READERS' LETTERS   ( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 ) WERRIBEE AMIGA GROUP CALLING ALL AMIGANS IN THE WERRIBEE AREA....... Don't just sit there playing with your mouse! Get in contact with one of the really nice guys below and join us in our quest for better understanding of this wonderful machine. It doesn't matter whether you are an old hand or a beginner, be a part of it. Contact: Andrew McInnes on 748-7127 or Greg Byrne on 748-7582 Greetings to the Following :- Justin Albury of Gunning NSW, Nathan Bolsted of Warriewood NSW (Croup Co-Ordinator of ECA Wakehurst!) Also Greetings to Tony Drieman (SIG Co-Ordinator) East Cost Amiga Inc. and many thanks for his help and advice on setting up a Users Group.  ( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )  CAD ON THE AMIGA  A BRIEF AMIGA BIO Dear Ed, It seems, after our phone conversation, and a following phone conversation to Michael Watson, that the Amiga community really is way behind when it comes to high quality CAD programs for the "best" computer. I realize X-CAD and DynaCAD do a wonderful job, but they don't really compare to the CAD software available for clones do they. A friend of mine was all set to buy a '486, and $7000 worth of "quality" CAD software, but after a demo of the Amiga's user friendliness and some persuading, he's going to purchase a 3000 instead...(I think!). Needing a really good CAD program was his reason for going the '486 way, and I was hoping there was CAD software available for the Amiga, which would fill his needs, but it seem we're dragging the chain a bit. Being his first computer, we all know the Amiga is his best choice, and I just hope he'll buy one, and can make do with X-CAD or DynaCAD, even if it is only to get one more Amigan, and another MD subscriber. :-)  A short Bio:- I've been going to do this for a long time now so here it is. I work for Hillier Conversions here in Tenterfield, building stretched limo's and hearses for customers Australia wide. We do everything ourselves, (except making the new tailshaft), which includes all the design work, (which is checked by engineers), as well as drawing our own blueprints. The blueprints are just roughed out on the job, then, when they're finally finished and all measurements are correct, I bring them home and use the Amiga to do a final version, of which a copy is printed out and the file saved to floppies, which are then secured in a safe place. The blueprints I draw, don't require anything like X-CAD or DynaCAD, but I do feel if we are to compete with clones in that area, as well as we do elsewhere, something needs to be done. I've got an A500 running V2.04, with a meg of chip Ram and 4 megs of fast, via my GVP seriesII 120 meg Quantum hard drive and ram expansion. The 500 and hard drive sit under my own version of the Bodega Bay. My second disk drive is mounted in the bay on the right side front, and both power supplies sit inside at the back, under a 12v fan. I have four switches in front which switch in order from left to right, hard drive, computer, scanner, and fan. Beside that is the switch for my version 1.3/2.0 ROM switcher. The right side holds a 3 way mouse/joystick switcher which I whacked together. Another switch further back switches audio from the monitor, to the amplifier on the stereo, to the VCR. On the Left side is the fan and two parallel port sockets for printer and scanner, and the switch to swap between them. I've been computing since November '87, and playing games is not what I use this thing for. Well, maybe now and then! I'm a desktop publisher at heart, I write heaps of letters etc, do lots of spreadsheeting, and fiddle with CanDo (can't wait for my next upgrade). My favorite Database is Darryl Bartlett's Freelance, which works well under Version 2.0, although it was written years ago. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of Superbase Pro, but it's simple, quick, and does the job well, and is now shareware I think. Some of my Maxiplan spreadsheets include, working out vehicle speeds given different engine revs, and different diff ratios. Also working out engine horsepower developed at the wheels; given the distance and the vehicles weight, and providing there's no wheel spin at all.  