AmigaShopper51-Jul95.pdf

The essential magazine for Amiga enthusiasts

ARexx: Unleash your

Amiga’s hidden power!

Issue 51 July 1995 £ 3.99

ShopperDisks

Fu//y-working demos

We roadtest the best-value

new printers around. Which

■ a?

• Directory Opus 5 is an

incredibly powerful and well-

designed file manager program.

• Get connected in style with

HiSoft's Termite.

• AS went to White Knight to test Broadcaster Elite,

their broadcast-quality video-editing system.

• Solve your corruption problems with DiskSalv 3.

• Open up a whole new world of possibilities with the

Hi-Q PowerStation.

• Re-live the fifties with Diner objects for LightWave.

• Plus, two pages packed with CD-ROMs.

Photogenics

The second instalment of paintmodes.

Assembler

A couple of improvements to your lottery program and

you could be in with a chance for the big prize.

DICE

Get organised and enhance your programming skills.

(Assembler and DICE listings are on Coverdisk 2.)

Comms

Are you using the right software to make the most of

the Internet? We tell you which applications are the

best to get you connected.

Cyberstorm 060 :

The fastest Amiga in the West. The first

68060 accelerator card for the Amiga.

Plus: 12 pages of reviews!

From the makers of

AMIGA

FORMAT:

------------------------------------------

IBB

. 1

I i8J ■! iL»i iiayiaiii

•

■I

S1IS11I

ious artists can't afford not to make

this masterpiece part of their

production studio. And, unlike some

classic artworks, this PICASSO will

appeal to all tastes. Up to 16 million

colors on a frameless canvas with an

amazing 1600 * 1280 resolution.

PICASSO ll-RTG and Amigas with

zorro-bus form the perfect match for

VGA and Multiscan monitors. Even

ports multiple program environments.

Instead of unrealistic prices.

Blittersoft • 6 Drakes Mews • Crownhill • Milton Keynes • Buckinghamshire * MK8 QE

Order Line

-€

TRONI*

+44 (0) 1908 2614-66

QueriesAechnicai

+44 (0) 1903 261 4-77

Fax

+44 (0)1908 2614-88

BBS

-44 (01 1908 2614-99

Who’s Who

Editorial

opperWelcome

The essential magazine for Amiga enthusiasts

Editor: Sue Grant E-mail sgrant@futurenet.co.uk

Consultant Editor: Nick Veitch

Art Editor: Nick Aspell

Production Editor: Anna Grenstam

Technical Writer: David Taylor

Contributors:

Toby Simpson, Larry Hickmott, Jason Holborn,

Graeme Sandiford, Gary Whiteley, Darren Irvine,

John Kennedy, John Parker and Paul Overaa

Photography: Pete Canning

Group Art Director: Matthew Williams

Advertising If you want to place an advertisement in Amiga

Shopper, contact Louise Woods on

With the sale of Commodore International to Escom the future of

the Amiga is secure... Hurrah!

T he Amiga is dead!

01225 442244, or you can

Broadcaster Elite amongst the

products reviewed.

You’ll find that Graeme has

made a large contribution to this

issue still, but our new technical

wizard, David, got stuck in

straightaway and he’s been busy

reviewing the Hi-Q PowerStation.

He’s already got lots of great ideas

on how to improve the quality of

our Coverdisks (not that they aren’t

great already).

Talking of the Coverdisks, we have a treat

for you this month in the shape of the brand

new Organiser from Digita. Organiser is a

personal organiser-style program (set up very

much like a Filofax) and it will help you

remember important appointments and events.

Plus! On Coverdisk 2 we have Twist 2, a

database program that’s simply a joy to use.

You’ll also find the files for our DICE and

Assembler tutorials on disk 2.

And this month we have changed our

Public Domain section - we have gone back to

reviewing new PD, so please keep sending in

your disks to the AS office.

Enjoy! ■

E-mail her at l woods@futurenet.co.uk

Advertisement Manager: Louise Woods

Senior Sales Executive: Diane Clarke

Sales Executive: David Matthews

Group Ad Manager: Mary de Sausmarez

Long liv e the Amiga!

O r som ething. Now

we have a brand new

owner fo r our

m achine (in the shape o f

Escom ) we can lo o k fo rw ard to

a much b rig h te r fu tu re . A ric h

rew ard indeed fo r being lo y a l to

the Amiga fo r the p ast anxiety-

fille d year.

And so far, the outlook is pretty

positive - Escom have a factory in China lined

up and ready to start manufacturing Amigas

and they have said that the machines should

be back on the shelves in only three months -

which would be in plenty of time for those

all-important Christmas sales. See page 12 for

more news.

But that’s enough celebrating for the

moment. Let’s take a look at what we have for

you in this month’s issue.

We have an enormous Supertest of inkjet

printers, written by our DTP and word

processing expert Larry Hickmott. He takes 13

of the latest printers through their paces and

reports on their progress - a couple of the

printers mentioned here are so new that they

are still prototypes.

