jds@duke.UUCP (Joe Sloan) (05/29/84)
This is a review of the Aston-Tate REFERENCE ENCYCLOPEDIA FOR THE IBM PERSONAL COMPUTER. The following is a direct quote from their advertisement: We cover the PC and XT(TM) so thoroughly you won't need to buy the Technical and Hardware manuals. Sounds good, huh? The following is their complete entry on power supplies: Power Supply -- The unit that converts the voltage from the electrical supply to the voltages which the computer elements use. Needless to say, this was not quite what I expected from Aston-Tate's advertisement. Most entries are so brief that the title should have been REFERENCE DICTIONARY FOR THE IBM PERSONAL COMPUTER. It gives summary description of commands for the PC and available software packages. (Actually, they give a 12 page summary of dBASE II). Frankly, I'd suggest the original IBM manuals for the commands and something like PC WORLD's annual software review for software descriptions. Both are more complete. I got the Encyclopedia last January. Aside from looking through it when I first got it and pulling it out for this review, I've never had call to use it other than as a bookend. Unfortunately, the slip-case is beginning to warp. I guess I can move it to the other end of the shelf. Joe Sloan duke!jds