and ready to use, included at NO EXTRA COST are clock/calendar and cooling blower(s). ALL ABCO HARD DISK SYSTEMS ARE FULLY EXPANDABLE (you are NOT limited to two drives ONLY!) (all cables and connectors installed) RUGGED SEAGATE HARD DISK MECHANISMS * ICD HOST ADAPTERS USED EXCLUSIVELY * OMTI HIGH SPEED CONTROLLERS * 32mb #SG32238 549.00 42mb #SG44710 619.00 51mb #SGN4951 629.00 65mb #SG60101 689.00 80mb #SGN296 729.00 100mb #SG84011D 949.00 130mb #SG1244D 1099.00 145mb #SG3A421 1110.00 170mb #SGT41776 1389.00 260mb #SG1244Q 2169.00 320mb #SGN7788Q 3295.00 Listed above are a sampling of the systems available. Prices also reflect various cabinet/power supply configurations (over sixty configurations are available, flexibility is unlimited) ***** POST HOLIDAY SPECIALS ARE IN EFFECT! ***** *** ALL Units: Average Access Time: 24ms - 34ms *** ALL UNITS COMPATIBLE WITH --> MAGIC SAC - PC-DITTO/II - SPECTRE/GCR LARGER units are available - (special order only) * Removable Media Devices NOW Available (44mb) Syquest 555 * * SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY PRICES * EXTRA CARTRIDGES: 97.95 (anytime) * SYQUEST 44MB (#555) REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE * - SYQUEST 44 MB removable media drive - ICD ST Host Adapter - ICD Mass Storage Utility Software - 3' DMA Cable - Fan & Clock - Multi-Unit Power Supply (1) 44 MB Syquest Cart. Completely Assembled and READY TO RUN! ONLY $869.00 We would offer floppy drives.. but Computer Shopper has 'em at the right price. And.. you can plug 'em right into our cabinets and power supplies. Low-Boy OR Standard Case (designed with room for another 3.5 OR 5.25" drive) They're made for user expansion! TRUE UPGRADE-ABILITY! * TWIN SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVES ... PROGRAMMER'S DELIGHT * SPECIALLY PRICED $1529.00 * SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE AND HARD DRIVE COMBINATIONS * - Syquest 44 Model [555] and the following hard drives - 50mb SQG51 $1299.00 30mb SQG38 $1219.00 65mb SQG09 $1339.00 85mb SQG96 $1399.00 LOWBOY - STANDARD - DUAL BLOWER CABINETS - Custom Walnut WOODEN Cabinets - TOWER - AT - XT Cabinets - ALL POWER SUPPLIES UL APPROVED -* 12 month FULL Guarantee *- (A FULL YEAR of COVERAGE) Quantity & Usergroup Discounts Available! _________________________________________ DEALERS and DISTRIBUTORS WANTED! Personal and Company Checks are accepted. ORDER YOURS TODAY! 904-783-3319 9am - 8pm EDT _______________________________________________________________ > A "Quotable Quote"¿ ================= "Genuine Competition engenders CREATIVITY and ORIGINALITY!!" ... A moment of truth "THE NEW WAVE OF ATARI!" -------------------------------------------------------------------------- CPU/STR¿ "Your Independent News Source" January 05, 1990 16/32bit Magazine copyright ½ 1990 Vol. IV ~ No.401 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of the editors, staff, CPU NEWSWIRE¿ CPU/STR¿ or CPU Report¿. Reprint permission is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted. All reprints must include CPU NEWSWIRE, CPU/STR or CPU Report and the author's name. All information presented herein is believed correct, the editors and staff are not responsible for any use or misuse of information contained herein. --------------------------------------------------------------------------