Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!rutgers!princeton!udel!rminnich From: rminnich@udel.EDU (Ron Minnich) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: AmiExpo Message-ID: <619@louie.udel.EDU> Date: Wed, 21-Oct-87 22:56:09 EDT Article-I.D.: louie.619 Posted: Wed Oct 21 22:56:09 1987 Date-Received: Sat, 24-Oct-87 10:13:55 EDT References: <605@louie.udel.EDU> <2490@dciem.UUCP> Reply-To: rminnich@udel.EDU (Ron Minnich) Organization: University of Delaware Lines: 74 In article <2490@dciem.UUCP> king@dciem.UUCP (Stephen King) writes: >In article <605@louie.udel.EDU> rminnich@udel.EDU (Ron Minnich) writes: >>other hand, it was $15 and it works. Sure the output looks like hell >>but DPaint is awful too and it costs a lot more. Which led me to > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >I am surprised by this statement. I think DPaint is GREAT! What are you >comparing it to? > >>My wife refused to countenance any money spent on another Amiga >>program- she used DPaint too until we realized we could not print. > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Look, let's just say for the moment that i am joe typical amiga user. Or maybe what C= would like to be typical. I plunk my $90 down for DPaint, and what do i get? 1) A program that takes over 2 minutes to start up- because of the idiotic encoding 2) a program that basically eats my amiga-unless i get > 512K 3) a program that, admittedly, is a pretty fantastic paint program, BUT ... 4) i cannot make copies of those pictures! Or I do the best i can, do figures for an article, send the article out, and get lambasted by the reviewers for the quality of the pictures (which is really annoying). It is a great paint program. From almost every other standpoint it is a complete write-off. I do not much care if it is wonderful if i cannot (after a LOT of trying) get decent b/w output. Maybe it is partly C= fault, i do not know. I really had to wonder, though, if EA ever even tried to print on a 'just folks' printer. I could not believe that they could ship a product whose printed output looked so bad. Compare this to MacPaint (sorry!). you can still go to talks and read articles that have figures done under MacPaint in them PRINTED ON AN IMAGEWRITER; they look OK. >Before getting a bargain on a Canon PJ-1080 color ink-jet printer, Which i cannot afford ... >They were no screaming hell, but they were hard copy in my opinion, barely. Like i say, what is the point of the world's best paint program if you cannot print it? > >Check out MaxiPlan. A well behaved spreadsheet which multitasks, uses >RAM disc, runs in a pull-down screen, etc. etc. > Look, HaiCalc is $60. IT is not a power-user's spreadsheet, but it is plenty for me. My point was that i want less power-user software, and more HaiCalc-like software. Minimum for MaxiPlan is $150, or about 25% of the price of the 500. That price, i think, is nuts. > >Glad you are getting something you like, but I still think that there >have been good programs for the Amiga for some time now. All one has >to do is look. N'est-ce pas? ...sjk Well, i just do not agree. Pre-AmiExpo the only home-management system i could find was in the $200-$300 range. Ridiculous. No wonder no software sold. I should add that i am a victim of Lattice 3.03, which was money well spent only in that it gets me 4.0 for $75, but was almost a total loss otherwise. Oh, and, silly me, Amiga Lisp from MCC. Boy, was that dumb, i realized one day later, but the dealer refused to take it back. I cannot believe that MCC is still in business ... Anyway, the tone of my letter was meant to really say: NICE WORK C= I hope to heck you make it, cause i sure like the Amiga! BTW, MicroFiche Filer, HaiCalc, and Money Mentor are NOT copy protected. And, for the first time in ten years, using Money Mentor, my checkbook balances to the last penny. now that is a miracle. ron P.S. Forgot one thing. I gave some people the impression that HyperCard runs on the Amiga. Sorry. What i really meant was that i was wondering how the existence of HyperCard would affect Amiga sales. Don't know, but have this feeling it is another Jazz.People still really do not want to program, methinks. P.P.S. I like the 500 keyboard, the 500 manual, and really do not miss the detachable keyboard that much. Heck, the 500 weighs less than a 3277 keyboard ... -- ron (rminnich@udel.edu)