Microreviews for May 1997 Micropendium by Charles Good I remember reading in many TI newsletters 8 or 10 years ago statements along the lines of this: "I'm NEVER gonna get one of THOSE computers. No not me. The good old 99/4A is all the computer I will ever need." Such statements of course referred to IBM compatible computers, which at the time were very very expensive and ran very expensive software. Well folks, as we all know times have changed. IBM compatible PC's have become much more powerful and much much cheaper. These days a used 386 system with 4 megs of memory, a 100 meg hard drive and a VGA monitor can be purchased from many sources for about $300, and a state of the art PC can be purchased new for well under $2000. Almost all dedicated 99/4A and Geneve users now also have an IBM compatible at home. All except one local member of my user group also owns an IBM compatible machine because there are important computing tasks that just can't currently be done with our TI equipment. For example, if you want use the world wide web on the internet you can't for now do this with the good old 99/4A or Geneve. You need a more modern PC. Because of the fact that most 99/4A users also own IBM compatibles is appropriate that I should review some of the 99/4A related products that run on IBM compatibles. You probably all know about the emulators that can turn an IBM into a 99/4A, but you might be surprised what additional IBM-99/4A software is available. It is this additional software I am reviewing this month. The software I am reviewing comes on IBM formatted disks and requires at least a 386 computer (a 486 or Pentium is much better) running Windows 3.1 or Windows 95. ---------- SCANNED IMAGES created by Bill Gaskill. Bill has taken some gems from his extensive collection of 99/4 and 99/4A promotional hard copy materials and scanned them using a Paper Point black and white whole page scanner. These scanned images can be viewed on an IBM using the Paper Point viewer program that is available in IBM format as freeware. The Paper Point viewer software works with both Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. With this free viewer software you don't need the Paper point hardware in order to view the scanned images. Just run the viewer software on your IBM and from within the viewer program click on "file" and then click on "open". You can then select from a list of scanned images, each with a file name ending in ".max" to view. Once the scanned document page is on screen you can scroll left/right and up/down if necessary to view the whole page. You can also enlarge or shrink the page on screen and you can print the page using any Windows compatible printer. The following scanned 99/4 (without the "a") documentation is available. These were distributed by TI to the public in 1979 and 1980. Each brochure describes one peripheral and includes a picture of a complete 99/4 system with 13 inch monitor and stand alone peripherals. There are separate bruchures for the speech synthesizer, thermal printer, side car RS232, telephone coupler modem, stand alone floppy controller and stand alone floppy drive. The most interesting thing to me about these brochures is that they all illustrate the never released and never discussed speech synthesizer cartridge. The little flip up door on the speech synthesizer is designed to accept a cartridge that adds to or replaces the built in 300 word speech vocabulary. No mention is made of these cartridges in the speech synthesizer brochure, which only mentions the speech editor command module as the only mechanism available at the time to program speech in basic. However, a speech synthesizer cartridge is definitely illustrated as part of the 99/4 system shown on each brochure. Other TI promotional brochures scanned by Bill Gaskill include the power transformer safety notice asking users to obtain a free modification to the original unsafe power supply. Also available are brochures describing the video modulator, the 10 inch color monitor, the 99/4a console, and the peripheral expansion box system. Also included is a complete list of TI exchange centers. I always thought the exchange centers were great, well above and beyond the normal level of consumer support. I well remember accidently spilling Pepsi into the top vent slots of my first 99/4a console. This taught me that it is not a good idea to set your can of soda on top of the computer. My console was still under warranty, so I took it to the TI exchange center in Dayton Ohio and said, "This doesn't seem to be working anymore." They gave me another working console and another new product warranty without asking me WHY the old console ceased to work. Another item in the Gaskill scanned collection is a newspaper advertisement about the Munchman offer. This was sort of a rip off by TI. You got a "free" munchman cartridge, "a $39.95 value", if you purchased six other command modules. For many months this was the ONLY way to obtain this cartridge. You couldn't find it in any store. It was only available "free". One of the strangest documents Bill has scanned for us is the May 1985 press release from TexComp announcing their 99/9 computer upgrade. This was in part also published in Micropendium and shows a photograph of nothing more than a console, monitor, and multiple outlet power center. This was model TC1 and cost $400. The TC2 had a