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  • Compute!’s Gazette (February 1987)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Compute!’s Gazette was one of the most popular Commodore 64 magazines and 1987 was quite possibly the Commodore 64’s peak year. The February 1987 issue of Gazette includes:

    Features

    • Deciding on the Right Printer – Features to consider when deciding on the right printer for you.
    • A 1987 Buyer’s Guide to Printers – Features are compared for tons of printers including the Aprotek Daisy 1120, Blue Chip 120/NLQ, Brother HR-20, C. Itoh Prowriter C-215XP, Canon A-50, Citizen 120D, Commodore MIPS 1200, and dozens of others.
    • Printing Commodore Graphics – A guide to printing Commodore graphics with various printing modes, interfaces, and non-Commodore printers. Includes some programming examples.

    Reviews

    • Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? – One of the most iconic educational games ever made.
    • Macbeth – An adventure game based on the Shakespeare play.
    • PaperClip II – A popular word processor with a 38,000 word spell checker that can be expanded.
    • Ace of Aces – The classic World War II flight sim from Accolade. This was one of the games I bought for my Commodore 64
    • Transformers: Battle to Save the Earth – While most licensed games aren’t very good, this one was produced by Activision and is better than average.

    Games

    • Collision Course – A type-in racing game in which you must clear a course of dots before the computer controlled car runs into you.
    • Pick-A-Letter – A type-in word game somewhat similar to Hangman but with some enhancements. For the Commodore 64/128, Plus/4 and C-16.

    Education/Home Applications

    • Division Worksheet – This type-in program creates math worksheets with division problems.
    • Computing for Families: Light! Computers! Action! – Training teachers to use personal computers to enhance videos for educational use.

    Programming

    • Hints & Tips: Replacing Arrays – Some tips for using arrays and alternatives in BASIC.
    • Power BASIC: Sanitation Engineer – A type-in machine language program that speeds up garbage collection.
    • MetaBASIC: The Programmer’s Assistant – A type-in enhancement for BASIC that was previously published by Gazette. A Plus version is included that has 11 new commands as well as a Commodore 128 version.
    • Mastering 128 Sound and Music, Part 5 – The final part of this long running series provides advice on different methods of transcribing music written for three or more voices.
    • 128 Wedge – A type-in utility to make it easier to use a 1541 or 1571 disk drive with the Commodore 128.
    • Data Formatting on the 64 – Some short programs for formatting data by performing such actions as rounding and right justification of numbers.
    • BASIC for Beginners: IF-THEN – A tutorial and some examples using IF-THEN.
    • Machine Language for Beginners: ML Mailbag – Answering a few machine language related questions from readers.

    Departments

    • The Editor’s Notes – Commodore introduces the PC10-1 PC clone to the U.S. market.
    • Gazette Feedback – Letters from readers about screen formatting, finding free disk blocks, 1571 bugs, upgrading CP/M, and more.
    • Horizons: Art or Science? – Pondering whether programming is an art or a science.

    …and more!


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  • Compute!’s Gazette (September 1985)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Compute!’s Gazette was a spinoff of Compute! that exclusively covered Commodore 8-bit computers which primarily meant the Commodore 64. This was one of the two Commodore 64 magazines I frequently saw on store shelves back in the day, the other being RUN. The September 1985 issue of Gazette includes:

