anyone want to trade VIC-20 carts?

[newTIboyRob]

I have (3) VIC-20 cartridges:  Home Babysitter, Speed Math, Mole Attack.  I'm looking for Poker, The Typewriter/Word Processor, Expense Calendar and maybe even Home Inventory.  I'm most interested in the Word Processor, which I know is on cassette, but it may be on cartridge too, I'm not sure.

 

A longshot, I know, but maybe, just maybe someone could use a couple of these more educational carts for the kids.

 

 

 

[carlsson]

Ok, for reference what you are looking for are:

 

VIC-1908 Poker [cartridge]

 

These three are only available in tape form:

 

VT-1009 VIC Typewriter - Word processor for home use
VT-1010 Expense Calendar - Income, expenses, appointments

VT-1012 Home Inventory - Home belongings list

 

The three tape programs were also sold in a bigger pack called VT-107 Home Calculation Program Pack A, combined with Personal Finance I - Home Budget [VT-1007], Personal Finance II - Home Budget [VT-1008] and Loan & Mortgage Calculator - Decision-making aid [VT-1011].

 

There were other word processors on cartridge, probably more advanced than the typewriter one on tape so it depends if you are looking for a good word processor or this particular software. Unfortunately I have neither to trade (and probably am located too far away for shipping to be effective anyway).

 

By the way, there is a specific trading section on AtariAge where usually buy, sell and swap trades are posted.

Edited March 13, 2020 by carlsson

[newTIboyRob]

ok thank you, I obviously wasn't aware of that

[newTIboyRob]

What do you think are the good/better word processors on cartridge or tape?  Something middle of the road... not too advanced nor technical, but not just ABC either?

[carlsson]

Good question! You have the following options on cartridge:

 

HesWriter [HES C304]

Quick Brown Fox [Quick Brown Fox]

Wordcraft 20 [UMI 16xx]

Write Now! [Cardco]

 

DATA-20 is a 40 column hardware expansion which came with its own software for word processing, speadsheet and mail merge. I don't know where to find it or if it works without the extra hardware.

 

On tape or in pure program form, all requiring at least 8K expansion memory:

 

KP Word Pro

Tekstverwerker 1-4 (in Dutch)

VIC Writer

SpeedScript 1.0, 2.0 [COMPUTE! Magazine]

SpeedScript 3.0 [also COMPUTE! but completely rewritten]

 

I don't know which ones are practically usable, but other users tend to recommend SpeedScript 3.0. Pretty much all of the above can be downloaded and depending on your setup be run from softloaded files.

Edited March 13, 2020 by carlsson

[newTIboyRob]

Ok thanks.  The typical VIC-20 would need that 8K expansion memory as an add-on, it's not in the basic VIC-20, correct?    So it looks like I would be choosing one of your first four choices.

[carlsson]

Yes. Actually in the long run a 16K expansion or even a 32K switchable expansion would be very useful, so don't rule those out as not important. The other week I saw a switchable 32K expansion on eBay for next to nothing, I was very tempted to bid even if I didn't need yet one more.

 

Of course that is also an option, to trade one of your less desired cartridge "games" for a decent memory expansion.

[Casey]

SpeedScript is an excellent word processor, honestly.  I used the 64 version of it for many years and it is one of the easiest word processors I have used.  It does require memory expansion on the VIC-20, but it is feature rich and fast.  Lots of formatting options, easy control of printer codes, etc.  I would recommend it.  I can’t compare it to other VIC-20 word processors, but I have used a couple other 64 WPs and SpeedScript was just easiest.

[newTIboyRob]

ok thank you, good to know

[newTIboyRob]

Have you ever used the VT-1009 VIC Typewriter?  What kind of limitations?

[carlsson]

I downloaded it, and based on a quick test, I find the following:

 

* You can type text into it. Yay!

* It doesn't recognize the return key for line breaks. You need to use the cursor keys to move to a new line.

* F1 moves you down 20 lines and then back up 20 lines. Not sure what it really is supposed to do.

