XETEC DIP-FIX

The March 1989 Antic I/O had a fix for running Newsroom page design software with a Xetec Graphix interface on a Panasonic 1080i printer. The number of the DIP switch to be reset was left out. The complete instructions are: Set the Newsroom printer driver to Epson MX-70 and set Xetec DIP switch 2 to the ON position.--ANTIC ED

LIST MISSED

As a long-time Atari enthusiast and Antic contributor, I was interested in your collection of existing products for the 8-bit in the January 1989 issue of Antic. However, you didn't mention my educational chemistry game, Reaction Time, distributed by Queue, Inc., 562 Boston Ave., Room S, Bridgeport, CT 96610; (800) 232- 2224 or (203) 335-0906. Frankly, I think this is a good and unique product, although the advertised price of $69 may be too high.

In addition, you don't show Dynacomp, Inc. in your list of sources for 8-bit products. Their most recent catalog lists over 70 programs for the Atari. Quite a few are old, but they are inexpensive and availalble.

Karl Wiegers
Rochester, NY

The Dynacomp catalog includes educational, business,finance, statitistics, engineering, science, graphics and utility software--not to mention games. The Dynacomp, Inc, 178 Phillips Road, Webster, NY 14580. (800) 828-6772, (716) 265-4040. ANTIC ED

NO DUMPING

IBM PCs and clones have the ability to dump what appears on the screen to a printer, when you press a [PRINT SCREEN] key. Is there some way of doing that with my 800XL? There are so many occasions when I would like to do that without destroying what's on the screen.

Jerry Fraenkel
Franklin Square, NY

Sorry, there's no built-in screen-dump for the 800XL or for any 8-bit Atari. We ran an article and program called Kwik Dump in the March 1985 Antic. But that program only works with graphics file formats--and requires some programming knowledge.

ANOTHER CONTENDER

I feel compelled to write in response to your article "SpartDOS X or Atari DOS-XE? Which is Number 1?" I would like to mention a third choice, namely MyDOS 4.5.

MyDOS is density smart, supports RAMdisks of all shapes and sizes, supports double-sided disk drives (like the XF551) and supports hard disk drives and their subdirectories. Best of all, it's free from any of the major commercial information services (GEnie, CompuServe, etc.), users groups, and many BBS's.

Also the source code is included, allowing advanced users to fiddle with the DOS if they like. Unlike SpartaDOS X and DOS-XE, MyDOS is almost completely compatible with DOS 2.0 and 2.5, without the need for special drivers. And with a utility program, it will even do batch processing.

Now tell me, why should I spend even $10 on a DOS when I can have the power of MyDOS for free?

Glenn Garman
East Rochester, NY

MyDOS went public domain in December, 1988. If you don't have access to MyDOS elsewhere, you can still get MyDOS with manual from Newell Industries at 1213 Devonshire, Wylie, TX 75098. (214) 442-6612. A nominal fee is required to cover shipping and handling.--ANTIC ED

TOP DOS?

In his review of SpartaDOS X (March 1989), Matt Ratcliff calls it the best DOS "bar none!" Although I think he writes some great stuff for the Atari, I disagree. I believe TopDOS 1.5+ is the ultimate disk operating system for 8-bit Atari computers. Read your own review in the July 1985 issue, Everything You Wanted to Know About DOS.

I don't like MS-DOS, and that is why I chose the Atari. I don't need the complex SpartaDOS commands, and I've had it with those who proclaim such complexity to be better.

Dave Bambaloff
Tacoma, WA

Indeed, our 1985 review referred to TOPDOS as "one of the most friendly, full-featured and useful DOS's for the Atari." Unfortunately, as far as we know, TopDOS is no longer commercially available--nor do we know how it performs with the XF551 disk drive. Antic Arcade's Charles Cherry says that TopDOS was his favorite DOS--until SuperDOS came along (which is why the Arcade Catalog now carries SUPERDOS.) --ANTIC ED

SAUCERIAN TROUBLE

In case some of your readers had trouble getting Listing 2 of Saucerian Shootout (January 1989) to RUN, there is a simple fix--delete line 1120 and then RUN the program as instructed. This will create a working copy of the game.

John Relser
Omaha, NE

This letter helped us track down a very obscure and infrequently occurring bug in the program that makes our BASIC loader listings. We've been using that program since 1985, and this is the first time we've had trouble with it. Thanks for letting us know about the problem and sending us the fix!--ANTIC ED

LOVE AFFAIR

What started out as a Christmas gift for my two children has turned into an adventure, a love affair of sorts between me and our Atari XE Game System. I have forsaken sleep, a few mills, and Wheel of Fortune to be with my new companion. My lovely wife went so far as to ask if I have named this new comer to our family.

We bought the XEGS as a substitute for the scarce Nintendo, but quickly tired of the cartridge games (new ones are scarce for this system). Just when we were ready to trade all this for a new go-cart engine, I discovered Antic at our local Walden Bookstore. From the December 1988 issue, I ordered a used Indus disk drive from Computer Repeats. It arrived with five utilities and complete instructions. The disk drive gave me a new respect for the Atari XEGS, and the system is just beginning to grow.

The January 1989 Antic held an wen bigger surprise--one of your Antic Classifieds advertisers was Joe Butner of Oak Hill, WV, about eight miles from me. I got in touch with him and he brought over a copy of the game, Fountain of the Gods. Not only did my family find a great game (best in our collection), but we found a friend with knowledge of our system that he willingly shares.

Jeffery Sanders
Beckley, WV

We're glad to hear that XEGS buyers are discovering the excellent computer hiding inside. Now, if only Atari would do a bit to spread the word. We could still end up with an 8-bit renaissance!--ANTIC ED

SIDEWAYS PRINT PROBLEMS

Running an expanding businiess using my Atari 800XL, I found my spreadsheets were getting too big for single-sheet pages, so I recalled a sideways spreadsheet program, Tapeless Spreadsheet Printer from the August 1987 issue. I've typed-in articles before and had no problem running them on my Atari XMM801 printer, but Tapeless was no go. HELP! Larry Whiting
Sutrey, BC, Canada

Tapeless Spreadsheet Printer does not work with ALL Epson-compatible Printers. Because the program downloads a sideways character set to the printer, it will only work with a printer that has the built-in RAM to use an alternate character set. The program was not designed for the Atari XMM801, unfortunately.--ANTIC ED

RAMBRANDT IN COLOR

How can I get RAMbrandt to print or dump graphics onto my star NX-1000 Rainbow printer? Is there a utility program I should be using?

John McCarthy
Brockton, MA

RAMbrandt can only print in black and white, unless you have an Okimate 20 color printer. To get your pictures to print in color, you can save them in Micro Illustrator format from RAMbrandt. Then you can use YEMACYB/4 software ($29.95) from Electronical Software, P.O. Box 8035, Rochester, MI 48063. This color screen dump utility can print your Micro Illustrator formatted pictures in full color.--ANTIC ED

Antic welcomes your feedback but we regret that the large volume of mail makes it impossible for the Editors to reply to everyone. Although we do respond to as much reader correspondence as time permits, our highest priority must be to publish I/O answers to questions that are meaningful to a substantial number of readers.

Send letters to: Antic I/O Board, 544 Second Street San Francisco CA 34107.