TD ROM is an unusual device that promises to be a boon for discussing games fans. The TD stands for 'tape to disc'. That is what this ROM is all about. It transfers your cassette programs to disc ready for near instant loading. To avoid the wrath of the software houses, TD ROM also has to be present in your machine when the game is loaded back into the machine from disc for use. In fact, Vine micros claim that clever random batch differences mean that the same TD ROM that saved the program must be the one to load it.

Legal difficulties aside, TD ROM is certainly simple to use. Typing *TD summons forth a menu giving you the choice of loading and running a program transferred previously, seeing the comprehensive on screen instructions, or transferring a new program to disc.

The transferral procedure is also easy to follow. You can either specify the number of tape files that make up the game and leave it to get on with it or opt to decide which is the last file when each file is loading.

TD ROM coped well with most games tried but has no chance with any software that alters the cassette filing system in any way. An increasing number of games are resorting to such methods of protection - Fortress, Blitzkrieg, Dune Rider, Starmaze and Manic Miner amongst them. More worryingly the ROM seemed to have an adverse effect on the efficiency of the cassette interface. Several programs (notably Software Invasion games) that load successfully normally, refused to load under the auspices of TD ROM for transfer to disc.

The TD ROM works well within these limitations. However a more comprehensive version, though unlikely, would be preferable.

Product: TD ROM
Supplier: Vine Micros, Marshborough, Sandwich, Kent, CT13 0PG. Tel: 0304-812276
Price: £18.00