Producer: Ram Electronics
Retail Price: £34.95

INTO PRINT WITH RAM

Ace wordprocessor evaluator, Dominic Handy, gets to grip with a neat package from the people who brought you the Music System... This time it's words they're
manipulating, rather than noise.

RAM PRINT WITH RAM WRITE

This latest offering from hardware specialists consists RAM of a little black box into which has been crammed a Kempston joystick interface, centronics printer interface and cable, and a built in word processor on a ROM chip.

RAM Print is compatible with all Spectrums, but requires initialising in the 128K mode, and unfortunately, RAM Write can not be used on 16K machines. The Kempston
interface is compatible with all Atari type 9 pin joysticks, and is now recognised as the industry standard joystick interface.

The printer interface emulates the ZX printer and is generally compatible with all software or hardware producing printer output. The printer interface can be altered
to suit your application and printer, by accessing a menu held in ROM, via the simple command, LPRINT "(c)set" and changing the values hiding there.

Line feeds can be turned on or off after a carriage return, according to your printer's need. It is also possible to tell the interface whether you want the printer's
ASCII values printed or the Spectrum's - this is how you can get Spectrum keywords printed, or the printers own special characters.

Text can be copied from the screen, or the screen itself copied, pixel by pixel, to the printer. Screens are copied very quickly in a choice of two sizes, although
with the large copy you loose the right hand two columns - which is very strange and annoying - and the picture seems stretched across the printer. Lastly on the SET
menu you can define the width of the printer you are using, from 0-199 characters. All the options are preset to sensible values, and as such this menu does not
usually need altering.

Of course to use your printer interface to its full you really need a word processor, and to make things easy for you RAM ELECTRONICS have teamed together with HARD
SOFTWARE to include a word processor, also in ROM. This is entered by the command LPRINT "(c)word".

When accessed, the program presents you with a simple status bar, command window and a large text window. Unfortunately, RAM Write doesn't score very well on the
WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get) stakes as the text editing window's only 32 characters wide, and the program doesn't word-wrap or justify your text as you type
it.

If you want to see what the output will be like you have to choose the DISPLAY command: from this you are sent into a display window covering the whole of the screen,
with a 32 or 64 characters width - you can only preview the text in this mode by travelling around via the cursor keys. Editing the existing text is not allowed. In
this mode the formatted text is displayed, always word-wrap and only right justified it defined as such. Also if you chose to underline some text then it shows as such
on the screen, as well as on the printer - very useful if you are one of those people who forgets to turn off the underline token, and gets the whole of the text
underlined.

Before starting a 'cold' piece of text it must be given a name. This is then stored by the program and given as a default when loading, saving, merging and verifying
other pieces of text to and from Microdrive or tape, which speeds up the process tremendously. Of course if you load text in, then its name is taken as the default.

All commands are entered as single letters: entering 'E' puts the user into EDIT mode, and 'L' into load mode, for instance. Text is entered directly and symbols that are normally obtained via EXTENDED MODE are entered by using SYMBOL SHIFT - EXTENDED MODE is reserved for entering printer format codes, which are entered by typing a
single letter code followed by a +, - or a number for some commands. For example to start condensed underlined text with a page number 3 you would type: c+u+p3 in
EXTENDED mode. It appears on the screen in inverse video when in EDIT mode, but disappears in DISPLAY mode. This means that all printer information is always displayed
and it saves the time of going through lots of menus to do one task as the expense of screen neatness.

The program contains condensed, double strike, double width, form feed, centering and underline EPSON-compatible printer codes - and if your codes aren't on a preset
command they can be entered by typing 'k' followed by the desired codes. Perhaps more codes should have been preset - I didn't fancy the idea of looking up the double
height or emphasised print codes every time I wanted them.

There is no way parts of text can be printed or the same text printed many times in one go - these omissions separate the home processors from the more professional word processors. There's no doubt in my mind that RAM Write is definitely for the first-time home user.

