$9f5|1-THE SEARCH FOR THE BEST PD HOUSE $99f by Dave Diamond Over the years,pd houses have come and go,but what one around today is the best in terms of availability,price,delivery and friendlyness? Here is a evaluation of the pd houses I've ordered from,with their problems and good points all laid out for you. I would advise all pd programmers to read this as one company is conning everyone (guyz at lsd in particular). EPIC SOFTWARE (also trade as virus free pd) This is the company that the dudes from lsd and any other programmer should complain to,now on the front of every issue of this clasic mag there is a notice aimed to pd houses saying that it must NOT be sold for more than £2.40 I think,anyway while searching through their catalogue I spotted grapevine (and why not?) but was horrified to learn that they charge £9.50 for the 3 disk issue,thats three pounds per disk!! they had a slideshow from bad boyz that was 10 disks,thats 30 quid!!!! The prices go down after 10 disks but only to about £2.50 each,I strongly advise programmers to complain as they`re breaking a contract or agreement between you and them, I hope I've been of some help to you who didn`t know this. PRICES OUT OF TEN-0 FRIENDLYNESS-0 AVAILABILITY-8 CATALOGUE LAYOUT-1 DELIVERY-1 (took them 10 days to send a catalogue) OVERALL-1/10 17 BIT SOFTWARE Quite a good company but the problem I had was when I submitted a disk mag I created,it was my first attempt at doing something like this as I have no programming experience,they rejected my mag on the grounds that the quality wasn`t of a high enough standard,it doesn`t matter about that its the information (which was really good in my opinion), I've now done a better version and wont be submitting it to 17 bit as pd doesnt really need to be lavishly presented,sure the graphics help but I think its the quality of the articles that matter, I've had games from 17 bit that are totally crap,with pathetic graphics etc,but they still sell it anyway! nevermind on with the eval.. PRICES-7 FRIENDLYNESS-4 AVAILABILITY-9 CATALOGUE LAYOUT-2 DELIVERY-6 OVERALL-8 ONLINE PD I was unsure of this company as it was advertised with a really small advert,and chances are that these companys will go bust or close down and keep your cash,but luckily there still are some nice guyz in life and online pd are some of them. PRICES-9 FRIENDLYNESS-8 AVAILABILITY-10 CATALOGUE LAYOUT-8 DELIVERY-7 OVERALL-8 KT`S PD Another small advert,but just like online were a genuine company,really I've saved the best for last, I've ordered many times from kt`s and have now got to know the owner,the friendlyness is superb as you feel as if you`re talking someone who understands what you want,at the right price and with no hanging about,this was in fact the case as john (the owner) was just like me and you who collected pd and oneday had so much of it decided to open up his own company. Kt`s I suppose is not a ordinary pd house as its also johns home,and works untill 2-3 in the morning (ouch!),speed of the service is also to be recommended as no sooner as you`ve sent the cheque off the parcels arrived (no kidding!). PRICES-9 FRIENDLYNESS-10 AVAILABILITY-8 CATALOGUE LAYOUT-10 DELIVERY-10 OVERALL-9 Incidently,both kt`s and online pd have accepted my disk mag,two of the best companys I think and they deserved it too! $ff0 [You are not biased then? I've had no dealing's with PD companies other than a call from one about Phreaking Only and The WORD. Sadeness used to deal with NFA but as they are few (5) and thinking of changing their name, Carnage are now the WORD staff, with Budda giving me the occasional "Hi Kei, here's some articles". A few PD company's carry Carnage's PD software without every contacting us which is ok as long as they don't rip off their customers. You can always get it from us for next to nothing (51p which includes a disk and return postage as I recall). Iceman is the crew member that chats to the PD companies though so my knowledge of them is limited. Someone should do a more thorough review of them though as it's long overdue. Kei] $99f End.