Stephen Shaw describes this as a supplement to the standard TI documentation. In fact it contains a wealth of useful hints and explanations of some of the machine's peculiarities.

The book covers three major areas. It deals with TI products, detailing hardware, a full range of peripherals and software. Mr. Shaw also gives his guide to the Basic language, both TI Basic and Extended Basic, following the logical order of the TI manual. And he includes practical advice covering programming tips, maintenance, machine code and additional hardware.

Mr. Shaw's style is standard manualese - short, straight to the point, easy to read and easy to understand. The information is presented in a logical manner with new areas covered as they become relevant. Some sections suffer from lack of illustration.

The main glossary and the index are too small to prove really useful and certain sections of the text appear more than once. The unusually large print enchances readability, but with only 150 pages £5.95 may seem a little costly for the amount of information included.

Igor Thomas