    Features

    • The New Commodore Amiga: A Hands-On Report – While Gazette was a Commodore 64 magazine, I don’t know if it had been decided whether they would cover the Amiga when it was first introduced. In any case, its release was covered ad here is a detailed look at Commodore’s new Amiga or the Amiga 1000 as it would come to be known.
    • Amiga Software: Something for Everyone – A look at some of the early software available for the Amiga including Video Construction Set (Electronic Arts), Return to Atlantis (Electronic Arts), ProPaint (Island Graphics), and more.
    • The Summer Consumer Electronics Show: Beyond the Shakeout – Commodore receives 100,000 advance orders for the Commodore 128, announces the 1572 dual drive (which never made it to market as far as I know), the 1670 1200bps modem, MPS-1000 printer, a new mouse, and more. Various Commodore 128 software packages, X10 home controllers and more were also announced.
    • CES Perspective: The End of the Tap Dance – Some new products announced at CES include Alpine Encounter, The Fourth Protocol, Winter Games, Summer Games II, The Eidolon, Koronis Rift, Spy vs. Spy: The Island Caper, Carriers at War, The Goonies, Zorro, Alternate Reality, Charlie Brown’s 1-2-3, Snoopy Writer, Garfield Double Dares, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, Peter Rabbit Reading, Jungle Book Reading, The Comic Cookbook, The Works!, MIDI Magic, Enhancer 2000 disk drive, Easy Speech 64, and much more.

    Reviews

    • F-15 Strike Eagle – One of the best combat flight simulators of the time.
    • On-Court Tennis – A decent tennis sim from Gamestar.
    • Cave of the Word Wizard – An educational game that plays a bit like Pitfall and also teaches spelling.
    • B.C. II: Grog’s Revenge – Make your way around various mountains on your stone wheel while collecting clams for tolls and avoiding opponents and obstacles.
    • Legionnaire – A real-time tactical wargame set in the time of Caesar.
    • Adventure Writer, Dialog and The ELF System – Software that allows you to create software without knowing how to code.
    • Chipwits – An educational game from Epyx that teaches the basics of programming by allowing you to teach robots.
    • Also Worth Noting – A brief look at other software including White Lightning, Racing Destruction Set, Six-Gun Shootout, Wishbringer, Competition Karate, Summer Games II, and Tales of Me.

    Games

    • Maze-Mania – A type-in game for the Commodore 64 in which you must make it through a maze within a time limit while avoiding fast moving “cubots”.
    • Tracker – A type-in strategy game in which you must lay track for Purple Herbie to follow to get home. The goal is to lay track in such a manner as to collect certain objects and avoid obstacles.
    • Friendly Alien – A type-in game for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20 designed for kids that is inspired by E.T.

    Education/Home Applications

    • Computing for Families: In Search of the Computer Sandbox, Part 1 – Using a computer as a general problem solving tool.
    • Weather Prophet – A type-in program for the Commodore 64 and Plus/4 that helps you predict the weather.

    Programming

    • BASIC Magic: Drawing Lines and Borders – A guide to drawing lines in BASIC.
    • Hints & Tips: Recycling Selected DATA Statements – A guide to using DATA statements efficiently in your programs.
    • Power BASIC: QuickScan – A type-in program for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20 that will highlight the current line in a program listing making looking through long listings easier.
    • Machine Language for Beginners: From Machine Language to BASIC – Transforming your ML program into BASIC data statements.
    • Printer Wedge – A type-in program that allows you to create, save, and print out your own custom characters on a Commodore 1525, MPS-801, or MPS-803 printer.
    • Zounds!, Part 3 – The final installment of a series of sound demos.
    • TinyTerm for the 1650 Automodem – A simple type-in terminal program for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20 that works with the Commodore 1650 modem.
    • VIC Emulator – A type-in program that will allow you to run VIC-20 BASIC programs on the Commodore 64.

    Departments

    • The Editor’s Notes – Musings on a new generation of computers and technology including the Amiga, Atari ST, CD-ROM tech, and more.
    • Gazette Feedback – Letters from readers about ASCII, Commodore 128 compatibility, BASIC manuals, and more.
    • Horizons: Programming the 128 – Demonstrating Commodore 128 programming with a BASIC 7.0 game called Litter Patrol.
    • Simple Answers to Common Questions – Questions answered about speeding up BASIC programs with a compiler and how OR and AND statements work in BASIC.

    …and more!


