          MISCELLANEOUS GREAT IDEAS ...
          
          To order any of these products
          
          Call us.....
          
          If you aren't using DOS 6.0 by now, you should immediately
          upgrade.  You get several utilities that people pay upwards of
          $200 for free.  You get disk compression and it really doubles
          the size of your hard drive with only a slight difference in
          speed because you have to uncompress the files as you work,
          but then DOS 6.0 actually compresses them automatically to
          half their original size.  Great new utility.  But be careful
          if you have anything exotic on your system such as a SCSI
          controller or CD-ROM drives.  You might have a conflict.  If
          you have anything other than normal IDE controller, hard
          drive, video, etc, wait for version 6.1 when they fix all the
          little incompatibility problems that people are reporting to
          microsoft right now.
          
          There are other disk compression programs out there like
          STACKER and Xtra-Drive.  But we like the program in DOS 6.0
          better.  Dos 6 also gives you better memory management, and so
          you can throw away any QEMM, quarterdeck, or Hi-memory
          managers you might have.  They're all included free in DOS 6.0
          and work better.  None of the memory managers we've tried
          other than the new one in DOS has ever done us any good at
          all.  So don't waste your money.  Ignore their ads.  Trust me,
          we've tried them all.  They simply don't work except for DOS
          6.  DOS 6.0 also gives you several more excellent utilities
          that we have not tried yet, but will report about them to you
          in future issues.
          
          We mentioned Winsleuth in the chapter on MultiMedia, but it
          bears repeating here.  If you have Windows and you install new
          devices from time to time you need the new Winsleuth Gold
          Plus.  It has a hardware and software diagnostic system in it
          that really works.  It will tell you who's using every bit of
          memory and IRQ and so forth and you can then change
          configurations easily so that there are no more frustrating
          conflicts in your system.  We have tested all the major
          diagnostic software programs out there and the new Winsleuth
          Gold is by far the best and a must for every Windows System.
          
          IF YOU'RE USING A MOUSE AND YOU DON'T LIKE ALL THE MOVEMENT ON
          THE DESKTOP, GET A TRACKBALL.  We find the best one is from
          Logitech.  We like all Logitech products, but their best one
          remains their Trackman.  They even have a radio controlled one
          so you don't have to have a wire connection to the PC, but the
          wired one works fine for us and is less expensive.
          
          The Logitech Trackman is the best in our opinion because it
          fits your hand better and is more intuitive and it has a
          lifetime warranty.  Anything goes wrong, just call logitech
          and they replace it, and over a lifetime of use, something
          always goes wrong.  I like Logitech very much and I think
          every computer peripheral company should exercise the same
          degree of consumer awareness.  Then, it would be a perfect
          world.
       
          LOGITECH FOTOMAN IS THE QUICKEST AND EASIEST WAYS TO GET
          PHOTOS INTO WINDOWS APPLICATIONS.

          With the new FOTOMAN PLUS, the resolution is fantastic, 
          at least as good as any regular camera in black & white.
          The problem is just that, it's black & white, but if thats
          all you need is black & white images, then this is the
          camera for you.  It downloads 32 images per battery charge
          can go anywhere and copies them to your PC via a serial
          port.  Works great, however, if you need color images,
          your best bet is to use a video camera and then capture
          the images from the video camera via a VIDEO CAPTURE BOARD
          which we have reviewed in earlier chapters.  
   
          We have knowledgeable experts on nearly every computer
          subject.  If you are looking to add a terminal to a network,
          or if you are looking to upgrade your home computer to MULTI-
          MEDIA or if you are looking to  make your life easier with a
          business you own, call us for advice.  We will give it gladly
          and freely, as long as you will do business with us.  We never
          sell anything we don't think you need or that we know is not
          the best solution because we must back up everything we do.
          All our products are guaranteed to do exactly what you want
          them to do or your money back.
          
          In our next issue we'll also be reviewing the new voice 
          recognition boards coming onto the market.  Most only allow
          for a few words to be spoken in the way of commanding your
          programs to do certain things, like a vocal Macro.  But there
          are now a few companies like Dragon Systems who offer the
          ability to speak your entire document into your favorite
          word processor.  We'll review the best ones for you in 
          the next issue.  So, you'll want to subscribe today.

          WINDOWS NT IS AVAILABLE
          AND THERE'S TALK THAT WINDOWS 4.0 WILL BE OUT BY THE END OF
          THE YEAR!  WE PREDICT THIS WILL BE THE GREATEST UPGRADE IN THE
          HISTORY OF PERSONAL COMPUTING!
          
          If you sense a prejudice in favor of Microsoft Windows over
          any other operating system, you're very correct.  If you're
          not already jusing Windows, you're not a very serious computer
          user. Windows is the best way to utilize the new computer
          hardware because of several reasons.
          
