Q. Although a few games are available for my new Spectravideo 328, I am unable to obtain any relevant books. I also own an Oric 48K and the software is available, along with books such as the Oric Companion.

Are there any books available for the 328? I've spent a lot of time and money trying to find them, but none seem to be available in Australia.

B. Sturman, Perth, W Australia

A. You might as well stop looking, because we know of only one Spectravideo book - Spectravideo Computing by Ian Sinclair, published by Granada. The book might be handy for a complete novice, but if you've already got on top of your Oric you'd be severely disappointed by it.

The problem with the Spectravideo is that though it's a nice machine it hasn't really taken off. The manual makes reference to an advanced programming guide, but we've never seen a copy. However, the 328 uses a fairly standard Microsoft Basic, so any general programming guide to Microsoft Basic will be helpful. The Spectravideo is similar to the MSX machines, though it's still unclear how similar - but it may be sufficiently so for you to be able to use some, if not all, the MSX literature coming out this autumn.

Many months ago now Spectravideo also promised an MSX adaptor - this hasn't seen the light of day, but as soon as there are enough MSX machines around to make it worthwhile it's possible it will be launched, solving some of your problems.