Subject: REVIEW: Amiga Shopper Magazine
From: [email-masked] (Esa Haapaniemi)
Date: 28 Jan 1994 15:53:40 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews

PRODUCT NAME

	Amiga Shopper Magazine

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

	Magazine concentrating on productivity software and hardware for
Amiga.  Includes coverdisks, and each subscription comes with a binder for
storing a year's worth of issues.

AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION

	Name:		Future Publishing Limited
	Address:	Beaufort Court
			30 Monmouth Street
			Bath BA1 2BW
			Great Britain

		NOTE! For orders:

			Amiga Shopper
			Future Publishing Limited
			Somerton, Somerset
			TA11 7BR
			Great Britain

	Telephone:	GB-225-442244
	FAX:		GB-225-446019

	E-mail:		[email-masked]

LIST PRICE

	Subscription coupons in the magazine give price for 12 issues to be
#30 (British pounds) for direct debt in Great Britain, #47 for other European
countries, and #67 for rest of the world.  All magazines are mailed by air
mail and packed in plastic.  A single issue is #2.95 from a newsstand, and
back-issues can be ordered directly for #3-4.

	Ordered a subscription after getting the address and approximate
price from another orderer, and paid #79 to get as many issues as the money
permitted.  (The subscription will continue, and Future Publishing will
inform me when the money is near ending.)

SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

	HARDWARE

		As the product is "pulpware", the hardware is updated every
		time a new version is published.  All previous versions are
		still usable. :-) :-)

		Other useful hardware includes a reading lamp (it takes a
		long time to read 100-130 pages) and a VISA card.

		The latest 4 magazines have had a coverdisk, and almost all
		programs have been fully usable with any Amiga with 1 floppy
		drive.

	SOFTWARE

		The ability to read and understand text.  (If you don't have
		this, there are a lot of pretty pictures.) :-)

		The software on the coverdisks generally requires AmigaDOS
		1.3 or higher, but some may require AmigaDOS 2.04 or higher.
		Programs sometimes come with source code in C, AMOS, or
		assembly language -- you will need the appropriate compiler
		or assembler if you want to build the programs yourself.

COPY PROTECTION

	None.  The coverdisks are unprotected.  All programs are provided
in a "packed" format of some kind, so they must be unpacked onto empty disks
or a hard drive before they can be used.

	You can also "protect" your "copies" of the magazine with binders
provided by Future Publishing.  They provide one free binder.

	Disks are packed as much as possible, and all programs  must be
unpacked on empty disks or HD before they can be used.

INSTALLATION

	Just tear off the plastic and start reading. :-)  The coverdisk
is attached with sticky tape and may require some patience to remove from
the magazine cover.  Fortunately, the cover is printed on glossy paper,
so normally you will not harm the magazine by removing the disk.

	Instructions for using the coverdisk are found in the section "How
To Use The Coverdisk" in each issue.  To unpack a program, you drag the icon
into a directory with enough space and double-click on it, and it
automatically unpacks in that directory.  After that most programs are
readily usable.  (Some of them might need more installation with the
Commodore Installer or other installation software, which is normally
included.)

	The binder is very easy to use (though it arrived a little late,
after I already had 3 issues).  The binding system is friendly and does not
harm the pages.  There is no room for the coverdisks in the binder.

MAGAZINE REVIEW

	The magazine is printed on cheap grayish paper with a glossy cover.
The first thing to notice is that there are NO GAMES AT ALL in the magazine:
no reviews, no previews, and no ads.  And still, each issue has over 100
pages.

	A great deal of the magazine is ads, of course:  45 out of 116 pages
in February 1994, and previously less (approximately 30 out of 110 pages).
The February issue tends to have more ads for all those new Amiga users who
got machines for Christmas.  The hardware and software ads make me envious
of English users because of the cheap prices (compared to here).  One nice
feature is that ads appear on their own pages, so if the user wants to make
copies of some interesting articles, there is no need to copy any ads.

	The main contents in every issue have been News (reports, upgrades,
new stuff), AmigaAnswers (experts help readers to solve their problems with
printers/programs/buying/emulators/etc.), Software for Free (PD software
reviews), CoverDisk "How to" column, and letters from readers.

	The reviews and other articles are pretty well written without being
too technical, and every article includes a sidebar for "Jargon Busting" (an
explanation of vocabulary for beginners; e.g., "DIP", "Emulator", "EPS",
"TrueType", etc.) or "Beginners Start Here."  With these additional
explanations, the technical text is really easy to follow, even for
newcomers.

	Reviews are normally several pages long, and sometimes the products
are compared to PC and Macintosh equivalents.  All hardware reviews are
presented with color pictures, and software reviews contain screen shots.
The printing resolution is high enough that the pictures are not jagged.

	Listings for programs are fully explained, and more hints and ways
to make similar things are given.

COVERDISK REVIEW

	I've received four disks so far with my subscription.

	November 1993 included Virus_Checker 6.30, a PD database program, a
shareware spreadsheet, source code for Amos and C programs that the magazine
has been writing:

	o	ASPaint -- how to make DPaint I with AMOS
	o	Address Book -- in C

and more.

