I must admit that when I first got the Slomo I was more than a little puzzled. Why should Nidd Valley Micro Products go to the trouble of producing a piece of hardware that slows down the Electron? I couldn't see the point.

However, after a couple of hours messing around with it I soon got the idea, and now I wouldn't be without one.

The Slomo is a small, neat box that attaches by cable to the Electron's rear expansion port. On top of the box are a small knob and two buttons, one marked Freeze frame, the other Slow motion.

Using these, the Slomo can slow down or even stop any program running in the Electron. As a consequence the screen display also slows down or stops.

As I said, at first I couldn't see the point, but after trying it out I was soon convinced of its usefulness.

My first idea was entirely selfish. Working for Electron User I tend to get a lot of games to review and the truth is that as I get older the games are getting faster.

Not any more though. I can use the Slomo to cheat. By pressing the slow motion button and turning the knob I can adjust the speed of the game to a rate I can manage.

I can even freeze the frame, either to take off-screen photos, spy out where the hazards are, or just to take a breather.

And, of course, it's not just slow-witted adults who'll benefit. The Slomo can be used to tailor the speed of games to growing children's abilities. And more importantly it will be a boon to the handicapped and to teachers in special schools.

It's one of those pieces of equipment that you keep finding uses for. I've used its slow motion facility to try to figure out how a program works and also in debugging my own.

From initially wondering why anyone had brought it out, I was soon wondering why no-one had done it before!

It's an excellent piece of equipment, full of potential. The instructions are more than adequate - and a lesson to other hardware manufacturers.

It fits straight onto the back of the Electron and works perfectly with no problems. I can recommend it thoroughly and I'm sure that I've not tapped all of its uses.

There is one drawback. From now on when someone tells us that they got 23,000 on Cylon Attack, will they be honest enough to admit it was Slomo-assisted?

Trevor Roberts