mpsimon@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (M. Patrick Simon) (09/27/88)
Below you will find a compilation of the replies I received concerning my inquiry about Signum and TeX a little while ago. Thanks alot to all who replied. Summary of responses: Signum requires a mono monitor, sounds good, suggest you have a hard disk to use it. Printing quality is fine, printing on epson compatibles is slow. Output file is Signum's own. There are at least two implementations of TeX available in Europe, both pretty complete. Not much news on either Signum or TeX specifically concerning the US. --Patrick Simon mpsimon@phoenix.princeton.edu 9-27-88 -------------responses begin here------------------------------------------ From unido!cosmo!THANSEN@uunet.UU.NET Sat Sep 10 05:23:05 1988 Using Signum for bearly one year I can say that it is an immense help for writing my reports (I'm studying chemistry). Now let me try to answer your questions: - Using Signum you need a monochrome monitor - It will work on a 1040 ST, it does not require a hard drive - Printing on an Epson compatible is possible. - Signum2 (this is the update from "Signum") is able to support graphics figures in the text. There is a program on the disc, which allows you to "photograph" the screen and put the graphic into the text. The picture format is copatible to the STAD painting program. I hope my response was a little help for you. If you have more questions; write a message to me. Thorsten -------------------- Torsten Hansen Wuppertal West-Germany FRG ----------- THANSEN@cosmo.uucp ************************************************************************** From princeton!njin!rutgers!ucsd!nosc!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ucbvax!decwrl!sun!pitstop!sundc!seismo!uunet!mcvax!unido!tub!tmpmbx!netmbx!alderaan Mon Sep 12 21:06:42 EDT 1988 In article <3605@phoenix.Princeton.EDU>, mpsimon@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (M. Patrick Simon) writes: > > ... stuff deleted ... > > Questions about Signum: > > 1. Will it support a color monitor? Will it work on a 1040 ST? Does it > require that I have a hard drive? No, (in my experience) no color monitor is supported. The european version of SIGNUM works fine on 1040s. A hard drive is not required, but you should use one, because SIGNUM makes frequent use of disk (consists of a bunch of utilities). > > 2. What file format/printing options? I.e. does it produce DVI output files, > can I print to an Epson compatible, or to a postscript printer? Output to EPSON compatible printers (9 dots) is supported, but very slow (about 15 min per page, because each line is printed 6 times). 24 dot printers would be a good guess. There also is an ATARI Laser driver included. The .SDO file format is only compatible with SIGNUM, but ASCII imports/exports are possible. > > 3. Will it support graphics figures in the text? Yes, and in VERY GOOD QUALITY !!! And you can change the size of graphics images, you can easily duplicate them, without any problems of overlapping ! Also the texts ! > > 4. Suggested retail price in the USA? (STPlus has it advertised for $250). Could be true, I think. The german version is DM449, that is, about $230). > > 5. Any major or minor limitations encountered by current/previous users? The print speed. The printing image is very good, but it must be printed 6 times each line for max quality. -- SIGNUM is a WYSIWYG editor, I mean what I say. Great stuff. Very quick on editing. No fatal bugs detected in the german version (tested a friend's SIGNUM over 3 Months). -- alderaan OP RKOpdp (RSTS/E) FB Mathematik/Informatik RKO Berlin Dieffenbachstrasze 60-61 1000 Berlin 61 **************************************************************************** From princeton!njin!rutgers!ucsd!ames!mailrus!uwmcsd1!marque!uunet!mcvax!unido!laura!trillian!klute Thu Sep 15 17:02:49 EDT 1988 For those of you who are interested in Signum! and want more info here is the developer's address: Application Systems Heidelberg Postfach 102646 D-6900 Heidelberg West Germany Tel. (+6221) 300002 Disclaimer: I have no relations to the above firm except as a very satisfied customer. Rainer Klute +---------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+ | Rainer Klute | klute@trillian.irb.informatik.uni-dortmund.de | | University of Dortmund | UUCP: klute@unido.uucp | | Dept. of CS | (...uunet!mcvax!unido!klute) | | P.O. Box 500500 | BITNET: klute@unido.bitnet | | D-4600 Dortmund 50 | | +---------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+ | Federal Republic of Germany | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From unido!cantor.ls2.informatik.uni-dortmund.de!paulf@uunet.UU.NET Thu Sep 15 03:01:26 1988 We use Signum (Signum2 since 4 month) since 2 years. It does not produce anything like a DVI-file. You can use it with a 9- , 24-dot printer or a laserprinter. Drivers for various printers are available. TeX is available in two implementations for the Atari in Germany. Both offer everything from PLAIN to LATEX and AMS-TeX and also METAFONT. Both come with drivers for some 40 printers (dot, laser... ). Compiling speed is 1page/3sec . Printing speed 2pages/min to 1page/min depending on resolution and number of fonts. Quality of software and output is very good. SIGNUM is develloped and distributed by APPLICATION SYSTEMS HEIDELBERG Postfach 102646 D-6900 Heidelberg West Germany TeX Is implemented and distributed by TOOLS GmbH Kessenicher Str. 108 D-5300 Bonn 1 West Germany If you have further questions, I will be pleased to help you. paul Paul Fischer Abt. Informatik Universitaet Dortmund Postfach 500500 D-4600 Dortmund 50 West-Germany paulf%cantor.ls2@unido.bitnet *************************************************************************** That's all folks.