ROOTES

PageMI6 November 21,1990. “This Week

MODERN LIVING

On the go with portable electronics

fyou're like mostpeople
these days, you're
probably always on the
go, and you're probably
taking your favorite music
and other electronic enter-
tainment with you.

From portable CD players and
boom boxes to portable FM cas-
sette stereos and the latest port-
able programmable video game
units, the consumer electronics
industry offers a wide variety of
portable electronic products
that respond to the needs of
today’s active society.

Today’s portable electronic
products are extremely sophisti-
cated. For example, music fans
can take the popular CD ex-
perience with them wherever
they go by using one of the many
high-quality portable CD
players available today.

What are the latest develop-
ments in portable electronics?
Marnix van Gemert, president
of Sony’s Personal Audio
Products Company, says that
portable CD players and per-

sonal FM cassette stereos are
becoming smaller and lighter.
Digital technology is a very im-
portant part of today’s portable
electronic products, according to
Dick Irvine, director of sales for.
Aiwa. Irvine says, “Consumers
no longer have to bother with
tuning dials to set their favorite

radio stations. Digital technol-
ogy delivers a readout of the fre-
quency of the stations on the
face of the units.”

Irvine notes that “today’s per-

sonal FM cassette stereos fea-

ture sophisticated circuitry
which rivals some of the high-
end home units that are avail-
able.” He says that “sports”
models are very popular, “espe-
cially for people who are on-the-

go.

Boom boxes with detachable
speakers are popular with con-
sumers because the speakers
can be separated for a more
realistic stereo sound, according
to Bennett Norell, group product
manager for electronics at
Goldstar.

Computer for
creative mind

has flexibility

omething very sig-
nificant happened
to the microcom-
puter industry
back in 1985 when Com-
modore introduced the
Amiga series of personal
computers. Until then,
multitasking was now a
concept that was associated
with “home” computers.

The ability to run several
programs concurrently gave
new meaning to the word
productivity. Combined with a
unique proprietary operating
system and a graphically-
oriented user interface, you
can see why the other
manufacturers have been
playing catch up ever since.

All Amigas have built in four
channel stereo sound, high
resolution color graphics, with
the ability to animate in real
time, text to speech synthesis,
(meaning a document you've
created can be read back to you
by the computer or used by
educational software to
prompt children what to do
next), and NTSC com-
patibility, making it the com-
puter of choice for Desktop
Video.

Additionally, all Amigas are
capable of running MS-DOS
and Macintosh software
through the use of hardware

emulators. While the MS-DOS
emulation uses its own proces-
sor and memory, the Macin-
tosh emulator uses the
Amiga’s processor and
memory. Memory, processor,
and hard drive upgrades are
all available under Macintosh
emulation. All three operating
systems can also share the
same hard drive, giving you
the capability to run most
popular software on one plat-
form. No other personal com-
puter offers so much flexibility.

All Amiga 2000 and 3000
series computers come com-
plete with AmigaVision,
Commodore’s powerful yet
easy to use MULTIMEDIA
authoring system. The Amiga-
Vision authoring system will
allow you to create virtually
any type of application: inter-
active business presentations,
educational presentations,
training programs, simula-
tions, and even stand-alone
applications, such as retail
kiosks and instructional/train-
ing systems.

With AmigaVision’s ability to
control Laser disk video
players and combine all the
unique features of the Amiga
in an interactive and enter-
taining presentation, the
Amiga is clearly the leader in
the new revolution, and “The
Computer For The Creative
Mind.”

Consumers who purchase
portable audio equipment with
built-in cassette recorders
should be aware that it is impor-
tant to choose the proper blank
tape. Robert Fontana, customer
and technical service manager
for TDK, says, “Before con-
sumers choose blank tape, they
should consider the type of
music theyre recording.”

Fontana tells consumers that
“normal bias tape will usually
suffice when recording from the
radio or when recording dance
music. However, music with a
more extreme dynamic range,
such as contemporary jazz or
classical music, or music that is

light and airy, such as country
and western or soft rock, should
be recorded on high bias tape so
that low level passages are faith-
fully reproduced. In addition,
high bias tapes can yield a better
frequency response because of
their heightened sensitivity.”

Care of portable audio equip-
mentisjust as important as care
of home audio equipment. Port-
able units have a higher vul-
nerability than home units
because they re subjected to out-
side elements.

Personal cassette players, for
example, are affected by tape
shedding, which results in a
buildup of contaminants on the
tape heads, especially in

warmer weather. It’s crucial te®
use a quality head cleaner to
keep the heads clean.

Todays portable video game
systems are generating quite a
lot of excitement among video
game fans. Howard Phillips,
“Gamemaster” of Nintendo,
says, Portable video games are
designed to challenge and
reward people in a short period
of time. Forexample, people who
are waiting for a bus can play a
short game or two until the bus
arrives.”

Whatever your preference in 3
portable electronic equipment,
youre certain to find what
you're looking for at your local
electronic retailer. @

Innovative dual battery
extends recording time

“This is something many
camcorder users have
needed for a long time,” says
Steve Sigman, marketing
director for Zenith, explain-
ing one of the latest
developments in camcorder
technology.

“No more changing batteries
in the middle of a wedding or
halfway through the tour guide's
talk on Stonehenge,” he said, ex-
plaining a new dual-battery sys-
tem that allows up to three

hours of uninterrupted shoot-
ing.

Some of the industry's latest
VHS camcorders, such as new
Zenith models, have a conven-
tional handgrip battery, with the
option to mount a second battery
on the back of the unit. When the
first battery runs low, the
camera automatically switches
to the second.

Discharged batteries can be
changed in mid-shoot without
cutting power, which means
that with a spare battery or two,

the shooter can tape the whole
game no matter how long it
lasts, Sigman said.

A hidden advantage of the new
system is its increased “all-
weather” shooting time, Sigman
said. “On a cold ski slope or a
baking mid-summer beach, bat-
teries can’t deliver power for as

long as in moderate weather. «

conditions. With the dual bat-
tery system, shooting time is
doubled, whatever the condi-
tions,” he said.

AMIGA 500

[

AMIGA 3000

Affordable performance

Powerful elegance

And don’t forget. Dazzling
graphics, animation and
stereo sound are standard
on ail Amiga computers

software to

imagination

Moebius

101 - 306 Burnside Rd West Victoria, BC 386-2667 Mon -Sat 10-6 pm Sun 12-5 pm

excite the

PROWRITE: Advanced
Word Processing Power
for the Amiga

Representing the state of the
art in Amiga technology but
as always - anticipating the
future with full expansion
capabilities

AMIGAVISION
Lets you combine graphics, digitized

COMPUTER
SYSTEMS LID.

-7 sound, animation,

©

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