Toby Simpson feels that ARexx has been

undervalued and underused for far too long

and so, to set the balance straight, he has

written a feature all about it. To find out how

you can use ARexx to your best advantage -

just turn to page 16.

We also have a completely packed reviews

section with the new Cyberstorm 060

accelerator card, Directory Opus 5 and

SUBSCRIPTIONS:

Turn to page 56 for a subscription to Amiga Shopper. If you already

have a subscription, but have a query, write to: Future Publishing Ltd,

FREEPOST (BS4900), Somerton TA11 6BR, or ® 01225 822511

Annual subscription rate:

The subscription rate for 12 issues of Amiga Shopper including

postage is £47.40 (UK), £55.80 (EC), £68.40 (rest of world)

CUSTOMER SERVICES: 01225 822510

Production Manager: Richard Gingell

Production Co-ordinator: Charlotte Brock

Ad Design: Lisa Withey

Production Technicians: Jon Moore, Mark Gover,

Simon Windsor, Chris Stocker, Brian Hook

Group Production Manager: Judith Green

Print Services Manager: Matthew Parker

Print Services Co-ordinator: Janet Anderson

Paper Controller: Fiona Deane

Production Adm inistrator: Suzannah Angelo-Sparling

Circulation Manager: Jon Bickley

Distribution: Sue Hartley

Publisher: Simon Stansfield

Joint Managing Director: Greg Ingham

Chairman: Nick Alexander

Printed by: Southernprint Ltd, Poole, Dorset

ISSN 0961-7302 Printed in the UK

News Tirade Distribution - UK and worldwide:

Future Publishing S ' 01225 442244

Editorial and Advertising:

30 Monmouth Street, Bath, Avon BA1 2BW

“0*01225 442244 Fax: 01225 446019

E-mail: amshopper@cix.compulink.co.uk

You can also contact us, or browse through a selection of Amiga

articles, tutorials etc. on FutureNet. Point your WWW browser at:

http :// www.f utu ren etco. u k

Your guarantee of value

E n in T T ^ This magazine comes from Future Publishing, a company

■ founded just nine years ago but now selling more computer

WwiWiMHyMllfl'fl magazines than any other publisher in Britain.

We offer:

Better advice. Our titles are packed with tips, suggestions and explanatory

features, written by the best in the business.

Stronger reviews. We have a cast-iron policy of editorial independence, and our

reviews give clear buying recommendations.

Clearer design. You need solid information and you need it fast So our

designers highlight key elements in the articles by using charts, diagrams,

summary boxes, annotated photographs and so on.

Sue Grant, Editor.

Turn the page for the ^

contents of issue 51 a

•

Greater relevance. At Future, editors operate under two golden rules:

1. Understand your readers' needs. 2. Satisfy them.

More reader interaction. We draw strongly on readers' contributions, resulting

in the liveliest letters pages and the best reader tips.

Better value for money. More pages, better quality: magazines you can trust

reproduced without written permission. We welcome contributions for publication

but regret that we cannot return any submissions. Contributions are accepted only

oh the basis of full assignment of copyright to Future Publishing. Any

correspondence will be considered for publication unless you specifically state

otherwise, and we reserve the right to edit letters published.

Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation

Audited circulation July - December 1994: 25,187

ABC

A M IG A S H O P P E R 3

Issue 51

July 1995

ShopperContents

July 1 9 9 5

Issue 51

The essential magazine for Amiga enthusiasts

ShopperTutorials

P h o to g e n ic s _________ 6 8

In the fourth instalment of G raem e

Sandiford’s series of Photogenics tutorials, he

expands on last month's introduction to

Photogenics’ excellent filter effects.

A s s e m b le r................... ..

This month Toby Sim pson talks a little about

fonts and emphasises the importance of neat,

well documented and structured code.

ShopperFeatures

ShopperReviews

DICE

As our program is getting more and more

challenging, Toby Sim pson shares the secret

of writing any large program.

T e rm ite ______________

A small, wood-eating insect, but also a useful

program for getting on-line. Nick Veitch

burrows through this new Comms program.

Broadcaster E lite _ 4 0

Check out what Gary W hiteley

thought of this fully-fledged, true

broadcast-quality, non-linear video

editing system based around the A4000.

3 9

Com m odore sold! 12

Going once, going twice... What have Escom in

mind for the future of our favourite machine?

A R e x x _______________ 16

ARexx is a resource-tracking, interpreted

scripting language with the potential to

transform the way in which you work on your

Amiga. Toby Sim pson tells you all about it.

Supertest 22

In this month's Supertest, Larry H ickm ott

helps you choose the right InkJet printer for

your particular needs.

Com m s

8 0

Your Amiga is the glorious gateway to the

wonderful world of the Internet. Darren Irvine

advises on software to get on-line.

ShopperRegulars

D iskSalv 3

4 3

A M IG A

C overdisk in stru ctio n s

John P arker and David Taylor make

absolutely sure that you don't have any

problems installing and fully using your

Organiser and Twist 2 Coverdisks.

The shareware program that has

saved many a users' day has gone

commercial. David Taylor reports.

A m iga Answers.