* F2 not sure if it does anything

* F3 inserts a line, F4 removes a line

* F5 and F6 seem to work just like F1

* F7 might not do anything, F8 inserts a reverse capital L, perhaps for page break?

* RUN/STOP moves the cursor to the first line

 

I'm not sure if it offers any additional functions for loading, saving or printing. I tried to locate some kind of instructions but only found the front cover. Even after reading the BASIC code, it is not obvious if or how it would do it. The program sets aside 1024 bytes for your text (46 lines x 22 characters = 1012 bytes) and leaves 155 bytes free on an unexpanded machine.

 

I think it is mostly a proof of concept, a toy for a new VIC-20 user to get started with something beyond playing games.

 

Actually supposedly Commodore also sold VICWRITER by Landsoft, UK on tape VIC-3306 and floppy disk (!) VIC-3305. This program requires 16K expansion but I don't think it is the same one as found on Zimmers FTP (credited to H. Bettenhausen, Kassel, Germany 1982), or how it compares to the other word processors already mentioned.

Edited March 14, 2020 by carlsson

[newTIboyRob]

wow, thanks for all that info, Anders!   Makes me think that it is, like you thought, more of just a "hey, this thing can type, too" venture.  I would want to load, save and print from it though, so maybe I need to look for another word processor.

 

Incidentally, about that expansion... the card would just simply be inserted into the rear expansion port as a cartridge would get put in, or is there something special required to do to that area, like opening the machine or connecting something auxiliary?  If the card just gets put in the back port and then one of those word processors you mentioned above would then go into the cartridge slot, I would be more inclined to look into expansion further for a better word processor.

[newTIboyRob]

Wow, it's hard to find any of those word processors on Ebay. If I was going to go with the simple VT-1009 VIC Typewriter you downloaded though, how would I go about getting it from that form into the VIC-20 cartridge or tape?  I have an Android, but am unfamiliar with the steps needed for that process.

[carlsson]

18 hours ago, newTIboyRob said:

the card would just simply be inserted into the rear expansion port as a cartridge would get put in,

Yes. Memory expansions go into the same cartridge slot as your game cartridges go. Normally you can only use one cartridge at a time unless you get a multi slot cartridge expander that allows multiple cartridges to be connected at the same time, either switchable one at a time or all active at the same time. In your case, a memory expansion would fill most of your needs, and you could pull it out if you want to play a cartridge game.

17 hours ago, newTIboyRob said:

Wow, it's hard to find any of those word processors on Ebay. If I was going to go with the simple VT-1009 VIC Typewriter you downloaded though, how would I go about getting it from that form into the VIC-20 cartridge or tape?  I have an Android, but am unfamiliar with the steps needed for that process.

Once you download the T64 image, you could use a set of programs like WAV-PRG and Audiotap where WAV-PRG is used to convert T64 to TAP and Audiotap is used to produce a WAV file or send the audio to the headphone output, to which you connect a standard tape recorder and save the program onto. However there are a number of issues that may happen here regarding setting the correct recording volume, making sure to record in mono, have the signal properly aligned etc so you could have a little of trial and error with that.

 

If you are looking into getting serious with the VIC-20, I would recommend you some purchase like a SD2IEC device. There have been a few cartridges which combine the memory card device with a memory expansion (e.g. Final Expansion 3), but I don't know if those still are available. By using a memory card, you can transfer PRG and D64 images from your computer to the VIC without going through fiddly tape recorders or even disk drives. It might seem advanced at first, but once you have learned how to use it, a such device makes things much easier.

[newTIboyRob]

Ok cool, I will take everything into consideration, thank you

[newTIboyRob]

Question:  Instead of the expansion plugging directly into the slot where the cartridges go, couldn't I that wide slot at the back of the VIC-20 for the expansion?   Or what is that slot for?  (I have the tape recorder in the other slot)  

[carlsson]

You mean the leftmost port, seen from the keyboard side? That is the user port, intended for things like modems, relays and home alarms, robot arms and other exotic hardware expansions. There exists an interface for two extra joystick ports that uses this connector, though very few games support those extra joysticks anyway.