CLIP ART SCANS Also in this postpak is a disk full of LHARC'ed scans I've done with my humble 400dpi, 16 shades of grey, Datel scanner. I do up a few flyers and programmes from time to time, using my scanner and PageStream, for the Stanthorpe and District Touring Car and Drag Racing Club. The scanner also gets used by the kids for their school projects, and has been well worth the $400 it cost a year ago. I've had 200 odd scans sitting on my hard drive now for ages, and thought someone else might get some use out of them. There's cars, bikes, trucks, planes, boats and machinery etc etc. Also logos for car parts like Holley Carbs, Sig Erson Cams, Yella Terra Heads etc, that I plaster all over the programmes and flyers to get the Rev-Heads psyched up. Ed, have a look thru' to see if they're good enough for the MD library, else just trash them! I had to LHARC them, or there'd be two disks full. Ed: They're excellent, Ross - anyone interested can check them out in the PD list this issue. I know you hear it all the time, and I read it all the time, but I'm going to write it again anyway,..... KEEP UP THE GOOD; NO, EXCELLENT WORK WITH MEGADISC. We're always looking forward to the next issue, and my hand starts hovering over the phone, if it's not in the mailbox and we're heading towards the end of the month. ******************************************************** Also, Who's getting a 4000? ******************************************************** Ross Blacker Tenterfield  ( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )  Letter from W.A. Dear Ed: Just a short note to fill you in on what's happening here in Western Australia. In their infinite wisdom, the Perth Sunday Times newspaper has revamped their computer section and now caters strictly for the business sector. All reference to the Amiga has now been dropped, mainly because of the lack of supportive advertising, the lifeblood of any newspaper. However, all is not lost. Our local morning newspaper, The West Australian has decided to run a video games section once a week in which the Amiga has been granted a section. This supplement is to be included in the Monday edition and starts on November 16. The sad part of this change is that after developing the Amiga from its humble beginnings into its present day super computer status, the business community still believes the Amiga is ONLY A GAMES MACHINE ! I hope that one day Commodore's senior management will see the stupidity of maintaining a low profile and do some positive advertising which will not only increase the viability of their company but will add much needed flow-on benefits for their dwindling number of retail outlets and millions of loyal supporters. On another tack, it seems as if the OZAMIGA magazine is no more, due to an unresolved partnership dispute but moves are afoot to replace it with a similar publication, the Amiga Xpress. In an act of good faith, the Amiga Xpress magazine is likely to send free copies to all the previous OZAMIGA subscribers so no-one will suffer from the change. Until again, Peter Furey Perth WA  ( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )  LOWE SCORES First of all I would like thank Steve Bolton for his constructive critism dealing with my game MATHS ADVENTURE II. Now that I look at it again after a few months I see that it is not that fantastic. In fact it is pretty pathetic. But nevertheless this only makes me more determined to release something really special in the future. I'm glad you liked the reflex test on MD28. See if you can beat my score of 96.109% in multiplication. I really put the pedal to the metal to achieve that score taking around thirty seconds and getting every question correct! My younger sister Karen (16) achieved 90.918% in multiplication and is currently coming second on the high score list. Also Dusty Broderick, aged ten, achieved a score of 85.829% in multiplication which is pretty amazing! After all my friends played with the MATHS ADVENTURE II I have discovered only one mistake. The answer in the very last question is incorrect! All the other 47 questions seem fine. I hope this doesn't inconvenience to many people but as I said before this only makes me more determined in the future.  Is 1 a prime? Also a quick note to Hayley Hummerston. The number 'one' is defined as being a non-prime number. Similarly with the simple question of what is zero divided by zero. No, the answer is not zero. The answer is actually undefined as in the question of what is one divided by zero. (Or any other number divided by zero come to think of it!) My game 'Reflex Test' has been very popular among family and friends. I have finished the game 'Reflex Test Part II'. This new Reflex Test contains three new categories and is much harder than the first one. I am currently compiling an ultimate list which will be the average of all the scores for any one person in all six categories. The