• Tag Archives PCjr

  • Compute! (March 1986)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Compute! – Issue Number 70 – March 1986

    Compute! was an excellent magazine that covered most popular computers of the time. I was partial to the spin-off Gazette because I had a Commodore 64 but this one was excellent as well. It was a little less technical that Byte but all magazines at the time were technical compared to today. The March 1986 issue includes:

    Features

    • The Future of Mass Storage – The future was bright for mass storage. 3.5″ floppies were replacing 5.25″ floppies, Hard drives were becoming affordable, and optical storage for the average user was on the horizon.
    • The Computerized Home – Computerized home automation was a thing long before Alexa. The X-10 interface was the de-facto standard and X-10 modules were available for pretty much any platform.
    • Switchbox – A type-in puzzle game with versions specifically for the Commodore 128, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, PC, and Amiga.
    • SpeedCalc for Atari – A type-in professional quality spreadsheet program for the Atari 8-bit.

    Reviews

    • The Works! – A software package for the Commodore 64 and Apple II that includes 13 programs in the categories of tools, organizers, arts, and learning.
    • Under Fire – A World War II strategy game for the Apple II.
    • M-Disk – Software for creating a RAM Disk on the Atari ST.
    • Atari XM301 Modem – A 300bps direct connect modem for Atari 8-bit computers.
    • EduCalc and NoteCard Maker – A combination of a simplified spreadsheet program and simplified database manager with versions for the Commodore 64, Apple II, and PC (Apple II version reviewed here).
    • Hex – A puzzle/strategy game for the Atari ST.
    • Sylvia Porter’s Personal Financial Planner – This software package includes six programs including Transaction Manager, Budget Manager, Asset/Liability Manager, Balance Sheet, and Financial Planner. The Commodore 64 version is reviewed here with versions also available for the PC and Apple II.

    Columns and Departments

    • The Editor’s Notes – A comparison of the new Amiga and Atari ST.
    • Readers’ Feedback – Letters from readers about code comments, computers for charity, recording music on the Amiga, and more.
    • HOTWARE – The top five selling software titles in three different categories. In the top places were F-15 Strike Eagle (Entertainment), Typing Tutor III (Education), and Print Shop (Home Management).
    • INSIGHT: Atari – A look at Atari character codes. Atari 8-bit computers used a variant of ASCII called ATASCII.
    • The Beginner’s Page: Cutting Strings Without Scissors – How to split strings in BASIC.
    • Computers and Society: Humanizing the User Interface, Part 1 – Exploring ways to make the user interface easier to use and more intuitive.
    • The World Inside the Computer: Snowflakes, Quilts, and Stained Glass Windows – Art on the Amiga.
    • Telecomputing Today Games Modern People Play – A look at online multiplayer gaming. At the time, that typically meant turn based gaming on BBS systems or services like CompuServe.
    • IBM Personal Computing: The Ultimate Entertainment Center – A guide for using your PC or PCjr with a TV.
    • Programming the TI: IF-THEN Statements – Using IF-THEN statements including examples for simulating AN/OR, doing Algebra, and more.
    • News & Products – Valhalla announced for the Commodore 64; MIDI Ensemble for the PC; AtariWriter and AtariWriter Plus word processors for the Atari ST; What’s Our Worth? home inventory package for the Commodore 64; and more.

    The Journal

    • IBM Fractal Graphics – Three type-in programs for creating fractals on the IBM PC and PCjr.
    • Commodore ML Saver – A type-in program for saving machine language programs directly from memory to disk on the Commodore 64.
    • Loading and Linking Commodore Programs, Part 1 – The first in a series of article on loading, chaining, and overlaying programs on Commodore computers.
    • Atari P/M Graphics Toolkit – Atari Player/Missile graphics is the Atari 8-bit version of sprites. This type-in toolkit makes it easier to develop and use P/M graphics on the Atari.
    • MultiMemory for Commodore 64 and Apple – Short type-in programs for the Commodore 64 and Apple II that allow you to segment memory for loading multiple BASIC programs.
    • Experimenting with SID Sound – Some examples for controlling the Commodore 64’s SID sound chip.
    • Mousify Your Applesoft Programs, Part 1 – The first of a two-part guide to using a mouse (or joystick or paddles) with your own programs.
    • Atari BootStuffer – This short type-in program for the Atari 8-bit allows you to create a menu system to load up to 8 different programs with one key press.
    • Requester Windows in Amiga BASIC – A guide to adding requester windows (dialog boxes) to Amiga BASIC programs.
    • Softkeys for Atari BASIC – This type-in program gives you automatic line numbering and various hotkeys when writing your own BASIC programs.
    • BASIC Sound on the Atari ST – A guide to getting started with creating basic sound effects on your Atari ST.

