PersonalComputerNews099-16Feb1985.pdf

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NEWS
64SlEUTff
WHAT
CAUSED
~~-
THE
CRISIS
Acom searchesfor
WHY
wayout of crisis
Britain'•
AC RN
=.~~~n;t;r!'r:
lill
·CRACKED
balance
thia week. The understood
Jut
beon
the
·~
here?
What
the
that
ita
crw.t
al .(corn
make
BBC
~
-----·-
....h.
~-
ONITOR
The future
o(
Acom
ha.rip
in
ltOn:n
number two home
micro maker
ia
in deep trou
ble.
difference
will
17
t.o
aiz
wee_)t
and
WU
to
llDd.
Elecuon ownen?
We
un·
tan&le
atrandl
to
put
you
in
the
the
picture
.
'"ii§'"-TCMVI
~
~
~
EPW{-1
=
,o
4
'
-'
11
threatened to
link
the
company a
week
ago
ahowt
noaign
of
blowing over, and the
chanoet
or
A«>m
emef'ling
in·
"'"
look.)>leak.
A.
PCN
went
t.opreee, Acom
to
the
point
or
cult.mg
workforce by
about
Nven per otnt.
It
may now be
roroed
into even greater cuta.
The vast numbers
oC
BBC
Mic:roe
eold, coupled
with
the
well-dewloped
1upport
inchia--
-==,.,...
~
,..._
-,,--------------
OUTPUT
;:r:~l~ri~~!tf:.atew!!,~
that
the company
wu ~rga·
nillncit1fina.noe1
,only1e.rved
~in:~~~1weep-
~ut
11uppUers.atoc.kbrokert.,
=!~-£°=k
t
part
of
it) an
attractive
propo,ai·
tJon
u the object
or
a takeove
r
bid.
But
the
rumoursthat
GEC
and
Thom-EMJ
~~~-:!=~:.-~i~~::!'t':Ji~\r~~
-
--
More on
grapbict-thi1
time
(oryourCPC,4.6"'.
Now
you
can
take
13
oft'in
1111
di.rect.io11.1
.
The
final
pa.rt.I
of
our
great
Tony
Crowther f&meabould
have
you
.
off
and
runnin1
-onceyou'v
etyped
itaJl
1n
14
-'-
-==--------------
'-'
IK...._..
HARDWARE
~
-
T
~ ~~-~----~~~--~
-~~"
~
l:~?n:,,~~,::~o:i':i;:-l)'ltem,otrenIBMcompat.ibil·
--
M;cn,.
~
~:C,"tk,:'°~,,e
1
20
:l
~b~=.
~1::
~
~':i~
t.o a
terioua
di•
ueen
and
a.-ociatu were
all
holdina
their breath.
The
BBC,
mpe.ny'1
ruture
Even
if
the
c:o
Acom'•
mainlltay
over the
lut
ilt.a.kenout.oritahanda, u.-rsof
lhould
be
t.hreeyean,tffmed
uconCu..ed
Bee.
and Electn>na
able
to
count on continued
support. The
BBC
Micro
aJone
into criaia...
aupporta a
number
or
indepen-
Matt.en
came
t.o
a
bead Jut
dent
maintenance oraani1A-
Wednelday
(February 6) when
t.ion.1
.
Torch, which pulled out
of
a
the company'1
lhare
pri
ce
dip-
ped
to
23p Wore t.radinc
in
the
~yt
~~
w~
::::
stock
WU
w.pe
nded.
It
tra~
broke,
amrmed
that
it. would
pl...!
tl>at
Acom
bad
cbanpl
:£~~~-
rbeque book can
are about
t.o
~~~·~rbee~u~
PERIPHERALS
2S
-
Another
alternative
for
thON
in
need
or
mau
llf.Oragt
inwr<ace
and
diaJr.
drive
from
Watford Electronlct
.
an
SOFTWARE
'cont.inue
to
1upply
BBC
add·
ON
while
there
Lt
a
demand
ror
them,'
and
th.ia
wu
aleo
the
attitude or
other
th.ird·part)'
su
ppli
ers.
Tort.h
ii
understood
t.o be
licenled
t.o
produce BBC
qreeme:nt over
financial
poli,
Miawi(
Acorn
becomee
unable
t.o
deliver
them.
