COMPETITION ZIPSTICK

The new Zipstick from Cookridge Computer Supplies, is a competition-style joystick designed for a long life of furious action. It is compatible with all standard interfaces, such as Kempston and Sinclair, and has the D-type plug on it.

Standing seven inches tall the unit has several good features - rubber feet to stop it sliding and two separate fire buttons, one of which is a bar, while the other is on top of the stick. Made out of ABS high impact plastic with stainless steel springs, it is a good looking, easy to use, joystick and is guaranteed for two years.

Priced at £12.95 inc. p&p, the Zipstick is available from Cookridge Computer Supplies, PO Box 1W9, Leeds LS16 6NT.

ZIPSTICK SUPERPRO

Sonmax Standard £13.95, Autofire £14.95

With such attractive aesthetics, the Superpro is a good all-rounder. It sailed through the joystick-bashing games with flying colours - the combination of suckers and a strong secure handle means that it's likely to remain in good condition for a long time.

The fire buttons are excellent. Not only are they very soft to touch but they click when pressed. The autofire version is great too.

Perhaps the only criticism is it's too responsive sometimes. Movements can be a little exaggerated, making it tricky to make those precision passes in Kick Off.

HARD FACTS SPECIAL

Are you having a hard time choosing the right hardware? Hard but Steve Adams has the lowdown on the latest hardware. And it's all under £100.

Euromax
£14.95

Slick is the word for this - it's got sleek comfortable lines, microswitch response and a cool feel in the hand. It sports on autofire and normal fire button at the front, so you can switch action rapidly to avoid being blasted. Suitable for right or left-handed people, it's got an audible snap and there was no sign of the dreaded joystick wrist. Best of all, it's got a steel shaft, making it fairly indestructible for even the most vigorous of games players!

STICKING TO THE BEST

Zap in style. John Lambert juggles with joysticks.

Joysticks are the most popular add-on for the Sinclair computers, not just for playing games but also for drawing, cursor control in word processing packages and for moving anything around the screen. The keyboard can be used for all of those things but it is so much easier with a joystick.

Choosing a joystick from the hundreds available is not an easy decision, but this guide will show you what to look for, and how to connect it to a Spectrum or QL.

Joysticks are generally all the same. They may be different shapes and sizes but they all contain a number of simple switches which get turned on or off as the stick is moved. That type of digital joystick was first used on a home computer by Atari and, therefore, is sometimes known as the Atari standard. All Sinclair machines use this type of joystick interface.

The switch used can vary a great deal. The cheapest joysticks, such as Quickshot 1, us a bubble which when compressed by the stick makes contact. Those can wear fairly quickly and cannot stand up to heavy use.

Next in price and strength are leaf spring switches where the stick causes two pieces of metal to make contact. Finally, the most expensive joysticks use microswitches. Those will last a long time and can easily be replaced should they go wrong.

Generally, you should buy the most expensive joystick you can afford as that way it should last a long time. Try to get one with a metal shaft in the handle - plastic ones break - and, if possible, try it out in the shop. The feel of a joystick is very important, some are sloppy and others require a lot of movement before they register.

it is within the interface that the complications arise. All interfaces have at least one Atari standard socket where the joystick is plugged in, but those vary in how they tell the computer when the stick has been moved.

Which type of interface you buy will depend on what software you want to use with it. The most common method is known as Kempston - named after Kempston Microelectronics who invented it. What that does is to configure the interface as part of the Z80 I/O map so that it can be read - to find what position the joystick is in - using the instruction IN 31.

Another method is for the interface to emulate the cursor keys - five to eight plus zero as fire. For obvious reasons that is known as Cursor.

The third method is known as Sinclair and emulates the six to nine keys, with zero as fire. That is based on Interface 2 from Sinclair. Why Sinclair wanted to bring out yet another method is anybody's guess!

The problem is that until you but the software you have no way of knowing which of those three methods it will use. Many programs give you a choice but unfortunately not all. The way to get round that is to use a programmable interface.

Those allow you to let each stick direction and fire represent a key on the keyboard. All games have a keyboard option and you just set the interface to the keys it uses. That also gets round the problem of game that do not use any of the three normal methods - Psion is very bad in that respect.

Unfortunately, programmable interfaces tend to be the most expensive, and in some cases can be very difficult to set up. For playing arcade games a Kempston standard interface is the most useful, and the cheapest. Some interfaces combine more than one method in the same box, but the more facilities it has the more expensive it will be.