built in CorComp microexpansion system and cost $800. The TC3 had 128K of RAM, for which "no software has yet been written" and cost $1000. The TC4 was supposed to be a stand alone 48K coprocessor so that one could run 99/4A software on an IBM computer, and the model 99/9 would have a 40/80 column display and a combination keyboard/trackball/keypad. At the time these sounded great, but I don't think any of these various upgrades were ever sold. At least TexComp never took people's money and then failed to deliver product. Bill has also scanned in a 1992 Asgard catalog. This is the last of the great Asgard catalogs and is just chuck full of fantastic software. The catalog is over 40 pages in length. Reading through the software descriptions I see lots of products I wish I had. Some of this software has never been reviewed in Micropendium, and Chris Bobbitt's descriptions make Asgard's software products sound eminently useful and fun. The vast offerings of this catalog remind us of the go-go days of the 99/4 when new great software was coming out all the time. Last and certainly not least, Bill Gaskill has scanned most of the old official TI newsletters. This publication called "Home Computer Newsletter" was sent out at irregular intervals to registered owners of 99/4 and 99/4A computers. Many of us purchased our 99/4a's in late 1982 or 1983 and remember the newsletters TI published near the end of the 99/4a's commercial life. Bill has scanned newsletters from the very first 99/4 (without the "a") newsletter in August 1980 through the March 1982 edition, a total of 11 newsletters. They provide a great trip down memory lane, a look at the early history of user groups and the 99/4, as well as some potentially new practical information even to long time users of the 99/4a. Available newsletters are dated August 1980, February 1981, April 1981, May 1981, June 1981, August 1981, September 1981, October 1981, November 1981, January 1982, and March 1982. Bits of information that caught my eye include the following: Active user groups and groups in the process of organizing are listed as are contact people for these groups. Some very well known user groups are included in these lists along with a few well known TIers and many people I have never heard of who were group officers or organizers. Gary Kaplan organized a user group. This is the guy who later published 99er Magazine, and his magazine is mentioned in the TI newsletters. The International User Group of Charles LaFara is first mentioned in the February 1981 TI newsletter where it is called a "national" group and claims 3000 members and a 300 program library. At the time this group did not charge dues. In a later newsletter this group changes itself to "international". The Extended Basic Module is announced in the February 1981 issue and a later issue quotes a suggested price of $99.95 plus tax. Texas Instruments participated in a February 1982 computer expo in Orlando FL hosted by Scott and Alexes Adams. A TI Learning Center opened in January 1982 in the Chicago Merchandise Mart. You could go there to take computer courses for adults and children in various aspects of programming the 99/4A. The International Home Computer User's Association of Rancho Santa Fe California (not LaFara's group. Who were they?) according to the January 1982 newsletter was making a video tape for learning how to program in TI Basic. Munch Man is actually available to purchase according to the March 1982 newsletter. In the January 1982 newsletter you can only get Munch Man "free" if you purchase four command modules. And on and on and on, a real trip down memory lane. All this scanned in documentation and the paper port viewing software comes on 7 high density 3.5 inch IBM disks. Bill Gaskill wrote to TI asking their permission to distribute this material and they failed to reply. Bill sees no reason why TI would object to distributing this promotional material so he has given his blessing to its dissemination To get the whole package send me $7 which includes the cost of media and return postage. Alternatively you can send me a zip disk and a self addressed paid return mailer. I'll put the files on your zip disk and mail it back to you. ------------------ TI MODULE USER GUIDES by CADD Electronics CADD Electronics has scanned in the user guides of all the command modules ever published by TI and is making them available to the TI community as IBM compatible files. These can be viewed on screen and printed using any computer capable of running Windows 3.1 or Windows 95. These are legal copies of copyrighted TI documentation. TI is paid a royalty for each user guide sold. Have you ever purchased a command module used with no documentation. How about your collection of disk versions of what was once command module software. I'll bet you don't have documentation for some of these command modules on a disk. Maybe you just lost the book or can't find it. For example, I have piles of TI documentation in my attic, not very well organized. If had to dig up the instructions for the game Hopper I am not sure I could do so easily. Wouldn't it be great to have all your important TI documentation, including the XB user guide and the EA manual all neatly organized in one easily accessible place, such as your IBM's hard drive, or a small pile of 3.5 inch disks. I recently purchased CADD's entire collection of command