There are two ways of entering text: either OVERWRITE the existing text or iNSERT into the existing text. The cursor can only be moved around the text character by
character or page by page. This seems like another major flaw, as once a large chunk of text has been typed in it takes a long time to find a specific place. Marking
blocks of text is no problem - just enter 'm' for MOVE, 'c' for COPY or 'k' for KILL TEXT in the command mode. Then enter the text, mark the beginning and end of the
block where you want it in the file by pressing ENTER when the cursor is at the right places in the text, then that's it - the block moves at the speed of light.

FINDing a string is also initiated from the command mode. All occurrences of a specified string can be replaced, or the program can step through each find and replace
individually.

Individual pages can be defined in length and width, with margins on the left and right and with blank lines at the top and bottom of each page to separate it, and the
page number centred at the top.

Even though RAM Write doesn't contain many extra features as such, it has all that is needed for a quick and decent output. It compliments RAM Print well as it is
simple, quick and efficient to use. The printer interface must be one of the best on the market as this too is simple but extremely effective. Value for money is
superb. You would usually find yourself paying at least £35.00 for a decent ROM based printer interface. But what RAM give you, if you were to buy the equivalent
facilities separately, is £8.00 worth of joystick interface, a £10.00 word processor and a £35.00 parallel interface, all for £34.95. I have no doubt that RAM Print
represents the top printer interface package at the moment. It's the perfect purchase for the beginner.

WE MAKE IT SO HARD

Datel Electronics are one of the country's leading hardware retailers. You may have seen their advertisements in CRASH or may even have bought something from them. If you are thinking of sending off for any of their products in the future WAIT! NICK ROBERTS has checked them out for you first and given marks out of five on the Nickometer!

Parallel/Centronics Printer Interface
£19.99

One of the big problems with word processing on the Spectrum is connecting the computer to the kind of printers that will give you good quality print. The +3 has a built in printer port, so all you need there is a printer lead but for the 48K/128K/+2/+2A users an interface is what's needed.

The Parallel/Centronics Printer Interface comes as a plug-in unit, connecting to the back of the computer. The lead included in the package connects to any of the top parallel printers. All you do is load in the software and you're away!

So, what exactly can you print from your Spectrum to the printer? You can use any of the top word processing packages (Tasword, Devpac, etc) to create your documents and then, using the print option, send the information to your printer. You can also print out hi-resolution screen dumps to a dot-matrix printer. For people who want to use their Spectrum as a wrod, erm word, processor this interface is an essential purchase.

PRINT ME QUICK

Ram Electronics' new printer interface contains a word processing genie - Max Phillips rubs it up the right way...

FAX BOX
Product: RAMPrint Interface
Price: £34.95
Supplier: Ram Electronics
Phone: (0252) 850085

Smart. That's what you'd call any chunk of hardware that's got enough software inside to think for itself. And there's no denying that Ram Electronics' RamPrint interface is a smart idea. After all, you usually buy a printer interface for two reasons; to chuck out program listings and screen dumps (which it does perfectly well) and to write the odd bit of wonderous prose. So why not build a word processor right into the interface?

Which is exactly what Ram Electronics has done. The RamPrint software sits in ROM inside the interface itself and can be called up instantly with a simple LPRINT "©WORD" whenever you're in the mood. What's more, because the software is on ROM, it doesn't hog the Speccy's RAM, leaving room for larger documents or whatever you happen to be working on. It's really obvious once someone's done it!

The software in this case is a nippy little program entitled Ram Write, a neat set up routine that lets you configure the interface by opening a menu window over the screen and carefully taking it away again when you're done.

There's also a COPY screen dump routine this is much the same as the Speccy's built-in one (small, unshaded dumps) but it does offer the optional ability to dump text-only screens using the printers text characters, producing fast, quality text dumps when necessary.

RamWrite itself isn't in the Tasword 3, The Writer or The Last Word league but it's adequate for letters and suchlike. Though there's no on-screen formatting, headers and footers, mail-merge and so on...

All the same, it's because it's so simple (and fast) that it's nicer to work with - those fancy 64 or 80 column displays are next to useless if you've only got a clapped out old TV anyway.