    …and more!


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  • Compute! (March 1987)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Compute! – Issue Number 82 – March 1987

    Compute! was, in my opinion, the best multi-format computer magazine of the 1980s. I still preferred the Commodore 64 specific magazines but if you were looking for coverage of multiple computers, this was a great magazine. The March 1987 issue includes:

    Features

    • Commodore’s New, Expandable Amiga 2000: A Hands-On Report
    • New Peripheral Technologies
      • An introduction to Hard Disk Drives
      • The New High-Quality Dot-Matrix Printers
      • The Big Picture: Advances in Screen Display
    • A Buyer’s Guide to Printers
    • Euchre

    Reviews

    • Little Computer People
    • Certificate Maker and Walt Disney Cart & Party Shop
    • Roadwar 2000

    Columns and Departments

    • The Editor’s Notes
    • Readers’ Feedback
    • Computers and Society: Demons and Events, Part 2
    • Microscope
    • Telecomputing Today: Packet-Switching Rule Changes
    • The World Inside the Computer: When Buying a Computer: Don’t Ask Me!
    • The Beginner’s Page: Getting Started with a Printer
    • ST Outlook: Who Is That Man, and Why is He Smiling?
    • AmigaView: The Sidecar Arrives
    • IBM Personal Computing: Two Winners and a Laser
    • INSIGHT: Atari – Corrected File Conversions

    The Journal

    • 3-D Surfaces for Amiga
    • Fixing Atari Revision-B BASIC
    • Custom Characters for Atari XL and XE
    • Applecoder
    • 128 File Viewer
    • Filedump for IBM PC/PCjr
    • DOS Calc
    • Diskcheck: Apple Sector Editor for DOS 3.3
    • 128 Editing Functions for Commodore 64
    • Amiga Banner Printer
    • Using PUT and GET on the PC/PCjr
    • Superplotter

    …and more!


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  • Commodore 64 Vs. PCjr

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Commodore 64
    It’s not how much you pay. It’s how much you get.
    1984

    http://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/166898035660/vintageadvertising-commodore-64-its-not-how

    This particular Commodore 64 ad compared the Commodore 64 to the, at the time, recently released IBM PCjr. The Commodore 64 was introduced a couple of years earlier and the IBM PC had also been around for a few years. However, the PC was still meant more as a business machine and was very expensive for a home computer. The PCjr was meant to be IBM’s competition for the home. The PCjr failed miserably and it would ultimately be cheap PC clones that brought the PC to homes.

    There really wasn’t any competition here. With the Commodore 64 you got vastly more for your money that with the PCjr. Some of the key points mentioned in the ad:

    Both computers came with 64K of RAM. While pretty much every piece of software in existance for the Commodore 64 (which was already quite a lot by this point) was designed to work in 64K, 64K was not enough for many PC programs. While the PCjr was PC compatible for the most part, the amount of RAM limited what software could be run on it.

    At the time of this ad, the PCjr cost $669 while the Commodore 64 only cost $215. In both cases these prices were for the basic computer only. For the cost of just the PCjr, with a Commodore 64 you could also get a disk drive, monitor, printer and modem making it a vastly more usable system than the PCjr. You could of course get all of these peripherals for the PCjr as well but you would spend thousands doing so.

    The keyboard was also far superior on the Commodore 64. While not the best keyboard in the world and also not detachable like the PCjr keyboard, it was still a much nicer keyboard overall than the rubber chicklet style keyboard that came with the PCjr. For anyone who knew how to type even a little, those chicklet style keyboards were pretty unusable. I suppose if you were more of a hunt and peck style typist then it wouldn’t matter quite as much.

    Finally, unlike the PCjr (and the PC in general), the Commodore 64 had custom sound and graphics chips (the SID and VIC-II respectively). The CPU may have been a little slower in the Commodore 64 than in the PCjr but it more than made up for it with these custom chips. This made the biggest difference in games of course but it also helped with any kind of music or graphics software.

    “You can buy a computer for a lot of money. Or buy a lot of computer for the money.” Indeed.


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