1
Meanwhile Acom'• erforta to
:':r::=n~~~C~t
~
atoc.kbroken expect Acorn t.o re-construct
are
hkely
t.o
be
lhowal0Ninitayear'1buain~
hampered
by
a
credibility
pp
up t.oJune 1985, a.f\.e.r
yurt
of
that
,rowt
wider
u
the corn·
conai..at.ent
growth,
and confi.
pe.ny'•
ailence lengt.ben1. To
dence
in
the company
evapo-
add
to ill
problem.a,it
may
be
rated u
the
Iha.re
price tum· asked why
it gave
no
rormaJ
notice
lut
week
that
it
had
bled.
parted
company
wilh
it.I
'=
3'~
Go
ia
one oft.he oldNt pmea
i.n
the
world
-
but
we
1ooJr.
two
al
J*Ule.thatbrincitban,uptodat.e,ju.etyouapin,tyourBBC
a reorganiNUon.
It
trimmed
the
numberoldmributorsfrom
~=::
haPfi:;::ro~
e
See
Holllfl
Front..,page 4, (or
analysiaof Acom
'
, problem.1.
banker.
--
--
-
.
-
--
.
and...
)
-
REGULARS
get. to
g:ript
with
a
mw-der
myrt.ery on the
Commodore
64
(and
Atari, and Apple,
and
mM
21
Our
weekly
round·up
ol
the
80ftwa.reyou
can
e.1.pect.
buy
to
.....
'-
Slut.era
Upe
and
downa
in
the
c:ruy
world
of computerw
.
-Eoo,lrlol
Criet for help
auwered
here
.
21
at
the
ready
for
the
lat.elt
in
computer
act.ion.
37
PCN1buyain
buement whue
you
can
buy
or
eell.
More hint. and
tip1
to
help you
pt
the
belt.
from
your
.,..tem.
Q,,11
40
Z2
Dunpon muter
Bob
Chappell
~~·~y~m.:~~i
WML
PCN PEBKUARY1fl986
Slrtcti. ,.,_
wu quiet
lut
week, but
no
newa
isn't
good
newa for the former
micro
di.tLributor.
A
1pokeaman
for
the
official receiver
who
ia
;;::id':.et~~dt:
no developmenta
during
the
week. The
aim
it
1till to
kff'I)
~~p!!.i:i'!f8:mi:Tt
diviawn1
.
,._.,..
.._ celltdMI
another
:
.
c~
i!.
~e
the
wi:r.
Afw:r weeUordenyingthatit
Plus/4
at
half mast
At
rar u
otrers rrom
the
UK
are
concerned, matt.er1 look
decidedly
thinner
.
'Ille
man-
~entbuyoutth.atwubeir11
.£_
1v2;y~/S:»lL,~~
::
fnve,
Home
Filin1
Manager
and
a
di1k
,bued adventure
for
£2-49.99
.
The
lleCOnd
putll
together
the
800XL, a 1010
recorde
r
, and
Pole
Poe1Llonfor
£129
.99 .
The 1010
cauet.te
recorder
tellateparately
for .£34,and
lhe
1060
d.nve for £199
.
1r
dea
lers
,tart
to,
plit
theae
packaget
the
800XLlhouldc:oetnomorethan
Commodo
Plual<.
Sow£160
..
1
baa
been trimmed off
the
price
,
~~_;:~
bul
the
machine
',
c:arft
r
could
Crou
conoedea that 'people
be
in
the
ue'1 peth u well.
keep
talking about a manage
·
ment
buyout
',
but pointa
oul
0
Kr::1~~
tm~~P.u~~~:i
~
.:!et
the
CPC
464
at
50
or ita
it.ores.
Don't look
in
Smith',
c:omput.er
department.I
or bwt.ineu com·
put.er
c::entreti-
Lhe
Arnatn.da
will
be
on ule
in
eeparate
Compu t.erShopewit.hinc::ertain
...,,..
,
T_.,-, ACT
made
their joint
contribution
to
the
retail
1Ce-ne
lut
week
by
kic.ki!1f off'
AT
Computerworld,
which
will
:.ra:
~~D
e
;:=~~!:~~r.
JrOUnd
.
The
operation will con·
c::entrateon
the
UK,
where ACT
departme
nt.I.
30
........
i1 prom1eed
by
Bubble Bua
Soft.ware
(0732-
355962
)
ror
ita first
sta
b at an
A.mat.rad program
.
Ca.lied
Hi-
Rite,
the
came
feature,a
num
-
ber of
ladden
and catwalk
ICl'ff.na, each
of
which
can
viewed from four different
with
vers1on1
for
othe
r
machineaaoon
a
f\.erwan:l.a
.
~Jr~:1!:~Jiut~
:!e
~e~uITt(
T
computer
~:d~i':re':
that hav
e
bua1net1
~n~~e:
~P~t
t!'t::i::ti~
n.
the
VTX5000
modem, OEL of
Pen-
tllall
.....