But besides the lack of features, there are other reasons not to go beserk over Ram Write. For one, it's all too easy to drive the cursor up past the beginning of your document. A bug that'll lose all your lovingly crafted words and can lead to the Speccy resetting! And although Ram doesn't take the trouble to mention it in its scrawny eight-page manual, all the software is designed for use with Epson-compatible printers. Most printers now use Epson codes but if you're using something a bit old or a daisywheel then you might have trouble with special effects like bold and italic and the COPY command.

Ram Write will indeed let you send any sequence of printer codes you like to your printe - so even if your printer isn't an Epson, you can get it to do all of its special effects. Though you cant set up the built-in effects, like bold, underline, double-strike and so on to match your printer. And anyway, typing out all your printers codes in full every time you need them is a pain in the fingertips.

The rest of RamPrint is a bulky but otherwise ordinary Centronics interface that'll let you hook up to most printers. It comes complete with a lead and the added extra of a Kempston-compatible joystick port (saves changing add-ons over all the time - there's no through connector).

The interface works with all Spectrums, though 128 and +2 owners will have to use a couple of commands to get it going. Anyone still marooned with a 16K Spectrum won't be able to use the word processing software at all!

So okay, built-in ROM software is nothing new. And okay, Ram Write ain't quite the bee's ankles. But having instant access to it is brilliant and you'll probably use it more than you would a tape-based program.

Overall, the whole package is a pretty good deal - it's a smart idea that really ought to catch on.

WRITE OR ROM?

Ram Electronics, no doubt flushed with success after its Music Machine, has produced the RamPrint parallel printer interface. Why splash out for this one rather than others available?

Ram has tried to make it more than just another port. For starters, there's the joystick port for those who play, as well as write, classics. The built-in printer driver software and Centronics cable are fairly standard, I suppose, but the ace is RamWrite.

RamWrite is a word processor. It's built into the interface on Rom in much the same way as Basic is built into your Spectrum, so it's available as soon as it's turned on.

Typing LPrint "© word" gets things going. RamWrite revolves around two windows, the biggest of which is used for editing. This takes up the top 21 lines of the screen and displays the document being worked on. The bottom three lines make up the command and status window. Loading and Saving files, finding, replacing and deleting bits of text all take place here. Typing E in the command window starts you editing in the big screen. Break gets you back to command level.

The commands are all fairly simple, single-key, and the repertoire is fairly limited. As well as the main commands above, there's a 'display text before printing' option. This shows your opus on screen pretty much as it will appear on paper. The display can be in either 32-or 64-column text, but unlike Tasword you can only edit in 32-column mode. The software can use tape or Microdrive without problem.

Editing is simple enough. Word-wrap and justification aren't shown on screen whilst editing is in progress (that's what the display text option is for), but end of paragraphs are.

As this is all happening in a printer interface, you might reasonably expect printer options aplenty. There are. There's the usual condensed, double-width, bold and underlining available, but there are also facilities to send any sequence of codes to your printer. So, no matter how peculiar and non-standard your facilities are (and some people's are right weird), RamWrite should be able to get at them.

That's about it for the word processor. It's a fairly simple beast, more suited to letter writing, invoice printing and similar small jobs than thousand-page theses, but none the worse for that. It took me about ten minutes to get everything going for the first time with my trusty Taxan (Epson compatible) printer. Not bad.

Then there's the printer interface side of things. Using LPrint from Basic does the business with little or no problems, and you have the choice of expanding tokens or just sending the codes straight through.

There are two kinds of Copy. One does a conventional (if squashed) pixel by pixel copy of the screen on to the printer; the other is much faster, and just copies characters from the screen. This is the mode that the Ramprint starts up in.

The documentation leaves a lot to be desired. It's eight pages of paperback size, photocopied dot-matrix output. It's fairly incomprehensible at times and with more than a couple of spelling mistakes. Common sense is usually enough to drive the product, but there's nothing in the handbook about running the interface from machine code, or any of the common word processors. Which is a shame.

Niggles notwithstanding, Ram has produced another little cracker. It's a good idea, and quite nicely implemented. Not as exciting as the Music Machine, but, in it's own way, just as worthy of success.