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  • PC World (October 1996)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    The mid 1990s was an exciting time for the PC industry. PCs were rapidly being adopted with nearly everyone having one by 2000. The Internet was just becoming mainstream and that’s the biggest part of what drove adoption. The October 1996 issue of PC World includes:

    Cover Story

    • The Complete Guide to Free Online Help – Information about web sites, newsgroups, file libraries, and a number of other online sources for getting technical help for free.

    Features

    • Internet Overload: Disaster In The Making? – Gloom and doom predictions about the Internet being overloaded never really came to pass…well, except for the occasional DDOS attack.
    • Office In A Box – A look at combo devices that include printing, scanning, faxing, and copying functions. Though most printers have those functions now, this was still early days for such devices. Models looked at here include the Canon MultiPass C2500, HP OfficeJet 350, JetFax 4, Ricoh MV74, Sharp F-2700M, and Xerox Document WorkCenter 250. Prices range from $549 to $1195.
    • Do It All! Tips For Mastering Your Office Suite – Tips for getting the most out of Microsoft Office, Lotus SmartSuite, and Corel WordPerfect Suite.

    Special Report

    • Top 10 Network Servers – At the top of the Workgroup Servers list is the Compaq ProLiant 1500 Model 5/133-2100 for $7555. At the top of the Enterprise Servers list is the HP NetServer 5/166 LS4 for $20,238.

    Multimedia

    • 20 CD-ROMs Under $25 – Some titles in this list include Full Throttle, Rebel Assault, Civilization, Simcity Classic, Blockbuster Guide to Movies & Videos, Bernard of Hollywood’s Pin-Ups, World’s Greatest Classic Books, and more.
    • Title Reviews – Reviews of Hind and Longbow helicopter combat sim and Guerilla Marketing.
    • Hardware Reviews – A look at the top five CD-ROM drives (Plextor 8Plex, NEC MultiSpin 6V, Sony CSD-880E, Teac CD-58E 8X CD-ROM Drive Kit, and GoldStar GCD-R580B) and sound cards (Creative Labs Sound Blaster AWE32 PnP, CrystalLake Model 110, Creative Labs Sound Blaster 32, CrystalLake Model 140, and Advanced Gravis UltraSound Plug & Play Pro).
    • Q&A – Questions answered about improving video playback, multisession CD support, creating a screensaver, and more.

    Top of the News

    • How To Get What You Want In Your New PC – PC manufacturers would often use multiple sources for parts so specific parts could vary even on the same model PC. Another common practice was (and still is as far as I know) to use cut down versions of retail parts. This isn’t always a bad thing as you could generally get a great deal on something that performed only slightly less well than top end retail components.
    • App Suites Abandon One-Size-Fits-All For Custom Tailoring – For instance, Microsoft, starting with Office 97, will offer three different versions (standard, professional, and small business) and the ability to add applets.
    • Broadcasters Use TV Signals To Send Data – There was this idea that people would want to watch TV split screen with a related web page. This never really caught on…though these days people will scroll on their phones while watching TV.
    • Upgrades to NT Server And Netware Include Web Setup Features – Windows NT 4.0 includes Internet Information Server 2.0 while NetWare 4.11 includes Novell’s NetWare Web Server.

