"If it had carried on like that, every single person in the world would have had a computer by 1987," said Mikro-Gen's Mike Meeth, drawing a steeply sloping graph in the air with his hands.

"Not maturity, not by a long chalk," said an educational software publisher.

And on the stand that sported the long lost name of Imagine, an LET exhibitor did a White Rabbit and was too late for a meeting to give us his opinion on the state of the home computer business.

Is it in decline? Not even by a short chalk, according to several recumbent LET exhibitors. The rapid growth, represented by Mike Meek's free-hand graphics, has merely started to level out. This is bad news for Sir Clive Sinclair, who hopes to bring the benefits of home computing to the ruddy and the Ethiop well before 1987, but at least the graph line hasn't started to go down the other side.

The re-appearance of Imagine's name might be a hopeful sign and, since LET was primarily a software show, there were brave faces all over the place. But even on the hardware front the people in the know are still looking forward. Boots, for example, is looking forward to seeing the last of its lingering stocks of Dragons, which are still available from odd stores in its 300+ chain. Some retailers are similarly hopeful of getting shot of certain Commodore computers. Shelf space is at a premium and stock must earn its keep. It can't do this by occupying space. It must be a hopeful sign that retailers are still thinking so positively.

But the LET show's must assertive indicator of the future of the home computer business was to be found on the Lightning stand. Here pride of place went to a Sinclair C5 tricycle. In the driving seat - the only seat, come to that - lay a dummy that was plainly scared out of its wits as the C5 revolved on its turntable.

Extra Sharp. Personal CP/M for business, MZ700 compatibility for the home, the new Sharp MZ800 sounds like a versatile piece of kit. We fly in under both flags in a full Pro-Test.

Flexi-Spectrum. Put some life into your Spectrum character with our Flexitext listing - any proportions, dimensions or movements you like.

Amstrad serial. Not a new soap opera, although it could turn out to be the first episode in a saga - we review a serial interface for the CPC464.

BBC Sleuth. No need for a deerstalker and a magnifying glass - we follow up the clues in a review of Sleuth, the ROM-based Basic front-end for the BBC Micro.

Gameplay Bonus. Among reviews of the latest Atmos, Commodore 64 and Spectrum games we've got Subterranean Styrkey, Technician Ted, and Monty Is Innocent.

Monitor. Follow the twists and turns of the Acorn saga.