                             Opening Format

    Summer is winding down, and pretty soon all the youngsters will be
    returning to school. Labor Day is near, and that means it is time to
    put away the straw hats and white pants. However, as it starts
    getting cool out, here at CTM we will keep you hot with great
    reviews of hardware and software.

    This month we look at the Primera Color Printer, and Wizard 9000VL
    Local Bus video card. We also gander at BOCA IDE controller and
    video cards, and computer fans. On the software front we have: Golf
    courses for Links and MS Golf, WinMaster, HyperACCESS for Windows,
    Microsoft TrueType Font Pack 2, Scrabble and Monopoly for Windows.
    Also, Office Accelerator which is an add-on to your word processor
    to print envelopes, letters, labels and more. We also look at a
    great mail reader for Windows that comes from Brazil, in our
    ShareWare SpotLight.

    Just before our last issue was released, we had a motherboard
    failure. The motherboard was only 98 days old. I had a few problems
    when I first bought it, and the technician spent several days
    getting it to work. When we returned it, we were told that there was
    a 90-day warranty. Therefore, we were out the money for the
    motherboard. I purchased it from PoinTech Computers. They have
    stores on: W. 22nd St. and East Broadway in NYC, and a store in
    Queens. I would advise against buying from them. They knew I had
    problems at the outset, and still took the attitude that it was
    related to my hardware. The technician worked on it, and had
    problems with HIS hardware also. Voiding a warranty because it was
    eight days past, with the above problems known, is not a reputable
    company to me.

    On the bright side, and with needing a new motherboard, I went to
    Optimized Computer Solutions (OCS) on the advice of an associate of
    mine. The people there were very pleasant. I already had a CPU chip.
    When I mentioned this to the person I spoke to on the phone (Aaron),
    he said to bring it along. When I got there, I gave the CPU to Rick.
    He inserted it on the motherboard and even put on a heatsink. He
    than sat down and showed me the jumpers on the motherboard, and the
    settings in the manual. He set up the motherboard, and showed me
    what to change if I added anything. All this and I was NOT charged
    for them installing the CPU. I had reason to call them, and once
    went there in person. I had changed the CPU, and wanted to make sure
    of some things. Rick had me speak to Otto, and he clarified all my
    questions. Since then, everything has worked fine. OCS sells
    complete computer systems, as well as repair computers, printers,
    monitors, etc. After the service I received, I highly recommened
    them to others. OCS is located at 39 W. 14 St., Suite 203, New York,
    NY 10011, Phone (212) 727-2100, Fax (212) 463-8402.

    With this I now will be testing VESA Local Bus video cards. One
    review is in this issue.

    We have quite a bit of hardware to review in the coming months. I
    have a ZyXEL modem, FotoMan, Sheet feeder and transparency adapter
    for scanner, sound cards, and more.

    Until next month, keep the sunny side up... Please read on for NEWS
    UPDATES from CTM. There are NO graphic files in this issue.

    Tony Curro...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This month we have a few happenings that we would like to bring to
    your attention.


    SmartCom UPDATE:

    Last month I did a review on SmartCom for Windows. My only fault
    with the program was the lacking of a dialing directory. I received
    a call from Randy Cooper from Hayes. He had read my review, and
    acknowledged that this was so. However, after SmartCom was released,
    Randy sat down and wrote a program that will do just this. There is
    mention of it in currently shipped copies of SC. The file is
    available on Hayes BBS, 1-800-USHAYES, and is called BBSDIAL3.ZIP.
    He did mention that version 3.1 should be up shortly. It may be up
    by the time you read this.



    GRAPHICS CARD and CorelDRAW 3.0 BUNDLE:


    Volante, Inc. has announced an agreement with Corel Corporation.
    Volante will bundle CorelDRAW 3.0 for Windows with their award
    winning WARP 10 Plus and WARP 20 graphics accelerator boards. This
    marraige gives you a quality video card and a proven graphics
    program for one low price. I know many of you are saying "But, Corel
    has released v4.0." Yes, this is true. However, if you are in the
    market for a video card, you can buy it and get a FREE copy of
    CorelDRAW. You can eventually upgrade to 4.0.

    I have reviewed, and was very pleased with the WARP 10 Plus. I have
    seen the WARP 20 in action, and it was even faster.

    Statistics and Pricing of bundles:

    WARP 10 PLUS

    Processor   BUS     RAM TYPE
    S38C801     ISA     DRAM

    Resolution      Colors
    640x480         16.7 Million
    800x600         65,536
    1024x768        256
    1152x900        16
    1280x1024       16

    Warp 10 Plus/Corel 3.0 Bundle Price is $329.

    Warp 20

    Processor   BUS     RAM TYPE
    IIT AGX     ISA     VRAM

    Resolution      Colors w/1MB    Colors w/2MB
    640x480         16.7 Million    16.7 Million
    800x600         65,536          16.7 Million
    1024x768        256             65,536
    1280x1024       16              16

    Warp 20/CorelDRAW 3.0 Bundle Price is $399.
    Warp20-2/CorelDRAW 3.0 Bundle Pirce is $489.

    The bundle packages are scheduled for release in September.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 DISCLAIMER


    The information provided in this magazine are the opinions of the
    author whose name appears at the top of the article.

    We do not wish to discredit a product, company, or  author of said
    product. The software reviews are based solely upon the opinion of
    the author of the review, and his or her experiences from using the
    product in question.

    We further assume no liability from any problems or dissatisfaction
    that a user may have from a product that we have reviewed in our
    magazine.

                Tony Curro, Editor - ComputerTalk Magazine.