Public Dom ain

____ 5 8

_______ 8 4

The Public Domain market is teeming with new

stuff. Jason Holborn digs out some of the best.

CD-ROMs 4 4

David Taylor gives the thumbs-up

for five CD-ROM s new to the market:

Terra Sound Library, Aminet 5 (Star

buy), Meeting Pearls 2, GFX Sensation

and Compendium Deluxe V2 (Star buy). There’s

something to whet most appetites.

Hi-Q P o w erS tation 47

David Taylor looks at the two new

expansion boxes from Hi-O that can

do wonders for your Amiga.

Designer Objects.. ......... 4 9

Get a taste of the fifties when David Taylor

picks out the choice cuts in this collection of

US diner objects for LightWave.

A M IG A

N e w s _____________

The latest of the greatest on the Amiga scene.

ShopperReviews

In te rv ie w 3 2

A nna G renstam talks to three guys who were

brave enough to start their own Amiga-based

graphics business at the all-time Amiga low.

C yberStorm 0 6 0 . 3 4

Fasten your seat belts - this is as fast

as it gets. John Kennedy drools

over this first accelerator card for the

Amiga based on the 6 8 0 6 0 chip.

Letters 102

You could win £ 2 5 for sounding off, or put your

witty-caption-cap on and win £ 2 5 in our monthly

caption competition.

D irectory Opus 5 . 3 6

G raem e Sandiford reviews version

5 of this fantastically powerful and

well-designed file manager and he is

not disappointed.

N e x t m o n th 1 0 6

Another packed issue of Amiga Shopper will be

hitting the streets on Tuesday, 27th June.

ShopperServices

'^*-3 Jin iiniyj SystiH iJifwHUtiwi J'fayriiri JlfUian In jJss&iiilar

tlu ll il ls i i i - ili ls M i S a f iu a r * ?■!)■ 3 m t l S v T im m n irj H id Tj-jii ilu s ir- jl l-i

| fg jg j|B jj8 j iiB B ia K ^ ic iia iiiii-ill | iiinimiii iiiiaaiijg ittS i

kUkstart

u tility

graphics

layers

keywap

in tuition

dos

R eader A d s _

S ub scrip tio n s

M a il O r d e r __

B ooks_______

_53

5 2

_66

Clock CLOCK FOUND

OHft/Bfx flGfi ALICE - 2Mes

Node PRL

Display fiGfi LISA CHIP

CPU/NHz 68846 332.88

FPU 68648+68882

HHU 68848 (IN USE)

VBR S8884E818

Cwwent Phone He NOW!!

Horiz KHz 31.44

EClock Hz 789373

Ransey rev N/A ICache ON

6ary rev N/A DCache ON

Card Slot NO B urst ON

Vert Hz 68 BBurst ON

Supply Hz 58 CBack ON

i m ; inwall ana; I

1 MS.ill imilSiSf

32B itRf

I >?££]/

Dhrvstones 37895

You

Jt........s

8688 68888 7HMz

JI.M II

12989 68981 7HHz

54.21 I

B ack Issues _

PD H ou ses__

M a rk e t P lace

User G roups _

Ad In d ex ____

_ 8 2

_ 9 4

9 6

_ 9 8

1 0 4

R1288 EC82814HHZ

11.13 1

82588 68828 14MHz

13.43 L

93999 68139 25MHz

8.1811

H4SB8 68848 i a i i

: : . J :

;_______________

FPU

u r t e j ^

r a ^ j l B

S ;

illl 1

Chip Speed vs H6w

I M ill: ' XZ'j

34 CyberStorm 060 will rate high on the “kit-

Commodore have finally been bought up

and Escom are the proud, new owners.

lust” factor... we’re talking serious speed!

4 A M IG A S H O P P E R

ShopperContents

Issue 51

July 1995

Supertest

^ » e n W

m agaz,n e fo rA m .aa

The Amiga Shopper Supertest is renowned for being the

most comprehensive and informative head-to-head review

in the business. Every month we take a good, long look

at products or programs we know are of immediate

interest to our readers. We have covered programming

languages, modems, CD-ROMs and genlocks in previous

issues. This month, our DTP and word processing expert,

Larry Hickmott, puts 13 of the best InkJet printers

around to the test.

Replacing the DeskJet 5 20, the 540 can print in

colour and black-and-white and the quality is the

best we’ve seen from a budget-priced DeskJet.

The Canon BJ-200ex is an excellent black-and-

white printer that comes with a free printer-driver.

ShopperDisks - turn to page 6 for full instructions

______________ W 3

n | unMied (Hot Key - control git o)______________ ______________________i fgjta

On Coverdisk 1 this month we

have a time-limited full version

of Digita’s Organiser. You can

set up your own diary with its

own alarm reminders to

guarantee that you’ll never

forget that important meeting,

birthday, or anniversary again.

And on ShopperChoice disk

2, we have a special version of

the excellent database Twist 2,

as well as the tutorial files.

Like organisers, databases are

something every serious user

will find invaluable in sorting

and storing vital information.

J a n u a r y - 1995

January 1995

A M IG A S H O P P E R 5

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: