Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!clyde.concordia.ca!ganymede!terre.DMI.USherb.CA!sd05
From: sd05@terre.DMI.USherb.CA (Sylvain Tremblay / Eric Trepanier)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.cbm
Subject: Re: FastLoader Cartridges
Message-ID: <1990Dec28.055244.11688@DMI.USherb.CA>
Date: 28 Dec 90 05:52:44 GMT
References: <3723@ns-mx.uiowa.edu>
Sender: usenet@DMI.USherb.CA (Pour courrier Usenet)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Universite de Sherbrooke, Quebec
Lines: 37
Nntp-Posting-Host: terre.dmi.usherb.ca


I cannot speak for the Final Cartridge III, nor for the Explode v4.
Personnally, I have a Super Snapshot v4 cartridge and as far as I know, it's
the *fastest* fastloader cartridge available.  Like most other fastloader
cartridges, SS4 allows you to create a special file format called TURBO25,
which is claimed to be 25 times faster than normal 1541 load time.  However,
I never use that format, because it is kind of clumsy, and requires special
SS4 tools to copy/delete these files.  But when it is used in its regular
TURBO mode, the SS4 still speeds up the 1541 considerably.  It's much faster
than Epyx's Fastload!!!

SS4 works with most known Commodore drives including the 1581.  This is not
true of many other fastload cartridges.  And SS4 includes a built-in file
copier which is quite handy to have around.  This file copier is as good as
any other file copier available.  There is an excellent monitor, which
features full bi-directionnal scrolling, disk sector editing commands and
allows full monitoring of the drive's memory.  Also a feature unique (I think)
to SS4 is the ability to view/print/save any screen snapshot in either the
160x200 Koala format or the 320x200 format, in full color.  The print option
supports a full 16 color gray shading option.  Before I had the SS4, I had
a Final Cartridge II and the quality of the screen dumps was quite inferior to
that of the SS4.  There are many more options available with the SS4, I'm not
going to list them all, but obviously, I'm quite satisfied with this cartridge!

The current version of the Super Snapshot is V5, available through mail-orders
in RUN advertising.  RUN also distributes the V4 cartridge directly at a very
reasonnable price.  I'm not 100% convinced that the added V5 features makes it
so much better than V4.


Eric Trepanier

-- 
+-----------------------------------------------------------------///------+
|  Sylvain Tremblay        INTERNET: sd05@terre.USherb.CA    __  ///   /|  |
|  Eric Trepanier               CIS: 71640,666               \\\///  #  |  |
|  Sherbrooke, Qc, Can          TEL: (819) 820-0976           \XX/     _|_ |