          1.  It allows you to work in several different programs at
          once.  We use this feature all the time, because we're
          editing, selling, writing, working with graphics, faxing,
          telephoning Compuserve for E-mail, downloading files, printing
          files and all these things are done at the same time in
          Windows.  It's true MultiTasking as promised years ago!  With
          a Network of Windows computers you can have several people
          MultiTasking and Multi-using any given program all at the same
          time as well as co-operatively working on a project within the
          company, connected only by computer cable.
          
          2.  It's the best graphics environment and today, you can even
          create an application in Windows and port it to all the
          Macintosh users with a program converter like Adobe's new
          Acrobat or Farallon's new 'Replica'.  So, the graphics part
          alone is worth the investment.  Soon, we'll be using the
          computer more like a TV appliance and the Windows environment
          is where we're going to wind up because of the graphical
          nature of the operating system, so you might as well give in
          to it now.
          
          3.  It makes life so much more fun because all programs you
          buy for Windows run virtually the same way and so are all
          easier to learn and install.
          
          4.  You get great games, video, sound, animation etc within
          Windows.
          
          5.  You get more productivity out of your workers.
          
          6.  You get shorter learning curves which equates to saved
          training dollars.
          
          7.  You get an operating system that is the gateway to all
          future major innovations in computing.  Make no mistake, no
          other operating system except perhaps UNIX has the potential
          to change the world, but UNIX will only overpower Windows if
          it emulates Windows, so you end up with the same product
          anyway.  And forget about OS/2.  IBM has spent a great deal of
          money trying to convince you to go with OS/2 instead of their
          arch rival Microsoft Windows.  But OS/2 requires about 50 MB's
          of disk space, 16 MB of RAM and doesn't do anything that
          Windows doesn't do and Windows does it better and there are
          many more compatibility problems with OS/2 and it goes on and
          on.  OS/2 will be a dead duck within a year.  Remember these
          words.
          
          
          We recently learned that Microsoft has come up with a new
          version of Windows for Networks that will allow everyone in
          the Network to enjoy the ease of use of Windows.  It is
          shipping around now, the fall of 1992.  So, if you are
          considering installing a Network, you will want to look into
          the Windows solution.  It's a bit more expensive than plain
          old "Dumb Terminals", but that's about the kind of work you'll
          get out of your employees under most Networks, simply because
          they are not easy to use, install, learn, or modify.  Windows
          Networking, more accuragely called, "Workgroups for Windows"
          allows your folks to work more co-operatively, sending
          messages, calendars, graphics and so forth over the Net.
          This kind of sharing of information can make an organization
          much more productive and competitive and in this economy, you
          need to be both.
          
          We can also recommend the new cooling fans for the 486 systems
          that Intel has introduced.  We found a simple, inexpensive
          solution to the heat problems in a '486.  Intel, has admitted
          that their 486 CPUS are running a bit on the hot side.  This
          can result in lost data or locked up machines.  To avoid this
          problem, you can order and install a tiny little heat sink and
          fan to the CPU.  Anyone with a scredriver can do it.   It
          takes about two minutes and you have a much cooler running
          computer.  We find this solution to be very elegant and anyone
          with an IBM  compatible machine should have one of these, in
          our opinion, whether or not they have a '486 or not.  The
          reason is that all computer fans were engineered to take the
          heat from the power supply out of the case.  This means that
          your computer is still left with a residual heat from the
          action of the chips inside.  It's a by-product of electrical
          events in the computer.  With this little heat sink and fan,
          installed in your system, you should get much more life from
          your investment.  And it can avoid the very expensive problem
          of data loss!
          
          The heat sink and fan assembly is only $45.00 and it simply
          snaps onto the CPU chip in your system.  Nothing else is
          required.  You can also get cheaper assemblies for cooling
          the CPU for as little as $10.00 from most computer dealers.
          
          We can also recommend that almost everyone should look into
          the new Floptical drives.   These are great for two reasons.
          First, they hold 20 MB of data, more later, and the diskettes
          are removable.   THIS MEANS THAT THEY CURRENTLY THE BEST KIND
          OF BACKUP DEVICE.  Better than tape drives and much more
          flexible because they can act as a second hard drive if
          something goes wrong with your main hard drive saving a great
          deal of time in emergencies.
          
          Perhaps, more importantly, they are a great Multi-Media
          Device.  We, and other publishers can fit much more data,
          especially graphics, full-motion video, sound on one of these
          diskettes.  And you will see more and more of this as time
          goes on.   In fact, we are encouraging all our customers to
          buy one of these drives so that they can get the full benefit
          of our Video Reviews.
          