category multiplication has attracted the most people so far. Here is the complete list, Category: Addition Number of entrants so far: 23 Name Final Mark Country ---- ---------- ------- Stefan Berg 91.990 % U.S.A Jason Lowe 90.121 % Australia Ian Evans 89.592 % Australia Ivan Scale 88.568 % Australia Steven Byles 86.417 % Australia Elizabeth Hamilton 83.065 % Australia Lars Hansen 82.458 % Australia Meik Woyke 80.786 % Germany Valentine Alvarez 79.606 % Australia Alfred Meyer 78.920 % Germany Karen Lowe 78.873 % Australia Valerie Lowe 76.039 % Australia Laurie Millard 77.322 % Australia John Lowe 74.393 % Australia Rosemarie McCallum 73.916 % Australia Esther Thomsen 72.956 % Australia Colin Dale 71.546 % Australia Alison Byles 70.867 % Australia Emily Hamilton 62.572 % Australia Scott Andrews 59.049 % Australia Debbie Ebert 52.263 % Australia Steven Nowland 35.781 % Australia Yasmin Dawson 19.853 % Australia Category: Multiplication Number of entrants so far: 43 Name Final Mark Country ---- ---------- ------- Jason Lowe 96.109 % Australia Karen Lowe 90.918 % Australia Ivan Scale 88.803 % Australia Stefan Berg 88.169 % U.S.A David Pugh 87.683 % Australia Ian Evans 87.130 % Australia Meik Woyke 87.041 % Germany Steven Byles 86.445 % Australia Dusty Broderick 85.829 % Australia Steven Nowland 85.168 % Australia Wendy Lowe 84.734 % Australia Lars Hansen 84.264 % Australia Elizabeth Hamilton 83.117 % Australia John Wallace 82.240 % Australia Rodney Holt 81.196 % Australia Robbie Millard 80.212 % Australia Valentine Alvarez 79.699 % Australia Valerie Lowe 79.666 % Australia John Lowe 79.181 % Australia John Monahan 77.624 % Australia Rosemarie McCallum 77.016 % Australia Ted Bartley 76.842 % Australia Tony Drieman 76.481 % Australia Laurie Millard 75.157 % Australia John Greenwood 74.765 % Australia Chris Gill 74.540 % Australia Alison Byles 73.507 % Australia Adam Abberton 73.054 % Australia Tony Coote 72.307 % Australia Ester Thomsen 72.251 % Australia Yasmin Dawson 72.031 % Australia Emily Hamiltion 71.754 % Australia Alfred Meyer 70.870 % Germany Mark Foley 69.301 % Australia Tim Fawzy 68.477 % Australia Stuart Hawke 68.351 % Australia Tino Meyer 67.970 % Germany Colin Dale 67.117 % Australia Gary Manstead 65.273 % Australia Julia Hansen 58.906 % Australia Greg Millard 56.921 % Australia Sharon Dale 56.641 % Australia Scott Andrews 53.847 % Australia Category: Subtraction Number of entrants so far: 15 Name Final Mark Country ---- ---------- ------- Stefan Berg 95.889 % U.S.A Ian Evans 95.727 % Australia Jason Lowe 94.680 % Australia Ivan Scale 89.586 % Australia David Pugh 89.446 % Australia Meik Woyke 86.621 % Germany Elizabeth Hamilton 85.903 % Australia Karen Lowe 83.831 % Australia Valentine Alvarez 74.597 % Australia Rosemarie McCallum 70.896 % Australia John Lowe 69.694 % Australia Ben Martin 66.924 % Australia Esther Thomsen 66.667 % Australia Daniel Martin 61.696 % Australia Yasmin Dawson 23.921 % Australia Valerie Lowe 19.105 % Australia PS. The Reflex Test has been re-written while still keeping the original high scoring methods. You can find this new Reflex Test on fish disk 711. Jason Lowe Chittaway Bay  ( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )  Beware the little ripper Dear Ed! Sorry 'bout missin' MD30... I was a little lazy writing the ARexx stuff that should be with this... Anyway, your time of peace has passed and I have returned! MISC 150??? Umm, exactly what is MISC 150? Is it AMIGA 4000? Or is it AMIGAZIP01??? Oh well, you did say that there was a MISC-take every issue... ;-) Sorry... By the way, MISC 151's duplicated too... Perhaps 154/155 is more appropriate? Ed: Since fixed, thanks Anthony. (I can't get away with anything can I?) "Find out:" ??? What does "find out" mean in the PD_Updates file? (Line 79 - In relation to MS62->67, Sountracker) Ed: That was a note to myself which should have been edited out! PACKAGING Before I forget, I must say that I like the new packaging, with maybe two reservations. Firstly the "Amiga" bit doesn't seem to fit in, and the "30" should perhaps be in the same style as "MegaDisc"... Anyway, everyone's an expert as they say... :-) Otherwise, absolute genius! COVERDISKS... I noticed a letter on MD30 somewhere that suggested a PD disk to be included with each MD and your response... On a similar tack, perhaps you or some kind person could put together a theme disk set of PD with all the PD mentioned on each MegaDisc on it. Eg on this disk somebody might be giving a tutorial on SID 2.0, if so you could include the program on the disk. Perhaps to make life easier