Despite the fact that the QL has been out of manufacture for some time and is now becoming somewhat scarce on your distributor’s shelves, it is only just now reaching what may be called a fully developed, fully supported status. In fact, with the ever increasing amount of new software for the QL which is announced each month or appears in the QUANTA (QL Users and Tinkerers Association) library, one wonders how much further one can go with the QL. One happy characteristic of the QL’s 32-bit architecture and its Motorola 68008 microprocessor is its relative proof against obsolescence. I would say–as a non-technical expert–that within a year, emulators will be available for the QL which will enable it to run most popular brands (not types–but brands) of software!
In my book on the QL, Taking the Quantum Leap: The Last Word On the Sinclair QL (available from Time Designs Magazine), I describe a number of “ideal systems” for the QL, and these are still valid, but there have been a number of new products for the QL which must be considered as components of an “ideal system.”
First and foremost, considering the logistical realities, is obtaining a second, “spare” QL. I don’t think that I need elaborate why, except to say that–at the price of a new QL–it is sheer folly not to have another, either networked to your present QL or on the shelf. And, if you have a great deal of hardware and software for your QL, or a significant number of important files for your QL, you might even consider a second spare–what the hey?
Working from the inside of your QL out, you might consider replacement chips or components which better manage the heat generated by QL components to reduce the incidence of computer lock-ups. Replacement ROM chips are available which might improve your QL in many ways. Replacing your JSU chip with a JS or MG chip would, most importantly, eliminate the graphic incompatibility encountered with certain European software, and the replacement ROM chip may be ordered with built-in ICE, SUPER TOOLKIT II, QfLash or other software!
There are now a number of replacement keyboards for your QL. I have not reviewed any, because I like the QL keyboard. (I believe that the reasons why the QL keyboard is unpopular with some are threefold: it doesn’t look like other keyboards, it is a soft-touch keyboard which is frequently damaged by heavy-handed hackers, and it has no number pad. The only valid criticism is the latter, and this only if you are a serious number-cruncher. A quality, smooth-operating, inexpensive numeric pad is a much-needed and long-awaited QL accessory.
I’m going to save monitors and printers for another day except for two points. A lot of new graphics software is being written for Epson FX-80 or RX-80 printers, so why not take the course of least resistance and buy one of these printers or a printer which is exactly compatible with them. Printer-driver installation is probably the most common problem for QL users. (In answering readers’ questions about this, I have learnt a lot and will soon write an entire article on this subject.) The second point has to do with use of the Sears Color TV/Monitor as a suitable RGB monitor for the QL. At about $340, I recommended the Sears as a “best buy” and personal favorite in my book. I do not have definite information, but it may be that newer models of this excellent comb-filtered TV and composite and RGB monitor do not work with the QL–there may be a vertical hold problem. If there is anybody out there using the QL with a new model Sears TV/Monitor successfully or anyone who has had a problem with it, please write me care of Time Designs. Since Sears has a very good “no-fault” return policy, there would be little risk if someone experimented here –the monitor has such good capabilities that it would be worth a try.
The next item to be considered is additional RAM for your QL. Extra RAM transforms your QL, its bundled software, and its use with many types of software, vastly improving it. You can add extra RAM internally or externally–usually as part of a disk interface. External RAM is faster than internal RAM. Miracle System’s QL TRUMP CARD is a full-featured disk interface which offers the most extra RAM currently available, for a total of 896K; it has built-in dynamic and static RAMdisk firmware with a very fast Microdrive to RAMdisk copy feature, a dynamic printer buffer, a good screen-dump utility, a 128K RAM emulator, and Super TOOLKIT II. Sandy’s SUPERQBOARD is another full-featured disk interface offering an extra 512K RAM, for a total of 640K; its RAMdisk and operating system (QRAM) are loaded separately as software–not a good feature–but it has has a parallel printer output and SuperMouse input. (I hear rumors that Sandy may soon have a 1-megabyte RAMpack for their SUPERQBOARD.)