~
ware
1UVice
from
Channel
"
·
The £125 •-Data
adapto
r
will
let
owners
ol
Spectrum
and
Spectrum
Plwi
machinea
tap
into t.eleteJCt information and
download IOftwan
from
Chan
·
nel 4'1 4-Tel
tervice
.
~~=
l!i~
=w~f!::
w~: t~a':ft
~~i=riOUI
otrer1
from
the
UK
it
therefore loob
u if
Orie
ia
bound
for
the
continent.. where
thin
gs have
a
lways
looked
roeier
for
the
company
.
Mr
Crou
1&)'1
a
dea l
where
the
Orie.
would
be
manu
·
racturtd
in
France
under
)i.
o(
Buie
with more than 75 corn·
cence
ii
a
pou.ib
ili
ty.
The
com-
mandl.
and
rour apph
ca
tlon1
pany
didn't have
near
ly
u
good
package.
-
a
word prot860r
,
a
Chri
1t.ma1
in France
u
il had
databue,
1preadAheet. and expected,
but
a showin,
of
the
Orie.
St.rat.OI
at
the
Frankfurt
grephica
-
in
ROM.
But
the
1yst.em
wu
received
(a1r
(part
o(
it
whale
One
WN
half
-heartedly
by
tome
inde-
actually
in recei verahip
)
gene
r
-
pendent
aoftware auppher1
,
ated conaiderable
in
~rat..
At
far
u
ea:i.ating ute:rs are
concern ed, thin
p
don't look too
~~:nw~e~~etf:~':!{
ore
L28 made itaappearance
a
t
hopeful.
1f
a
Britiah
compan
y
the
Conaumer Elect:ronica
bought Orie
there
would
be
Show in
IA,
Vegu
(i81ue
95).
eome chance or 1upport for One
Two week.I
ago (ialue
98)
1
and At.mo9 owners. but if a
Commodore
WN
forced
to
de-
French company picked itup,
in
clare redundanc.iea
a
t ita Corby
default
of
&
J
acobit.e-at.yle
re
-
/•
plant
,
where
the
Ph11
,
the
turn
eome
unspecified time
in
Commodore
16,
and
the
6" are
the
future
,
UK
uaers
could
well
built.. Thi,
newt
wu
followed
find
themstlv
et
organ
uung
by
report.I from
the US
that
aot\.ware
buying
es.peditiona to
Commodore had cut the
price
of &u
lope
...
the
64
to
$160
there.
The
UK
company•
id
thatt.he6"
inthu
1
Atari puts SOOXL
in
country
would
not
follow
1uit.
cut-price packs
CommodoreiaptHentingthe
Plu.a14cut
u an e.xample of
it.I
lt'
1deathby
t
,OOOcutaa
tAta.ri
uth
e
compenyc.leanthedecb
a
bility to
uaeN
and react
to make
room
for ita new
linea.
:;!~~nm~:;
Oe.lera
are still es.pectir11
word&,
it'• kicking the BBC
the
XE and ST ranges to
arnve
micro while Acom
ia
down
.
in
the
UK
from April onward&,
Other companies
may
have to but
it
look.aaa though
the
lt.Ock
re1pond
,
Xu:
will
be
aold off
first.. The
cut.I
a.re
bein, applied
to
the
800XL, but Atari
hu
ita
com
-
V"ive
Orie! French
petitotl
in
mind for
the
chop .
movein
with
bid
Oepneciation
.emt
to
,tart
Following
1U
1udde
n
death
th
e
work on th
e
800X
L
before it
week before
lut.,
Orie Producta
even
crceee,a
the
counte
r
. The
International loob
u
i(
1t may
be
beadin&' for
reinearnat
ion
in
France
.
and
two
packaget due to
be
put
The company',
receiver,
~I.her
thiJ
month effectively
Denni
,
Ct-ou
,
hu
to
fa r had bn11.1it down agai
n.
three
definite
offers for
the
lu
rice
a
t th
e
moment
ii
~kredtheoe
down to.£150
ea.rlier
thia
week
.
11iia
ia
aava,ery
on an unpre
·
c:edent.ed
1eale
-
the
Plus
'"
wu
launched
luty
ea.ra
t£299
.
A
1pokeaman u.id aheepiahly
that
the cut wu
not
a 1hort..-
term ,pedal offer
.
The
PIUN•
wu
aimed
to
britt_.
the
gap between
home
~~=::m
Jf1:.
~t"
1
i:
neH:
received
one
offer
from
an
ex-di.rector of
Orie,
although
he
~~1o~e~~
£90,
Basingstoke
boost
forQLdisks
The
1teady
trickle of
QL dilk
drivee we'
ve
been aeeing
over
the
put
few
mont
h.I
look.a like
bu.ilding
up to a
flood.