Rupert Goodwins

A WORD IN YOUR SPECTRUM

The Spectrum is under-estimated as a word processing machine, says John Wase. Here he reviews eight programs in support of his argument.

Word processing does not require much computer power. PipeDream on the new Z-88 uses exactly the same Z-80 chip as all versions of the venerable Spectrum. Thus the Spectrum, too, should, in theory, provide good word processing facilities, although in practice there are limitations like memory. A 48K Spectrum has around 41K for both program and text file, around 110K for the 128K version, and the screen display at only 32 columns.

Nevertheless, I found eight readily-available packages, plus variants for various models, of assorted prices, features, sophistication and complexity. Each has been written with some particular purpose in mind and all have virtues and vices associated with what is, after all, a compromise, for no word processing program suits everyone or all applications.

The constraints of the 32-column screen are overcome in a variety of ways. In some programs text lines continue along a second or third display line and end with some recognisable symbol, while in others the screen is re-defined to up to 80 characters per line, further augmented by multiple lines or sideways scrolling, giving as many as 148 characters per printer line.

While it is possible to provide a good deal of the information about the packages in tabular form, it really gives little feeling for the strong and weak points, the aims and the overall success of each package. Therefore I have chosen a combination of tables and comment to provide sufficient information to guide you in choosing packages suitable for your needs. The packages are Mini-Office, a suite of programs for younger children; Ramprint, an add-on printer interface with integral word processor; Spectral Writer, bundled with Wafadrive; WordMaster; Word Manager; The Last Word; The Writer and finally, the Tasword family. They are listed in table one, along with the outstanding features of each package, the cost and supplier.

The easiest thing to do is to take them in groups. First, Mini-Office, which has a very simple set of instructions on a cassette-sized book; interpretation by an adult will be necessary. There is a simple test piece to be typed-in; it appeared in big letters an inch or more high in yellow on a black background on my old TV; it is very easy for a child to write a simple letter but with very little more scope.

The normal mode is insert and there is also a crude copy, so letters or lines can be added or deleted; crude tabs complete the features. The main menu offers the usual save, verify, load or options with a further choice of double height, double width, margin setting and characters per line.

It could have been an excellent program to introduce a child to an integrated suite had it been revamped but there are no facilities to use a printer other than the obsolete Sinclair gadget or compatibles, and the other options integrate badly into the word processor. You would need a suitable printer for your child to make the most of it.

The next pair are proper programs, both intended for the serious user, and both released relatively early. Tasword 2, a development of Tasword on the ZX-81, provides a 64-character line, a fixed text length of 320 lines - 10-and-a-bit pages of double-spaced A4. Spectral Writer is similar but with squarer letters some say much more legible. In both programs insertion is by opening a word or a line and then re-justifying; there is no auto insert mode.

LINE AND COLUMN

Line and column are given on-screen but there is no word count. The cursor will move by line, character, or to the start or finish of the text; in Tasword 2 it is very slow. Word wrap is automatic, characters and lines can be deleted, blocks can be moved and copied and there is a crude search and replace.

Text can be justified with smooth or ragged right margin and centred and margins can be set for tables but there are no tabs in Tasword 2 and no headers, footers or auto-page numbering, no mail-merge, conditional printing or macros; just start and finish lines, one copy only. You can put eight printer codes in the program at once and change them whenever you like.

Both programs are good, straightforward, very simple word processors. You can achieve professional results very quickly Spectral Writer scores by having tabs, a line-end bell and is a little slicker but it normally is only bundled with Wafadrive, Tasword 2 is ubiquitous and bundled with Microdrives.

The chief advantage of both programs is that they are very simple; much is in Basic and is easily user-adapted. The major disadvantage is that printer control codes in the text destroys WYSIWYG concept unless you adopt low cunning or a patch. For simple letters of only a few pages they are easy and adequate.

The other processors are, in general, more sophisticated and it is probably easier to deal with their main features in a large table and just comment briefly on their strengths and weaknesses. The simplest is probably Ramprint, a printer interface and joystick port with a built-in word processor on ROM. I found the documentation brief but the gadget easy to use.

