rowen@blake.acs.washington.edu (Russell Owen) (07/23/89)
DeltaPoint software is having a big sale on Trapeze (spreadsheet),
and MindWrite (word processor/idea outliner). (DeltaPoint is what used to be
the Mac division of Access Technology, the company that formerly sold
these programs. The Mac division was recently bought by its employees.)
product price
Trapeze 2.1 $60 (spreadsheet)
MindWrite 2.1 $40 (word processor/outliner, apparently)
MindWrite Express $50 (same but reads/writes foreign file formats incl:
WordStar, WordPerfect, VAX WPS+, and DCA-RFT)
Add 6% sales tax in CA, plus a hefty $7.50 shipping in the US
and an even heftier $20 shipping elsewhere.
30 day money-back gurantee.
Call 800-367-4334 for details or to order.
WARNING!! The offer EXPIRES JULY 31.
Sorry for the late posting, but I lost the papers until today.
They say these are full working copies, not stripped down in any way whatsoever.
Call them to be sure, or for more details.
Their explanation for the prices is that they are having trouble competing
with all the new word processors and spreadsheets. They can't afford a huge
advertising blitz, so they're aiming for word-of-mouth advertising.
-------- following is a short review of Trapeze -----
I played quite a bit with Trapeze version 1 at one point, and liked it.
Rather than the typical spreadsheet's sea of cells, it organizes
data in named blocks, which I find much easier to use.
It's graphing makes Excel 1.5 look sick. It's got a rich set of graph types,
and allows easy graphing of column set of data vs. another.
Linking to other spreadsheets is incredibly easy. It's just like
referencing any data, but with the file name included
(and there's a handy menu that saves you from having to type names).
Its main lack, in my opinion, is it has no macros. Now it does have
an incredible variety of functions, including many which can be used
in place of macros. In fact they may be a complete substitute.
It didn't seem like it, but I know very little about spreadsheet macros..
The interface is a bit icon-heavy, and I have some nit-picks
with details of the (version 1) implementation,
but if you are looking for a very good, powerful spreadsheet,
and don't plan to use lot of macros, check it out.
Those are my impressions of version 1. I've not seen 2.1 yet,
but doubt it's radically different.
----- disclaimer ----
I have no connection with DeltaPoint other than that I've ordered
a copy of Trapeze, and it's back-ordered. I hope it comes soon,
and is as good or better than v. 1, but we'll see.
Russell Owen
internet: owen@phast.phys.washington.edu
bitnet: owen@uwaphastrock%warp@Sun.COM (Bill Petro) (07/27/89)
rowen@blake.acs.washington.edu (Russell Owen) writes: >DeltaPoint software is having a big sale on Trapeze (spreadsheet), >and MindWrite (word processor/idea outliner). (DeltaPoint is what used to be >the Mac division of Access Technology, the company that formerly sold >these programs. The Mac division was recently bought by its employees.) >product price >Trapeze 2.1 $60 (spreadsheet) >MindWrite 2.1 $40 (word processor/outliner, apparently) >MindWrite Express $50 (same but reads/writes foreign file formats incl: > WordStar, WordPerfect, VAX WPS+, and DCA-RFT) >Add 6% sales tax in CA, plus a hefty $7.50 shipping in the US >and an even heftier $20 shipping elsewhere. >30 day money-back gurantee. >Call 800-367-4334 for details or to order. >WARNING!! The offer EXPIRES JULY 31. >Sorry for the late posting, but I lost the papers until today. I got this promotion in the mail too. I was intregued. I have seen other outliners, and own Acta DA and Acta Advantage. How does MindWrite compate with Acta? {decwrl,hplabs,ucbvax}!sun!warp!rock Bill Petro