leigh@cache.DEC (Allen Leigh @SHR1-3/E29 DTN 237-3255) (11/05/84)
I am considering getting a Koala Pad for my 800, and I would appreciate hearing from persons who have it. I've played with it in the store and it seems pretty impressive. I'm wondering about its reliability and if it does fail how difficult/long to get it repaired. Also, there are a couple of commercial programs available to allow the pictures to be printed; if you have used these to print on a dot-matrix black/white printer, does the software use emphasis/overstrike in an attempt to print shades of gray. Are there public domain programs available to print Koala Pad pictures? Any and all comments will be appreciated. Thanks! Allen ...decwrl!rhea!cache!leigh
keithd@cadovax.UUCP (Keith Doyle) (11/09/84)
>I am considering getting a Koala Pad for my 800, and I would appreciate >hearing from persons who have it. I've played with it in the store and >it seems pretty impressive. I'm wondering about its reliability and >if it does fail how difficult/long to get it repaired. Also, there are >a couple of commercial programs available to allow the pictures to be >printed; if you have used these to print on a dot-matrix black/white >printer, does the software use emphasis/overstrike in an attempt to print >shades of gray. Are there public domain programs available to print >Koala Pad pictures? Any and all comments will be appreciated. Thanks! >Allen I've had a koala pad for about 6 months. I like it a lot and it seems to be holding up well. I've found Basic listings in Analog or Antic that translate Koala files to Micro-Painter files etc. I'd expect there's enough information out there to allow you to print files and cause them to display from other programs, but I've not been in any rush to do that and don't have any specific experience. However, one feature the SOFTWARE dosen't have that I'd like, would be to allow user definable brushes. This feature is important enough to me that I'd like to write my own software. A friend of mine who also has a Koala pad has been having great difficulty in writing a program that correctly reads the pad. The problem seems to be that the A/D values 'glitch' periodically. He's tried techniques like reading it multiple times and comparing for identical values hoping to edit out these 'glitches' but has so far been unsuccesful. Obviously it can be done, as the software that comes with the pad does it well, but there was no doc's on how to do this. I was in a store one day that had lots of Apple software, and there was some sort of Koala programming kit for the Apple, and I thought that the information might be in this type of package for the Atari, but I haven't found one yet. Unfortunately this is all low on my priority list so I haven't progressed much in the last few. One other thing-- I found that after a few uses of the pad, the stylus begins to wear down. It's realtively soft plastic, and the pad surface is slightly rough. I file it periodically, as a blunt tip requires more pressure as its covering more surface area, making it difficult to use for some people. The Atari pad's stylus probably couldn't be filed similarly if the tip begins to blunt, but the Atari pad has a smoother surface, and may not require it anyway. I'd like to hear from anyone who has had an Atari pad for a while, and if there are any long term usage problems. On another subject, has anyone seen an Okimate 10 up close? This is a cheap ($299?) color printer for the Atari that uses a ribbon cartrige that looks a lot like an audio cassette. It also dosen't require an 850 or equiv. in a non-xl machine. I'd sure like to read a review. Keith Doyle {ucbvax,decvax}!trwrb!cadovax!keithd
kek@mgweed.UUCP (Kit Kimes) (11/09/84)
The January 1984 issue of ANTIC magazine had a public domain screen dump that worked with the Epson FX-80 printer. There were some modifications in the December 1984 issue of ANTIC (page 9) to allow the same program to work with a Gemini 10-X printer. This program will work with any software or hardware that uses the Micro Illustrator drawing program. This includes the Koala Pad, Atari Touch Tablet and Tech Sketch Light Pen, it would work if you have one of the above printers or you know how to modify it to handle control characters for your printer. Hope this helps... Kit Kimes AT&T Consumer Products Montgomery Works Montgomery, Il. 60538-0305 ..!ihnp4!mgweed!kek