on your-(overworked)- self you could encourage contributors to send in a copy of the appropriate program to be included on the disk? It wouldn't be difficult for the contributor and would save a lot of irritation hunting through your enormous library... Ed: Amazing how great minds think alike, Anthony! See MD_INFO for info about our amazing new cover disk idea originated by Paul McLachlan. ICONS... (or ON THE MDB ICON...) Deary me! A dare??! A dare via an (inter?)national resource such as this!! Well, I guess that I must respond so: I didn't mention the spanner (which is quite distinguishable (!) BTW) as I thought (mistakenly it seems) that (aren't parentheses fun? :-) it was part of the programming thingomy-bob, anyway my guess at the disk 2 icon is: Spider - Viruses (killers that is :-) Joystick - Games (ugh - Oh well, if I keep saying that maybe I can convince myself... ;-) Letter - A little easy don't you think? The-dude-with-the-funny-hat-on (;-) - Tutes&Cli, Educational All on Megadisc B!!! :-) While "on" the topic of icons, would you be able, Tim, to put the MD disk icons at the top of the window, as when using WB as a Window in 640x256 they're just half visible... Arggh! :-) "I THINK" ????? What is this A Towns I THINK????? (End of one of my letters on MD29) Hmm! Of course it's ME! Can't you tell by my "interesting" writing style? Can't you tell by my sign offs? ARGGH!!! (after calming down slightly...) So therefore I conclude that one of two things must be true. A. You are accusing me of plague-arism (???? :-) B. You have some sort of suspicions that an intenational spy organisation has my name and number and is trying to influence the generally most sane people on (and off) the continent by tampering with the contents of my message... And how dare you call my writing style "skewiff"!!! Absolutely nothing there is indicating writing mine skewiff is!!! (Have you ever had the feeling you've said just the wrong thing at just the wrong time? :-) Anyway! (Somebody out there must have a synonym! Please! My originality is becoming disgustingly uninspiring!) A RESPONSE TO J KNIGHT! Oh woe! Bt mi speeling hes nethung wrung wuth t! Srley yoo dunt thunk mi riteing s rong. Cum on! Giv uh gie uh brake! Plees! (PS. I HOPE you were talking about my letter rather than an actual article...) Anyway... VIRUSES OR VIRII? As I remember, there was a little letter or article or something in a past MD that explained which was correct, something along the lines that virus was a fourth declension Latin noun... eheu! (sorry... back to English) Alas! Does anyone know where this was? Or would anyone like to rewrite it? Ed: It was me, and I can't remember either the facts or where I wrote it now! FULLVIEW SUGGESTION Occasionally (very) it'd be nice to be able to view the file (text that is) without the various ANSI colour codes, so do you think it would be possible to add a menu option to disable colour change (but leave out the codes nevertheless)?? Besides, I'd like a new FullView version... :-) Ed: I'll get on to Jon Potter about it. WINDOW PATTERNS Those patterns by Brian Scott are nice, especially that black one with the grey stripes... Cute! (Not to mention the only way to get some variety if you're non artistic like myself) Anyone else have something interesting like that? Esp. a hard drive icon that looks a "little" better than the C= one? CRUNCHERS COMPARISON Dear S Bolton! Would you please be able to include LhA in a future comparison?? I've found it to be reasonably good, but I personally couldn't be bothered to compare it with all the others and nor do I have the files that you used... THANX Icon!! Egads! Is it REALLY necessary to have an icon larger in size than the actual file???? (Even if only be 20 something bytes...) Or is it just that too few people help you? Gads! Ed: I just like it! EdgeCalendar Umm, how come this wonderful sounding programme continually crashes on my computer?? It's an A2000, WB/KS 2.04 (as upgraded) DF0: & DF2:, 52MB Quantum H/d (running from H/d) 2Meg of RAM (A2091 Controller). Ed: See the Editorial this issue for the explanation to this glitch. Hal & Dave Absolutely brilliant piece!!! What more can I say? NewCLI Thanx to P McLachlan for the CLI information... Now, if only I still had the reason to need it (I was using 3 screens when I asked, Applications, Shell and Workbench... Alas, such memory wastage has now ceased...) DICE Thanx to D Hooton, BTW, for the DICE info. I dunno if it was particularly addressed to me, but thanx anyway. Anthony Towns Enjoy, ANT! (Beware the little nipper!)  ( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )  So there! I remember when I first got my Amiga, it was a 1.3 with Workbench 1.2. With it I got the Amiga MegaPack with games like Reversi, Inertia Drive and PacBoy to name a few. How nice of Commodore. Back then I thought those games were brilliant, now I think they suck. Classic games such as Lemmings, SWIV, Monkey Island 2, etc. have taken the Amiga to new heights in gaming excellence. We should thank software houses like Electronic Arts, Bitmap Brothers, BullFrog, Ocean, LucasFilm and Micropose for bringing out some ripper games. People say that a PC with Super-VGA is a way better games machine than an Amiga. No way - do our Amigas need a hard drive to run most software? do we need to buy $200 soundcards so we can listen to the sound effects in a game? I think not! So when your next door neighbour says,my PC's better than yours,just remember that you don't have to waste $800 just to appreciate great games. Name lost!  ( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )  Turbo Mail Order Dear Ed: Amazing! The SCRAM 2000 just turned up and I only ordered it yesterday!!! With service like this, you are gonna give the rest of the industry a very bad name. Keep up the good work, and many thanks. Regards, Neil O'Rourke.  ( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )  DataRetrieve problems Dear Ed: Last month's Commodore Review had a letter from a reader stating that Dataretrieve Professional would not work with WB2.x A quick letter to Pactronics got the reply from their Service Manager: 'Dataretrieve Professional WILL run on a DOS 2 machine. The only problem is that the row of icons down the window are hidden. Those functions still work from the menus. That is the only quirk. Funnily enough the icons are present in Dataretrieve.'  A4000 Prices Regarding the AMIGA 4000, a quick check around the retailers in Sydney gave me the following answers to when I could have a fabulous A4000. Computerspot "six months" Several others "$3-6000 and close to Xmas if we're lucky" Sigmacom "$5499, 25% deposit and 14 days delivery" and Sigmacom do trade-ins on older models. How many letters did MD30 generate on problems with icons not finding Fullview? Do you keep stats on what PD people ask for, what's more popular, etc? Just curious really!! Paul Statham, Lakemba, NSW. Ed: In Sydney, SigmaCom and Ami-Tech seem to be doing a good job of serving the end user, particularly when it comes to getting Commodore equipment that Commodore isn't selling yet! I say go for it, gents. Their prices tend to be reasonable as well. Re icon problems in MD30 - check out the Editorial this issue for explanation. PD - popular lately have been Outline Fonts, clip art, both bit-mapped and structured, and utility packs, not to mention the evergreen Fish disks. But I don't actually keep records and break down the statistics.  ( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )  Lost a subscriber Dear Ed: Please cancel my subscription to MegaDisc. I have, for a number of reasons, hone to MessDos and a clone and will miss the Amiga community. MegaDisc was an invaluable learning tool for me. It was informative, entertaining, user friendly and deserves wide and lasting support. Please accept my thanks for the service and understanding shown over time. Should your discMag concept be expanded into the MSDos sphere please let me know. Compliments of the season, Ian Pusser, Surrey Downs SA. Ed: If you can still read this, hurry back when you come to your senses! But seriously, thanks for the feedback and good luck.  ( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )  Megadisc FeedBack working Dear Ed: Thanks again to MegaDisc for publicizing my letter requesting information about programs for keeping Dart Averages (MD28). Which brings me to a letter I received from Neville Stradling in Shepparton (Vic.) telling me about his program called SHANGHAI which is just a score board type program. I think it is great but it does not save any data which is what I want the program to do. I have been in contant with George Knight from Berkeley Vale, and George thinks he may be able to write a program for me. Regards, Garry Simmonds, GatesHead West, NSW.  ( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )  Bad Advice Dear Ed: Don't always believe what your computer serviceman says! As a late starter to the world of computing, at 41, I have found MegaDisc a great help to my sagging confidence. I have an Amiga 2000 with HD which was set up for me by the vendor, who then proceeded to tell me that the problems I was having with Gurus and error codes etc. were caused by me. Now on my third Com Service Centre I have found someone who has brought some sort of order to my HDD. However there are still a few little problems such as Kindwords Dictionary has to be loaded into Memory each time the program is opened (doesn't ask for a disk to be inserted though!). Anyway, I figured it would be easier to learn how to fix these problems for myself and am hoping MD and PD disks will show me how. I'll let you know how I go. Thanks again, Bev Spencer, Keilor Downs, VIC.  ( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )  Satisfied Kiwi Dear Ed: Congratulations on producing the most interesting and diverse magazine, on disk or paper, that I have seen in my five years of Amiga computing. A friend loaned me his copy of MD29 and it kept me interested and entertained for many hours. I would like to subscribe to 6 issues of MegaDisc from issue 30. Regards and keep up the great work, Keith Garrett, Thames, NZ. Ed: Our sentiments exactly, Keith. Welcome to the club.  ( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )  Back to Bach Dear Ed: I am enclosing three disks for you to add to the PD library. Each contains the music for J.S. Bach's "Well-tempered Clavier" Book I Preludes and Fugues. "Minibach" is for Dr. T's Tiger Cup, "Midibach" for users who can access MIDI files and "Maxibach" for Dr. T's KCS. The document files on each are identical. I have set them out this way partly because they wouldn't all fit on one disc, and partly for users who don't want to clutter up their libraries with files that they cannot access.  Music file conversion? I am still looking for that elusive conversion utility which will enable me to make ,smus files after I have done all my "fine tuning" in Tiger Cub so that they can be loaded by De Luxe Music Construction Set owners and other programs that can access .smus files. Whilst I am on the conversion subject - do you know of anyone who has managed to fix the Music-X utility to convert .smus files to Music-X format? I have had no success and I have yet to meet anyone with the original Music-X who has been successful. Yours Sincerely, Don Stones, Auckland, NZ. Ed: Can anyone help Don with the conversion of the music files??  ( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )  Running an A500 Dear Ed: I have a new 500 Plus with 52 Meg GVP HD and an addition 2 Megs fitted together with a 1.3 and 2.04 Switch which I had fitted to the new 500 Plus so these should run alright. My old faithful 500 gave up the ghost, it was just too old and I tossed up whether to purchase a new 600 model or a Rat, however Maxwells down here in Melbourne got a few of the 500 Pluses in, and seeing that I had a perfectly good GVP HD with the extra 2 Megs installed I jumped at the chance of buying it providing that they fitted the 1.3, 2.04 Kickstart etc. I am glad to say it works perfectly and I have not had any trouble on my old and new programs. By the way, I have never ever seen any other 500 Plus around or advertised. They must have been the only people to get it. There seems to be that many changes going on in the Amiga world that it is hard to keep up with the changes. Only the other day I had a letter from GVP asking if I would like to upgrade to a new A530 turbo, but it is a bit rich for my blood at the present. I will have to save my pennies and see what the future brings.  Plug for DirectSoft By the way, I would like to tell you about a company in Sydney which I found to be extremely helpful and that company was "DirectSoft". I purchased a game called "Solitaires Journey" (a card game) and found it would not save my games, even though the accompanying booklet said it would (possible for HD on PC versions). However I sent the disks together with my Registration Card to DirectSoft and explained the problem to them. The next day (which was fast mail service) I had a phone call from the firm saying that they had looked at my disks and had the same problem, the disks were full and had no room left to save. However a few days later they returned my disks accompanied by a nice letter informing me that I could now load this game onto my hard drive and also I could make back up copies for my own use. I loaded the disks onto my hard drive and it works perfectly now. So that is one company that is very helpful to their customers. All the best to you and your staff, Xmas is just around the corner and many thanks for your prompt service in the past. Jerry Chambers, Sth Caulfield, VIC.  ( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )