SCUTTLEBUTT REPROGRAMMABLE CARTRIDGES • WEATHER MONITOR • BRIEFCASE COMPUTER • WORD PROCESSORS • ACCOUNTING PROGRAM • LASER DISC UPDATE • GRAPHICS PROGRAM • USER GROUP BULLETIN BOARD TYPING TUTORIAL • PROMQUEEN • SPEECH SYNTHESIZER • MAGIC DESK PROGRAM • SPREADSHEET • NEW GAMES UPDATE PASAL, LOGO, COMAL, ASSEMBLER, and PILOT. The unit's 6510 central processor is
they are the most inexpensive
cables start at around $44.95. The Commodore cable plugs into the serial bus connector and allows the full character set, including continous graphics and bit mapped graphics using BASIC software.
printers available with graphics capabilities for home and personal
BUT WILL SHE OUTPUT?
6502 program compatible.
LOW-COST PRINTERS Alphacom Inc. has introduced two new printers, claiming that
computers.
The Executive 64
available for the VIC 20 and Commodore 64; prices for the
A date with a Promqueen may
The Alphacom 81 is an 80-column printer with a
be in the future of Commodore 64 users seeking a microprocessor
wraparound facility for printing text lines longer than 80 characters. Printing at a rate of 80
development system for EPROM-
resident machine language pro grams. The Promqueen/64, a
BRIEFLY
characters per second, the unit
souped-up version of the cartridge
Commodore has provided one alternative for the growing
combines a single-chip microprocessor with the popular
earlier introduced by Gloucester Computer for the VIC-20, utilizes
number of business travelers who
Olivetti THM-125 dot matrix
find their computers significantly harder to leave behind than their
thermal print mechanism. The friction feed printer has bit
the 64's greater memory space, supports an RS-232 upload/ download system, and pro
wives. The portable (27.6 pounds), briefcase-sized (5" x 14V4" x Wh"), $995 Executive 64 features an upper and lower case detachable keyboard, 6-inch color monitor, and single floppy disk drive with 179K capacity (second drive capacity). The system is compatible with VIC-20 and C-64 peripherals, in cluding the VIC modem for telecommunications. A Z-80 allows the unit to accommmodate a CP/M operating system, and a PET Emulator makes it compati ble with a large quantity of PET software. It can also use all the game cartridges that work with the C-64. Built into the ROM is BASIC V2; other languages include
mapped graphics capability and recognizes standard ASCII control codes. Suggested retail price of
$169.95. The Alphacom 42, priced at $119.95, is a forty column printer that operates at the same speed as the 81 and has many of the same features. Interface cables are now
vides faster EPROM bum time of a wider variety of EPROMS, with such applications as process con trol, electronic game develop ment, and music synthesis. Any
computer-controlled device, accor ding to the manufacturer, can be easily programmed or reprogrammed. The Promqueen/64 retains all
The Alphacom 81 (left) and the Alphacom 1842 printers. R*ad«r Service No. 5
AHOY! 9