Although it contains most features one needs, there are disadvantages. It will work only with tape or Microdrives, for instance, and it will display only 32 columns when you are entering text, making complex work almost impossible, although it will display a 64-column screen to show you what the work will be like at the end.

That apart, having the works in an EPROM means that there is no software to load; plug it in, type one command and go. For straightforward documents, also those needing underlining, italics and other such fancy bits, even page numbering, it works and works well.

Word-Master again is for the Spectrum owner who has no discs. It works well with tape or Microdrive and an EPROM-driven interface. Within limitations I found a program which was specifically aimed at crude desk-top publishing. The documentation could be improved and I did not particularly like its 64-column character set. A further problem is that right justification could not be implemented on-screen, although was satisfactory when printed; that does not help DTP layout.

Against that, several files can be held in memory at once, page numbers, headers and footers are catered for and printer control codes are handled beautifully, either in a command line which does not print but affects the text below or as special characters for the more common sorts, so that H2O can be printed readily without upsetting justification.

PICTURES

Pictures can be incorporated with the graphic commands and text can be printed either to the right or to the left of it; again, instructions are a little sparse. Graphmate, a separate, stand-alone program, produces bar charts or pie charts easily but with provision for labelling axes left to Word-Master. The programs are independent and the products of Graphmate have to be saved before incorporation.

Cardex also supplied Headliner on a separate tape. It will produce headlines in a variety of styles for subsequent incorporation. This is a useful suite as it stands; further development and the production of disc/128K versions using more interfaces would make it still better.

Word Manager 4 is aimed at a different end-user, evident from its being bundled with Mail and Address Manager II. The review version 4.2 has a number of improvements over earlier issues, including a completely re-written Address Manager II. All saves and loads are in Basic and I liked particularly the single keypress to modify and transfer everything to disc. The 64-column character set looked almost like script, unlike any of the others; I liked it. The normal screen is bright. Lines longer than 64 characters are wrapped round and shown on the line below - not bright.

The instruction book was adequate. Some features were easy to use but I did not like the constant switching between modes to use cursors and delete, the lack of on-screen prompts - particularly caps - or the way in which paragraphs were completed before on-screen justification took place.

Page numbering is there but not headers or footers. Address Manager II is a database specific for Word Manager; Mail Manager takes the text from Word Manager and the names and addresses from Mail Manager and integrates them. There are conditional indices for Mr. Mrs. M/s or Miss but no real conditional printing is available.

For circulation of simple club letters or even, at a pinch, a short club magazine, this would do the trick satisfactorily if you get used to the vagaries involved in editing and, at the price which includes all three programs, it is unbeatable.

In contrast, The Last Word has a very well-produced and extensive manual. I found it very easy to use. Again, all the loads and saves are in Basic but you will have to type-in some new lines - supplied - to get it working from Microdrive or disc; a novice might not like this.

The screen display is changeable from 40, 48, 60 or 80 characters per line - not too good on a monitor, better on a large television set where the slight fuzz causes the eye to assume a good deal. It has most of the features one might expect, like headers, footers, page numbers, selected printing from Basic and mail-merge, with its own data files.

Because lines are terminated by a carriage return symbol there is no insert mode; you have to split a line to insert letters or words. Screen refresh is a trifle slow and the program is 48K, although the author says that there is the possibility of a 128K program in the future.

That said, everything else is good. Control codes do not disturb justification; by screen wrap-around you can get up to 148 characters per line; formatting is very flexible, exiting into Basic to insert your own routines is encouraged and examples given.

Tutor files loaded from tape help you to learn to manipulate text and load and save mail-merge information. Although I had never used it previously and am very familiar with another processor, I found the keys logical and liked the program.

NO COLOURS

The Writer is in two versions, 48K and 128K. Although Softek was very helpful on the telephone and promised to send both programs, plus The Artist, plus a pre-release version of The Filer, they did not arrive in time for this review. Fortunately I was able to borrow a 48K version of The Writer. It is well-presented with a good instruction book. No colours are used; the screen is uniformly white letters on a black background and looks very smart.