    New Products

    • Compaq Presario 6708 – This PC includes a Pentium 200, combination keyboard/scanner, 33.6 fax modem, 32MB RAM, 2.5 GB hard drive, 64-bit video card with 2MB of DRAM, 15-inch monitor, and more for $3547.
    • Dell Dimension P200V – This PC includes a Pentium 200, 33.6 fax modem, 16MB RAM, 1.6 GB hard drive, 64-bit video card with 2MB of DRAM, 15-inch monitor, and more for $1999.
    • NEC Versa 4200 Series – This notebook features a 100 or 133-MHz CPUj, 810MB or 1.08GB hard drive, a 10.4-inch screen that displays 256 colors, and 6X CD-ROM drive for %2999-$3899.
    • Olivetti Echos – This line features four models ranging from the $2299 Pentium 100 to the $4599 Pentium 133 with all including a 1.3GB hard drive and 6X CD-ROM drives and feature screens from an 11.3-inch dual-scan to a 11.8-inch TFT.
    • TI TravelMate 6000 Series Notebooks – The 6020 ($4199) features a Pentium 120, 8MB of RAM, 1.08GB hard drive, and 11.3-inchd display. The 6030 ($4999) features a Pentium 133, 16MB of RAM, 1.35GB hard drive, and 12.1-inch SVGA display. The 6050 ($5499) is similar but features a Pentium 150.
    • Mitsubishi DiamondPro 91TXM Monitor – Large CRT monitors could be extraordinarily expensive. This 21-inch monitor Mitsubishi was $1899…and good luck lifting it.
    • AV Master Video Capture Board – This $999 video capture board could capture 640×480 video at 30 frames per second.
    • Broadway MPEG-1 Video Capture Board – MPEG-1 was the best video compression available at the time. This MPEG-1 capture card would set you back $995.

    Top 100

    • Power Desktops – The top PC in this list is the Dell Dimension XPS P200s for $3329 featuring 16MB RAM, 512K secondary cache, 2.6GB hard drive, Number Nine Imagine 128 Series 2 graphics adapter with 4MB VRAM, and more.
    • Budget Desktops – The top PC in this list is the Micron P133 Millennia for $2049 featuring a Pentium 133, 16MB RAM, 2.1 GB hard drive, Diamon Stealth64 graphics adapter with 2MB VRAM, 15-inch monitor, and more.
    • Notebooks – The top power notebook is the Dell Latitude LM P133ST for $3999 featuring a Pentium 133, 16MB RAM, 810MB hard drive, 12.1-inch 800×600 256 color screen, and more. The top budget notebook is the Toshiba Satellite 100CS for $1799 featuring a Pentium 75, 8MB RAM, 540MB hard drive, 10.4-inch 640×480 256 color screen, and more.
    • Top 10 Personal Printers – The top monochrome printer is the Panasonic KX-P6100 for $379 and the top color printer is the HP DeskJet 820Cse for $389.
    • Top 10 15-inch Monitors – The top monitor in this list is the Samsung SyncMaster 15GLi for $408.
    • Top 10 Graphics Boards – The top graphics board here is the VideoLogic GrafixStar 600 for $159.
    • Top 10 Modems – The top external modem is the U.S. Robotics Courier V.Everything V.34. The Courier line were always the best you could get. The top internal modem is the Zoom V.34C for $199. Modems at this time topped out at 33.6 Kbps.

    Here’s How

    • Answer Line – Questions answered about memory management in Windows 95, using the same e-mail account at home and at work, restoring DOS after removing OS/2, and more.
    • Internet Tips – How to find special interest mailing lists, making web sites more permanent, and more.
    • Hardware Tips – Tips for saving space on FAT drives.
    • Upgrade Guide – A detailed guide for replacing your EIDE hard drive.

    At Home

    • Internet Meets The Couch Potato – For a brief moment in time, everybody thought you would be surfing the net via your TV and some sort of internet appliance. While you can certainly do that today, the idea never really took off. Surfing the net was done via desktop, laptop, and later on the smartphone.
    • Top 5 Home PCs – The top “Home PC” is the Gateway 2000 P5-166 Family PC featuring a Pentium 166, 16MB RAM, 2.5GB hard drive, 8x CD-ROM drive, 28.8 kbps fax modem, and more for $2444.

    Departments

    • Up Front – What happens when what you do depends on the Internet and the Internet isn’t working? Still a problem today…
    • Letters – Letters from readers about the best internet browser, Windows 95, free speech online, Compuserve, and more.
    • Consumer Watch – Packard Bell had a policy of putting parts from returned PCs into PCs sold as new but they weren’t the only ones.
    • PCW Advocate – Problems with IDT ISP, Sharp battery issues, Packard Bell tech support, and more.
    • Full Disclosure – How new software is often released in beta form…or worse.

    …and more!


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