Rakewell Limited



Z88 Reviews

What's Here?

Any reviews or comments from readers who have left me an e-mail from this site and general Z88 interest items.

The great excitement is the arrival of a new 'active' Z88 web site and the 1M Flash EPROM pack.

Chuffed - the message

-----Original Message-----
From: Morton Davis
<email address removed>
To: Vic Gerhardi <rakewell@nildram.co.uk>
Date: 24 October 1999 22:18
Subject: Chuffed - the message

Hello Vic

Sorry I forgot to copy the message into the last email from Word! It said, more or less, that I am delighted with the Flash EPROM and EazyLink, and that since getting the hang of using them (and I don’t know what mental block made it seem difficult in the first place) I wouldn’t be without either. Who needs a Psion 5?!?

Regards

Morton

1M Flash EPROM

At 17:54 18/01/98 -0000, you wrote:
>Will ship tomorrow.
>

Thanks got it this morning:-).

And what can I say it is just FAB!! I find the basic program much more friendly than the Filer but I would like to see something along the line of EPROMFETCH program so you can just select the files you want to bring back in to the Z88 with out typing out the full name and DIR first this is not a complaint just something I have got use to using and would like to see added to the program..

Ok you should get my registration card back sometime this week, all I need now is a bigger memory card:-) Do you have any bigger ram cards???

Michael Harrop

The BBC BASIC program supplied with the Flash EPROM is now reaching its 'full capacity.' There are plans to release a new application called FlashStore which will allow an easier way of selecting files.

We still have a few 1M RAM cards left, but no more 512K's.

The New Flash EPROM - An appraisal

I have had the opportunity to test the new Flash EPROM, a device which looks just like a RAM but it goes in slot 3 on the Z88. It has a capacity of ONE MEGabyte and it sells at £59.00, inclusive of VAT, obtainable only from Rakewell.

Control is very simple - a Menu with Save (from RAM), Fetch (to RAM), Catalogue and Erase. And it's quick - very quick, loading 2 Kbytes per second. And you don't need an eraser - this is a built-in function and it's very fast too.

It is operated by a Basic file called "flash.bas" and it could not be simpler to use. If a file is overwritten the original is still shown but it has faded. In any print-out of the contents these overwritten files are not shown.

Which brings us to the one great doubt I had - with oodles and oodles of files in there how the h. do you know what you have, or don't have!

Well, the obvious thing to do is to have a printout :- You can use the very good function provided on the Z88 - []+S ([] is the key with the square on it - yes, I do know that all the keys are square!) Go to any RAM, select CATALOGUE EPROM but before ENTERing, type []+S.

If you now go to Pipedream and load the file S.SGN you will get all the files in Column A. You can then do a Sort to get them into alphabetical order and re-arrange the files into more columns so that only one page needs to be printed.

Don't forget to erase the file S.sgn from RAM.-

I have to say that I won't buy one, for the simple and only reason that I don't use my Z88 "on the move" & I already have a disc drive (and a spare) which serves me very well. If I was relying on EPROMs as back-up for my files, or if I was using my Z88 away from home I most certainly would not hesitate for a moment.

Reluctantly I returned the one I tested - anybody need two disc drives?

/Jack Lawrie/ /18 December, 1997/

19th December! got withdrawal symptoms - just sent Vic a cheque and asked him to return it. How can I advise everyone else to buy and not have one myself?

We have had another note from Jack which follows.

The One Meg Flash EPROM

Absolutely the best add-on that has ever been produced for the Z88. Can't be much doubt about that if this had been available while the Z88 was still "alive" it would still be so today.

Imagine having 1 Meg of storage! The vast majority of users would never fill it. No need for large RAMs - any file can be recovered from the Flash EPROM in a few seconds.

Back-up? If you feel you must have copies of files you save to this medium and you don't have a disc drive and can't save them to another computer then you could have a second FlashEPROM - at only £59 each they are by no means expensive.

I have only one criticism, brought about by its very size - it is not easy to see what is in there. It can be catalogued on screen but only seven files at a time. Here's what you can do to obtain a printout of the files you have saved.

Go to the FlashEPROM but before pressing 'C' to Catalogue, type []+S

When scrolling is complete, type []-S to clear the CLI.

Go to Pipedream and load :*/s.sgn as Plain Text.

You now have all you files on screen. The list may be a little untidy, with more than one file per line occasionally but this is easily put right. Then do a sort <>SO before splitting a long list into columns.

You may, if you don't have a great number of files, use the same method to get a list from the Filer - select CATALOGUE EPROM before using []+S. You won't get the sizes of the files, as you do with the first method.

We will incorporate a method of printing files - again in FlashStore.

Web Site

14 December 1997 14:26

Hello Vic (I presume)

What a delightful surprise on a Sunday afternoon.

On going to Deja News to find out if there has been any Z88 postings to any news group, I found Gary Lanchaster had updated his page (long time since). Going there I found an announcement for your page. Possible The most important site establishment for the Z88 ever.

I am honoured to have my page mentioned on your site. Thank you.

I wish you a Merry Christmas and a long Z88 life.

Yours sincerely
Dennis Gröning

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