	December 1993 had mapcreator for designers, some quick tools and
utilities, and an ACC programming guide (assembly language tutorial),

	January 1994 included the latest shareware version of DICE with a
simple manual and source code for ASPaint and Address book.  It also
contained some example images from Nexus Pro Backgrounds.

	February 1994 included ReSource demo, Rend24, Virus_Checker 6.33,
GUI-Guru (PD program for analyzing Guru numbers) and two programs for
AmigaDOS 2.0 and higher:  ToolsDaemon and Ambush.

	These are all useful utilities, even though most are available from
Aminet.  However, these are tested by the magazine and include some "How To
Use" documents in the magazine.

BINDER REVIEW

	This is a large, white, hardback binder with "AmigaShopper" written
in red on the back and cover.  The binding mechanism is pin-like and very
easy to use.  The binder is big enough to hold an entire year of issues.
Magazines are still very easy to read after installing them into binder.
Unfortunately, the binder itself will not stand straight until there are
enough magazines inside.  Also, the binder is somewhat twisted after it has
been stored in its too-tight package.

DOCUMENTATION

	What can I say about this?  It is pretty well done, even for
beginners.  The coverdisk programs are documented in the magazine.

	The text is written mainly for experienced users, but the Jargon
Busting and Beginners_Start gives everyone an opportunity to follow along.

LIKES AND DISLIKES

	For simplicity's sake, I collected my likes and dislikes for the
whole magazine's concept, not for any particular issue.  All likes are
marked with '+', and dislikes with '-'.  These are not in any particular
order.

	+ The Only English magazine without game reviews.

	+ Well done for beginners, and also very usable for professionals.

	+ Includes programs on disk and a binder for storing magazines.

	+ Magazine is sent by air mail, and thus it is received almost at
	  the same time here as in England.

	+ Cheap prices in ads, even for mailorder.

	+ Programming hints and full programs are well written, and the
	  authors have documented their routines for beginners (almost).
	  And the programs do cover the whole range from machine language
	  to Amos/C.

	- The price for disks and binder is included in the subscription
	  cost.

	- Some contests (for example, "Win an Epson GT-6000 by answering some
	  simple questions") end too quickly, especially since the magazine
	  arrives later here.

	- Too much advertising.

	- Commodore does not provide the magazine with "enough" information.

	- Magazine is packed in plastic.  Fortunately it can be burned
	  without destroying nature.

	For me, the coverdisks could be omitted, as the same programs are
available on the Internet:  sometimes even newer versions than the ones on
the disk.  But I do understand that many readers have this as their only
source for cheap programs.

	As I don't program myself, the source code on coverdisks is not
much use.

COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS

	I have tried to find some good Amiga magazines for long time.  I did
order .INFO from the USA, but I got only one issue before they went out of
business.  As far as I could tell from one issue, Computer Shopper is quite
close to .Info's "standard."  The only main difference is the advertising on
this English magazine.  Similarly, Amiga+ Magazine has unfortunately
vanished.

	Other good magazines for Amiga users from USA like AmigaWorld and
Amazing Amiga Computing (that I have read) are lacking in deep reviews, and
I don't like their attitude toward games (that should be left to game
magazines).  Also, both have reduced their number of pages over the years,
and I wonder if perhaps they have lost many subscriptions and are suffering
now.

	Perhaps there is one more "enjoyable" Amiga magazine available, but
for worldwide readers it has a language problem.  As "Amiga" is written
totally in German, it has very little use for English speakers.

	Magazines like Amiga Format, CU Amiga, Amiga Games, ... are not for
me, even if they include some minor articles of new releases from Commodore
or some rare articles on productivity software.

BUGS

	I have not found any misinformation in the magazine.  I suppose the
editor uses some English spelling checker too.  To my knowledge, the text is
British English (not American English).

	Perhaps some of the programs on coverdisks have been old versions
that don't work as they should.  For example, DICE did not handle floating
point, but examples in the included booklet used them.

VENDOR SUPPORT

	I have not tried to contact the E-Mail address nor other addresses
yet.  I sent this review to the address mentioned above to be checked, but
no one has answered.  I don't have any ties to Future Publishing except as
a subscriber.

WARRANTY

	I suppose the paper is not made with acid paper, and so it could
last (in the binder) several years. Of course the articles come old
sooner than the magazine. Still no warranty (as it includes also
Commodore) are given.

CONCLUSIONS

	I like the magazine and articles in it.  Perhaps it is even too easy
to read with their support for beginners.  Mostly, I'd like to get it
somewhat cheaper by leaving the coverdisk and binder off; and if that is not
much cheaper, I could settle for surface mail (because the contests are
already too late here).

	I definitely recommend this magazine to others.  It is much better
than British game magazines, and for American users it could give some more
hope for getting software/hardware information that is not easily available
there.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

	No rights claimed.  These are purely my personal opinions, and
everyone can borrow or comment on them freely.

	Thanks for Daniel Barrett for checking and correcting my text.

	M.Sc. Esa Haapaniemi
	University of Oulu
	Department of Chemistry, Structural Elucdation
	Finland

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