          They are currently only about $200.00 and in 1993, the price
          should go down considerably as they produce more and more of
          them.   Great alternative to CD-ROM Drives which we also carry
          for people who want to take advantage of all the gigabytes of
          data already available on this format.
          
          CD-ROM drives only allow you to 'Play' programs created on
          the CD disk.  These usually contain about 600 MB of data
          and in the future, they will each hold more data.  But 
          you cannot write or change the data on these drives.  In
          the near future, probably within the next two years or
          maybe even in 1994, you will be able to buy read-write 
          CD-ROM drives for as little as $1,000.00 and if enough 
          people buy these, as they are doing with the CD-ROM's
          these prices could fall eventually to less than $500 
          or less for gigabytes of READ AND WRITE CD-ROM DISKS.  
          Since they are removable, this will usher in a new
          era when you will have a library of information on 
          your desktop unrivaled in history, containing literally
          millions of pages, hundreds of hours of video, sounds,
          interaction, gaming, all on a few CD Disks.  The future
          is really exciting in this area.  My hope is that there
          will also be a cheap way for people who bought CD-ROM 
          drives to upgrade to the new Read & Write standard if
          and when it comes out.  

          Until that time, however, don't wait just because the
          technology is always changing.  At $200 or less, CD-ROM
          drives will always offer a very inexpensive way to get
          lots of fun and entertainment into your computer.

          The best CD titles we've found so far are the SimCity
          series where you get to design an entire, city or even
          planets, trying to figure out how much government to 
          give your robot subjects, how much air, water, recreation,
          etc.  You keep charge of the economy of a whole society
          just like you were a God.  It's extremely educational
          and probably the best thing you can give your kids.

          Another great CD game series is the Carmen San Diego 
          games where kids learn about geography while playing
          detective, looking for clues all over the world.

          And probably my favorite are the flight simulator 
          games.  The one I enjoy the most is Flight Simulator
          newest version is 5.0 from Microsoft.  You can actually
          learn how to fly a plane and save thousands of dollars
          on actual flight training.  And you walk away from all
          your crashes.  The visual graphics and simulation are
          so real, you actually feel dizzy when the plane banks
          and turns.  It's amazing.  

          Another great flight simulation game are the jet fighter
          games, the best one is from Spectrum Holobyte called
          F-15, where you actually fly an F-15 in combat missions.
          They have very capable pilots on the other side, however,
          so it takes a bit of practice to get to be 'Top Gun'
          but that adds to the realism.  And again, you walk 
          away from all your crashes.  Another great one is 
          Jet Fighter.  All these games sell for about $30 to
          $40 and are worth every penny.

          Watch out for the games based on Virtual Reality and
          Fractal Graphics.  These are coming out more and more
          and add an incredible layer of realism to the game. 
          The best one we've seen so far is actually Shareware
          Called Wolfenstein.  You have a pistol and you try
          to escape from a World War II German Prison Camp.  
          The movement with the mouse is very natural and you 
          really get the feeling that you are escaping.  The
          graphics give a feel of 3-D even though they're not,
          and it's astounding what a good job they do.  There
          are several levels and you must purchase all but the
          shareware beginning level.  From there you go up to 
          a game where you get to track down Hitler himself in
          his bunker and your job is to shoot him.  It's a great
          game for kids and I know lots of adults that are 
          addicted to it too.

          IN our next issue we are going to review many more 
          games for you.

          
          ANOTHER NEW PRODUCT IDEA ...
          
          If you have a laser printer you are spending hundreds of
          dollars per year in electrical costs and wasting the
          environment.  A new product arena called Green Systems is
          coming.  Out now are electrical outlet strips that put your
          laser printer and even your monitor to sleep mode when not in
          use requiring a fraction of the electrical power consumption
          they now use.  Then at the touch of a key or a mouse, they
          snap back to life and start gobbling up electricity at their
          normal rate.  Great new product idea.  Call us, we have these.
          We hope everyone buys them to help save this country's
          worsening energy import bill.
          
          Also ... if you have a laser printer in a large office and
          you're printer sharing, you're probably also very frustrated
          with the speed of your printer.  An easy and inexpensive up-
          grade to your system is to install a printer accelerator card.
          These have been pricey before, but now there are cheaper
          alternatives.  Microsoft has heard the complaints and has
          launched their own card.  Out soon, it's only about $199.00.
          Another good one is Printsprint.  It's a little more - about
          $299.00 but is available now.  What they do is use the
          computers CPU to compose the pages and gets around the
          bottleneck in the Print Spooler.
          
          But if you don't want to spend all that money, just wait a few
          months for Windows Version 4.0.  Among many other new features
          will be faster printing.
          
          
          
          
          And, Oh, yes...  We take Visa & MasterCard.
          
          With these tools, you can do almost anything.  Want to know
          more?
          
          Call us.....
          
          1-408-423-8580