module documentation and really appreciate the convenience of being able to easily find and display on my IBM any of this information. For me this was an excellent investment even though I already own hard copies of most of these user guides. The user guide files are viewed on an IBM compatible using the Acrobat reader software from the Adobe company. This software is free and can be downloaded from the internet (www.adobe.com) or obtained from CADD on a three disk set for a $5 copying media and postage fee. You only need one copy of the Adobe reader to view all the user guide files. There are different versions of Acrobat reader for Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. The Windows 3.1 version will not work with Windows 95 or with Windows 3.0. Functionally and visually the two versions are almost identical. You select "file" and then "open" to load a document file. Such files have a name ending with ".pdf". Once loaded you can view a single page at a time scrolling up/down and left/right. You can greatly enlarge or reduce the page, making the whole page fit perfectly on screen if desired. You can also display two pages side by side. When moving from page to page you can move to the next or last page by scrolling up/down or you can go to a particular page. Document page numbers that are displayed at the bottom of the screen usually don't correspond to the TI pagination because the document cover is called page 1. A very very useful feature of the Adobe reader is the ability to do a string search comparable to "find string" in TI Writer. This lets you find needed information in a scanned document very quickly and is much better than using a printed index. You can also print pages displayed by Adobe reader, so you can if you want make printed copies of your most important TI user guides. The user guides are almost but not quite facsimiles of the originals. They have been improved a bit. Unlike the originals all major headings have been numbered and these numbered headings have been used to make a table of contents, something lacking in most of the originals. Spelling errors in the originals (yes there were some) have been corrected and the pages renumbered so that the first text page is page one. The first text page is usually the inside front cover where the quick reference 99/4 and 99/4A keyboard chart was found. In TI's originals this page was usually unnumbered. Printed indexes in some of the originals have been left out because the find string feature is so much better than an index. All of the original graphics have been maintained, and the color covers have been scanned in all their glorious original colors. For many of the user guides TI published the guides under several different cover designs. All of the different known TI cover designs are included with each CADD user manual file. My only complaint about the command module user guide scans is that the pagination listed in the newly created table of contents does not match the pagination displayed by the software. The Acrobat reader lists a "page number" at the bottom of its screen display, and it considers the cover to be page one. If there are two covers, than the table of contents' page one is considered page three by the Acrobat software. This is kind of confusing. The IBM file sizes of these module user guide files might surprise you. File size is much more dependent on how many graphics are in the user guide than it is on the number of pages in the guide. Thus, the XB manual and EA manual are relatively small files which can both fit on the same 3.5 inch high density disk with room for a third user guide on the same disk. However the Video Chess user guide with all its chess board graphics completely fills a 3.5 inch disk. The Microsoft Multiplan guide is the largest file and requires two disks. The next largest file is the TI Logo II user guide, which will fit on a single 3.5 inch disk but only if the file is compressed. To date 123 different command module user guides are available from CADD. Except for the larger files you can put 4-6 user guides on one IBM 3.5 inch disk. The price for most user guides is $2. A few of the larger user guides cost $3 each. The entire set will set you back almost $260, but of course you don't have to purchase them all. These prices are plus your media and your return postage. You should contact CADD in advance for a price list and an estimate of how many disks will be required. My entire set of user guides fits on 32 3.5 inch IBM disks. If you are purchasing a lot of user guides it is probably easiest to purchase one or two 25 disk packages and send them all to CADD along with adequate return postage and the fee for your user guides. CADD can also put the complete collection of user guides and the Acrobat reader software on one Zip disk. If you obtain the free Adobe reader software from CADD instead of from a friend or the internet then be sure to include CADD's $5 copying fee and specify whether you want the Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 version. ----------------- ACCESS: Charles Good (source of Bill Gaskill's scanned TI promotional documentation). P.O. Box 647, Venedocia OH 45894. Phone 419-667- 3131. Preferred email address good.6@osu.edu CADD Electronics (source of command module user guides on IBM disks). 45 Centerville Dr., Salem NH 03079. Phone 603-895-0119 or 603-893- 1450.