It is quite feasible to operate a good QL system without disk drives. One of my QL set-ups has an old and outdated PCML 512K RAMpack with a number of TOOLKIT II commands and RAMdisk controller as firmware. But at least 256K of extra RAM is considered essential. A good compromise system would consist of a QL with 640K of available RAM and a single quad-density (1440 sectors per disk) dsk drive. I like 5 1/4″ disks , personally, but I may just be old-fashioned.
Upgrading QL Software
The bundled Psion software programs for the QL are still hard to beat, especially QL ABACUS and QL EASEL, but there are new and promising substitutes for QL QUILL and QL ARCHIVE now available and on the horizon.
Digital Precision’s THE EDITOR and SPECIAL EDITOR are somewhat more complex to use than QL QUILL, but, if you can can handle it (an admonition which could apply to all DP software), either of these offer most professional features. Neither of these are WYSIWIG, and the latter program (which has a 160-page manual) requires at least 128K extra RAM.
Software 87’s TEXT87 is a new, full-featured word processor which, though favorably reviewed in the March 1988 QL World, is not quite ready for release. I have tested a preliminary version of TEXT87, but I will not review it until it is ready for release.
QL QUILL has been much maligned, but it remains one of the best and easiest to use WYSIWIG word processors. Used with complementary programs like SPEEDSCREEN and/or TURBOQUILL+ and expanded RAM which speed-up and otherwise facilitate operation, QL QUILL remains a contender for “the best QL word processor,”.and when used with comprehensive multi-tasking software such as Sector Software’s TASKMASTER (and SPELLBOUND plus PDQL’s FILEBOUND), Compware’s TASK SWOPPER (plus Cope’s QATS Version 3), or QJump’s QRAM, a database system such as FLASHBACK, and a desktop publishing system, QL QUILL can be the basis of a comprehensive word processing system which is much more than a regular word processor. QL QUILL remains a winner.
QL ARCHIVE may be nearing the end of a good run. Version 2.38 of ARCHIVE which permits “run-time” database applications is now available with full instructions from your supplier (U.S. QLs were supplied with Psion version 2.1 software; the latest and final QL QUILL, ABACUS, and EASEL editions are version 2.35). Ark Distribution’s ARCHIVIST which makes good use of “run-time” ARCHIVE provides an excellent and easily modifiable general-purpose database system for those not interested in more esoteric database procedures–but for those that are, there are systems aplenty, more than for any other system.
Another contender here may be Creative Codeworks’ brand new QUICKFAX, which I have not yet tested, which is billed as a data storage system which may be used as either “a card-file database or as a powerful data source for other programs.”
What’s going to kill off QL ARCHIVE, however, is a very important new program from Sector Software, FLASHBACK, which will revolutionize the use of the QL for non-mathematical applications. FLASHBACK provides the first dual-screen, integrated application of a fast, versatile database system to use with QL QUILL, and one that provides for instant transfer of data to the latter program! (See “Time Designs Tests.”)
The latest versions of the QL’s Psion software programs are now available and provide subtle improvements over the U.S.-supplied versions, except for QL ARCHIVE which offers more significant enhancements.
Two excellent products cited above are Athene Consultants’ TURBOQUILL+ and Creative Codeworks’ SPEEDSCREEN (see “Time Designs Tests”) are both designed to speed-up cursor movement. SPEEDSCREEN is the more comprehensive program and works with most programs; TURBOQUILL+ just works with QL QUILL. The programs are compatible and may be used together, but they are somewhat redundant. As a writer I tend to prefer TURBOQUILL+ which has a handy Glossary utility.
Hot Tips: Modify your QL QUILL boot program and configure QL QUILL to place your program in RAM1_ and QUILL documents and Glossary items in RAM2 for faster operation. If using TURBOQUILL+ and FLASHBACK together, configure TQ+ for “less than full capitalization” and use TQ+’s TQP_CONFIG to configure your TQ+-modified QL QUILL program.
NEXT TIME: “Upgrading Your QL II: Graphics, Desktop Publishing, and Game Software,” plus more hot tips.