The 64 characters a line lettering is clear, square rather like Spectral Writer - and easy to read. The normal text manipulations are on symbol or extended mode and the program starts in insert mode. Press "Edit" and move the arrow over the top-line menu; up comes an overlay menu with obvious choices for all the things like file handling, saving and so on.

Printing includes mail-merge, conditional printing and can include calculations. All in all, a very impressive package. I found it easy to use, too, and liked it. The 128K version contains a pagemaker facility which imports pictures from The Artist. I had hoped to be able to look at this, too, and compare it to the Word-Master DTP facilities.

Finally, the Tasword series. Tasword 3 uses the same black on white character set as Tasword 2 - adequate and readable but scarcely exciting - but there the similarity ends. Because, unlike several of the other programs, all loads and saves are in machine code, there are a number of versions to fit various machines and devices, including Microdrive. Opus and Disciple discs, but there is no tape version, because to fit in all the features and still keep a respectable length file, the main menu is fed in as an overlay; it is frustrating to have to wait seven seconds for it to load from Microdrive or Opus.

All the standard features are present; mail-merge from Masterfile or from its own address lists produced from within the program, headers, footers, pagination, plenty of control codes to send, print several text files sequentially, print multiple copies, customise program, overtype - standard - or insert mode, word count, space remaining - do not fill it too tightly, though.

The main menu is, like all the Spectrum Taswords, accessed by symbol shift and A; the rest is easy. The manual is well-printed and laid-out and a tutor file is included. The 128K versions are almost exactly the same, except for the control key for insertion and some tidying as the Amstrad Spectrums no longer have symbols on the keys.

The main menu appears instantly and the text file is large, between 40 and 50 pages of double-spaced A4, which is a tremendous advantage if you write complicated documents and need to keep referring to what has gone before. The new +3 version appears similar to the user but contains code enabling a spellchecker to work and the extended mode bug which locks the main menu has been fixed.

The biggest disadvantage is the lack of justification when control codes are inserted - redeemed by a patch from Seven Stars Software; against this is the ease of use and the fact that Tasword and Masterfile are both available on a range of machines, even PC compatibles. Again, I liked Tasword; it works well and is good value.

Compared to most other machines, the choice of word processors on the Spectrum is wide and some are technically very good. There is no need to buy that new Amstrad or PC-compatible if all you want is a word processor, particularly if you have a +2 or a +3 with their good keyboards. After all, Tasword is very similar on the PC. Moreover, the PC will not play budget games as well when you are not using it.

NOT ONLY DOES RAM'S NEW INTERFACE HAVE EVERYTHING BUT THE KITCHEN SINK CRAMMED INTO IT, THE INSTRUCTIONS ARE EASY TO UNDERSTAND TOO!

RAM Electronics
£34.95

Now let's be sensible about this; what are the reasons for buying a 'real' printer to use with your Spectrum. The main ones have to be to get decent listings, screen dumps and wordprocessing facilities. I got hooked on wordprocessing about a year ago when I discovered Tasword 2, and I would much prefer wordpro to using a typewriter if it weren't for my complete inability to cope with printers. The words always look fine on the TV screen, but I can never get them to come out of the printer at the other end.

The trouble is that you can't just plug a full size printer into the Spectrum and get it to work straight away (you could do this with Sinclair's new ZX Printer but that was very limited in both both quality and options it offered). First of all you need an interface and the lead to connect the two machines, then there's the awful business of initialising the interface and shoving in all the control codes. Then, If you're using some sort of wordpro software, you'll probably have to fiddle with that to get it to work with the particular interface that you're using. And if you get any of that wrong the whole setup goes mad and starts vomiting up reams of paper covered in a long-dead Greek dialect when all you wanted was your laundry list.

The whole business is a pain, and it's driven me back to my steam-driven typewriter many a time.

With that in mind it's strange that nobody has yet come up with the idea of producing an all-in-one printer interface with its own wordprocessing software so that the two are compatible and don't require hours of fiddling to get them working together. But that, at last, is what RAM Elecronics have done with their new Centronics-type RAM Print interface and RAM Write software which is stored on a ROM chip within the interface itself, not to mention some of the other features included.