Micro Peripberala
(Baaing-
stoke
•73232
}
hu
announced a
720
K
3.5in
drive, while Medic
Data Syatema
(Baaingatoke -
oddcoincid
enoethat -
•762«
)
wu
1eheduled
to
1how a
I
Mb
5.25in 1y1tem at
last
Satur-
d.ay'1 ZX
M1cror
1
.
a
r
~
=~~~u~riJ~-:-:
the
more interesting
.
The
1ys-
·--Ql-
or
the
two the
MOS
eound.s
1118
Micro
Periphenils
1ys-
to
te.m conaista of
interface
with
built,.in Centro
nica
port and
6"K
memory plwi
one
drive,
andcotta£2"9 .95 ,
whil
e
a
twtn
dri~r3'!i!
of
enru
,
~&~:e~~:Jy
confuaing
number
including modem,
612K
mem-
ory e.xpansion and
ROM
expan·
1ion.
Moredetail,on theee
af\e:r
M.t:ri~ed
the
m
down at
the
or
=~n:;
1~7;:~
c~c:i:::
in.g'
with
Fre.nch
=-:
but
,!°;'n=io~CP6
di.atribut.or,a ASN.Orie
'•1yndicate
French
that include.
•&e
iu
managing director
The
dea l
thi,
Alan
Sugar
lut
week
held
out
the
proepc!d.
cheaper
diak
storage
thi1
year
.
The
company
ia
ref
uaing to be
drawn
into
a
price war
.
'We're
oot
reducing
::rn~t:~~urou:;:t!~
1yndicate
wu
offering
wu
n't
acctptable
to
Mr
Croee.. but
he
wu
expecting a reviaed oll'er by
the
beginn.ingofthil week
.
er
lfthi,
off
la
acceptable
Ori
e
will
follow
Dragon
Data acroea
the
Channe
l. It
L&,
however
,
~~:!!J'tf!°~
i~~y~te[!~
int.erfac:eand
1ingle
dri
ve costa
.£331.
Extra
drives
coet £183
apiece
.
'nltle
two
1)'8t.ema
join di
sk
uni
ta
from QueatandCSTin the
QL
tcceMOries line
.
Any u.eera
di&ench&nt.ed
with
Microdrivea
may
now
find
t.hemaelveaapoi
lt
rorcboice.
or
H':
-~~1:ri)eSu~:!~i
Am8trad would
launch
a
new
~~t
idro~tii~n:
machine
at
the LET
lhow at
bi!~
NCOndh.and UK
micro
m&nu·
facturers
...
~r:veU::udlio~;r:~!f:
PCN
f'EBRUARY 181986
ONITOR
lnffl!"Npect.itwulikeawa.ke
.
Will
the
rece.nl Frankfurt.Com·
puter F._ir
prove
to be
the
lut
lime
Acom,
Orie
and all
th
e
ot.ben
wens
gathered wider
th
e
..,.. ...rr
inc
a
Over 170 exhibit.on, includ-
large
number
of
UK
repre1enu.tives,
pthered
together
in
a desperate, and, for
the
la.rgepart., futile attempt
to
rake in the deut.echmarb.
You
could sympathi.N
with
the
German
public
,
thou&:h.
Tberewun't
really anything
to
fire
the
imagination
at
funk.
furt.,
delpit.e
enonnoU1
public-
ity (Pve:n to
th
e
event.
Amid
a
m.u1
of
PC
competibl• only
a
few
itemaof interett were
the.re
to
tempt
the
e.nd
uar.
The
Samurai/ElanlFlanlEnter·
priN
made another bid
for
the
to,
'Ou
=~~cr:.'3::~lr:
wk\lllfteorientierte
::.~J~~~!,:n-:;,.~~
the
German market
that
thia
machine
wu
Men
u being
po.ibly
the
motl
e.z.citin.g
e.z..
.
Aeorn wu
putt.ing
a brave
face
on
thi.np
.
Aft.er nearly
a
year
in
bu.slneet
in
Wai t
Ger·
many
it
had
onl7
12,000
u..lK.
At.t.empta
to
launch the
ABC
1erieecame
to
nothing when
th
e
only specimen anived Crom
the
UK
in
lilt.le
piecee.
Meanwhil
e,
hibitatthelhow
~u!~h
ht.ld
out for
rm~~~
:i~:-:
put
hopes
were
the
Electron,
Acom'• perform·
ante
looked
ahaky beude
Am·
at.rad'•, which
it
rumoured
to
have e,ecured
a
ule
of
40,000
machines under
the
prett.igiOld
Schneiderlabelwithinweebof
ita German debuL
Orie
a
nd
Sindaar were m.ak·
PCN RBRUA.RYlf1986

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