Some joysticks offer extra facilities and you should take care when buying those. Although it is popular to have two fire buttons on a joystick, in many cases they are joined electrically and perform the same function, so it does not matter which one you press. Some joysticks, however, have two, independent, fire buttons and some interfaces can take advantage of this. That type of joystick can also be used with interfaces which normally only expect one fire button, and so are particularly worth considering. Care should be taken, though, as pressing the used button on some interfaces, will cause the computer to crash.

Another common extra is auto-fire, giving an auto repeat on the fire button.

In order to make their interfaces more attractive some companies add extras which are not related to joysticks. The best known is probably the Nidd Valley Slomo which lets you slow down the computer so that - in theory - the games are easier to play. Two other products, the Opus Discovery 1 disc drive, and the Mikro-Gen Mikro-Plus include Kempston compatible interfaces.

As far as the QL is concerned life is much simpler. The two control sockets on the back are already wired to emulate either the cursor keys and space, or the function keys. All you need to plug in a joystick is an adaptor which fits the control socket at one end and a standard joystick at the other. Joysticks are available which plug straight into the QL - ones that have a QL style plug rather than the Atari standard. The problem with those is that when you upgrade to a different computer you will have to buy another joystick, as it is unlikely it will fit the new machine.

Buying a joystick and interface can be a harrowing experience. Don't be afraid to try out half a dozen in a shop - and don't buy from a shop which won't let you experiment. Ask your friends and, of course, read the reviews in Sinclair User.

Zipstick
Company: Cookridge Computer Supplies
Telephone: 0532-670625
Price: £12.95

Joystick which is guaranteed for two years' wear and tear.

ONE JOYSTICK'S THE SAME AS ANOTHER ISN'T IT? NO. WHY? BECAUSE GRAHAM TAYLOR SAYS THAT'S THE WAY IT IS!

Well you just yank it don' you, I mean sometimes you stab it wiv your fumb as well but das about it reely. is there such a thing as a cool joystick? What particular piece of plastic will most perfectly set off your Georgio Armani lime green California casuals. If Crockett and Tubbs bust aliens instead of cars what would be the piece of plastic for them?

When it comes to joysticks there are as many opinions as there are frazzled aliens. Ain't nobody gonna be damn fool enough to pretend that it's possible to do some sort of definitive/objective analysis. So what we have here is a mixture of fact and faction. Actually reading between the lines will probably reveal some deep-seated and dodgy details about the reviewer.

THE RATING SYSTEM

KILL FACTOR: A general purpose term implying how responsive the joystick is to your slightest movement. Responsive equals alien deaths.

DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS: Can the thing take the strain? is it going to fall apart in five minutes if the going gets rough?

LOOKS CAM KILL: is it stylish? is it easy to grip? if it were a car would it be Ferrari Daytona or a dumper truck? This section is almost totally biased.

OVERALL COOL: The lot totalled up, fiddled with, adjusted and generally mutated to give a definitive overall impression of the total joystick concept.

ELITE ZIP-STICK

Oddly shaped with one base fire button and a slim shaft. Microswitches.

KILL FACTOR
Very fast, the slim control shaft gives you lightening reactions. Make the Lightforce ship turn on a sixpence by clicking it around. Fire button is equally responsive. The aliens don't stand a chance.

DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS
Thin shafts always feel unreliable, as though one medium yank will destroy them forever. Well, I mediumly and even heavily yanked it and the thing refused to budge so I guess the rating has to be good.

LOOKS CAN KILL
I don't know. It's shaped like a pear and looks a bit like a Romulen battle cruiser. is that good? Base-mounted fire buttons are tiring.

OVERALL COOL
High marks, performs well, seems tough and looks interesting. Don't like the fire button though.

PRICE: £15.95

STICK IT!

Forget Star Wars, this is a series destined to really run. In Issue 60 our joystick update promised sequels as soon as we received more sticks. With blisters not healed from that feature, Mark and Phil return to the joystick frontline...

Super Professional
Zipstik
£14.99 standard, £16.99 autofire

PHIL: Another ball-handled joystick, this time with trendy yellow trim. Inside a metal shaft and microswitches ensure good durability, guaranteed for 12 months.

What I like best about this stick are its grained rubber feet and handle which provide an excellent grip. What I don't like is the slightly loose feel of the fire buttons and the stick itself, although this does help hand-held use. Sadly the autofire will not work with +2 or +3 machines (again!) with a standard interface. This is an effective enough stick but it's two pound more than the Microblaster, for less performance.

MARK: With its black casing and yellow trimmings the Zipstik looks as impressive as it performs. For the outset the stick feels 'worn in', each movement creates a responsive click. The robust construction carried it easily through the waggling part of the test - no surprise since I've had one for three years without any trouble at all. Travel is fairly long but I always felt in control. For my money I would choose this.