KITCHEN SINK SYNDROME

To start off with, the interface comes with its own Centronics cable built in, so there's no additional expense involved in buying one or working out what to do with it.

Then, surprisingly, RAM have made the interface emulate the old ZX Printer so that you can use the Spectrum's own LLIST, LPRINT, and COPY commands for listings and screen dumps, this is very sensible as it combines the simplicity of use of the ZX Printer with the high quality printing available from the whole range of Centronics printers.

RAM have also avoided a potential problem here as the Spectrum 128 isn't compatible with the ZX Printer when operating in 128 mode. However if you enter the command PRINT IN 251 on power-up then you can sidestep that particular problem, the commands for the 128 are slightly different. LPRINT "© copy" rather than simply COPY, but that's not too much of a problem.

Now we come to what is normally the tricky bit, the control codes. Thankfully though, RAM, have given you some help here also. Entering the command LPRINT "© set" calls up an options menu, a pull-down window which overlays, but doesn't wipe out, what is already on the screen. The options available here aren't exhaustive but they do at least cover the most often used options; Line Feed, Tokens, Copy Text, Enlarge and Width. For each of these you can simply choose the On or Off state as required without any of the business of having to look up control codes and enter them as endless strings of CHR$. The RAM Write software has its own set of control codes for different types of printing, but if you want to do fancy things with listings then you'll probably have to go back to looking up the codes in your printer manual. C'est la vie.

As a final touch the interface also includes a Kempston joystick interface - RAM are certainly making sure they've covered all their bases. The interface is well constructed in robust black plastic. There are no exposed parts and there's even a small ring that goes around the power socket to make sure that everything fits nice and tidily.

RAM WRITES

Of course, the most obvious attraction of this interface (for me anyway) is the inclusion of a wordprocessor program on ROM and the convenience of instant access and printer/interface compatibility. Entering the command LPRINT "© word" instantly calls up the RAM Write program and you are presented with a screen in which the upper 22 lines are blank (tor text entry), while the lower two lines are for the status display and choice of option. When the cursor is on the bottom line you can choose whatever options you want simply by typing the appropriate letter (b= Back to Basic, c= Copy text, d= Display text and so on). The options available cover all the usual string search/replace, block copy/delete, and so on. These aren't as exhaustive as the options available in Tasword or The Writer, but they're adequate for most simple wordpro, apart from the omission of a wordcount (one day someone will produce a wordpro that has its own word count...).

Entering 'e' puts you into Edit mode and reveals the only real disappointment in RAM Write. You can only enter text in the Spectrum's normal 32 characters per line, and while the printed output does have wordwrap, 64 character lines, justification on and off, you can't see these things on screen while you're editing the text. There is a display mode which allows you to see the text in 64 character lines, just as it will be when printed onto paper, but you can't edit the text in this display. If you want to make any changes to the layout of your text you'll you'll have to go back into edit mode and 32 character display.

This is a bit of a bore. In practice I found that I could just go ahead and slap the text onto the screen and it would come out of the printer looking okay, but I still wanted to get a look at the text as it would appear on paper and this meant a lot of switching to and from Display mode. If you're used to the 64 column display of Tasword or The Writer this can seem a bit of a step of a step backwards and a lot depends on whether you find the convenience of the interface/software combination an adequate compensation for the relatively unsophisticated editing facilities.

On the other hand you could easily use Tasword with RAM Print, and this will give you the best of both worlds.

Despite the shortcomings of RAM Write, the convenience of having so much crammed into the interface and the ease of use that RAM Print offers make the whole thing a godsend for someone like myself who is totally baffled by the intricacies of printers and control codes and the like. At last I've gotten my hands on a word processing set-up that you can just plug in and use straight away. Don't forget that a decent Centronics interface would cost about £30 anyway, and for just £35 RAM Print offers a Centronics interface, plus cable, joystick interface, a passable wordprocessor and 'user friendliness' that it's difficult to put a price on. In other words I liked I liked it a lot. RAM Print is the most useful bit of hardware to come my to come my way for ages.