Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!tektronix!tekig!tekig5!wayneck
From: wayneck@tekig5.TEK.COM (Wayne Knapp)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Colorburst - Mostly hype!
Message-ID: <2246@tekig5.TEK.COM>
Date: 14 Dec 87 15:22:09 GMT
Organization: Tektronix Inc., Beaverton, Or.
Lines: 37
Keywords: Not to happy about buying Colorburst



     Well I saw Colorburst on the shelf Saturday and bought a copy.  That
afternoon I played around with it.  Now I feel that all the talk about
Colorburst is mostly hype.  I'll try to be polite, but the kindness thing
I can say about it is that it is a ripoff.  If the program had only cost $10
to $15 dollars I would have been pleased, but at $35 to $40 dollars I feel
that some people are trying to make a fast buck.

     First is the author's defense, I have one of the earliest ST's.  I doubt
if that make any difference, but there is always a chance I guess.  Okay, so
why am I so upset?  Here is why!

   1) Yes, you can choose from 3375 colors, only from what I can see only
      512 of them don't flicker.  I played around with setting the background
      colors to the new shades.  Maybe I didn't do it right since the program 
      is VERY hard to use.  The user interface seems to work only part of the
      time.  Anyway the color always flicker when ever I got away from the 
      basic 512 colors.

   2) Yes, you can have 800 colors on the screen at one time, BUT ONLY 16 
      COLORS PER 4 SCAN LINES.  That just doesn't cut it.  Note Spectrum
      gives you over 40 colors per scan line.

   3) The editing program is awkward, slow and sometimes seems to leave my 
      computer messed up.  Ugh!  The user interface just doesn't work well,
      the "Zoom Edit" mode were the colors are set is a horror to use! 
 
   4) For only $25 more dollars I could have had Spectrum 512!  I blew it.


The floppy disk has a label on it that says "Serving the Software needs of the
world for over 6 weeks." and quite frankly the program shows it.  So in the 
case of Colorburst, unless it fits a very quick and special need, I say save
your pennies and buy something else. 

                                 Wayne Knapp