CETEX is the annual consumer electronics exhibition, the UK equivalent of the huge American Consumer Electronics Show (CES). CES is one of the major show cases for new computers in the States and it looks as though CETEX is vying to become the UK trade show for computers. CETEX is not open to the public, and many of the things shown to dealers will not make it to the shops in the form shown.

A lot of money is spent by the big manufacturers at this show, the RCA stand looked like a space shuttle and moonbase, they were selling video discs and have no intention of moving into computers. Many of the stands had no computers, CETEX displays everything from Microwave cookers to Hi-Fi but then home computers are no longer the province of specialist manufacturers, even David Karlin - designer of the Sinclair QL refers to Sinclair Research as a consumer electronics company rather than a computer company.

First stop was Amstrad. They had eight CPC 464's on display. I was just as impressed with the machine this time as I was at the launch. The integral cassette unit was giving fast and reliable loading, one of the demo programs was Roger And The Ropes which any Spectrum fan will recognise as Quicksilva's FRED. The scrolling was a little jerky but the improved colour resolution added to its cuteness. The Amstrad micro comes with either a green screen monitor for 299 or a colour monitor for 329. The screen plugs into the mains and then the computer takes its power from the screen making it a very neat system. The colour monitor is quite good in 80 column mode but cannot cope with a whole row of lower case m's so at best it is medium res, so don't believe anyone who tells you that it is high res. The character set is very nice and includes five little men in different poses. It took me only five minutes to get a row of little men to dance!

This was the first time I'd seen the documentation, it is clear and well laid out without being condescending, by the last day of the show most of the manuals had "walked". Also shown was a printer. This is very similar to the Commodore MPS801 which is made by Sekiosha. They had prototype 3 in Hitachi disk drives running, although they were not finished and had a tendency to over-heat.

A spokesman said that the disk drive development had gone very well and that he hoped they would be available "in time for Christmas", they will be supplied with CP/M and Logo. Prices will be around 200 for the first drive and 100 for any subsequent ones. The computer division of Amstrad is called AMSOFT and will sell everything from ribbons and paper to the computers and printers. I hope this machine succeeds, it's cheap, very powerful, BBC Basic is in the pipeline and I've ordered one!

Next stop was Atari. They proved that they are not going to leave the games market by launching two new machines, the 2600 junior and the 7800. 7800 is a special number, it works out to be 5200 +2600! The 2600 is the old VCS which we all know and love. The 5200 is an advanced and expensive games system which runs 400/800 computer games software but which was never available in the UK. Combine the two and you get an advanced games system which can run the old 2600 games and its own super hi-res software in the same slot.

The games I have seen are Galaga (the game the hero plays in wargames). This was a full implementation, complete with ship capturing. The Robotron was less spectacular, but still well up on the newest computer versions. The system costs 99.95 and will come with Pole Position II and new super joystick controllers and Centipede. This will cost 79.95 and will take all the existing 2600 software being just a smaller, smarter version of the 2600. The new joysticks are tough and give good response, these should improve your high scores no end!

All the Atarisoft software for the BBC, Spectrum, and Commodore 64 was on display. In general the Beeb stuff is fantastic, the Spectrum stuff pretty neat and the C64 stuff a trifle disappointing. The BBC Pole Position is my favourite, they have even mentioned an Elk version!

Regular Games Computing readers will know all about the Adam. This was the main attraction of the massive CBS stand. It has been available as an add-on for the Colecovision and will be in the shops as a stand alone unit. For around 500 you get a computer, word processor, and games system with a daisywheel printer thrown in. The main attraction for me on this stand was the software for other machines. This included Pit Stop and Jumpman for the Commodore 64.

The Cumana stand was surprisingly busy, they had a hard disk for Tandy micros as well as Dragon and BBC drives. This firm is rapidly becoming the British disk drive specialist. Dragon themselves had some very interesting new products, the GEC Professional which had built in disc drives for 700 and some very powerful sounding systems software. There were also rumours of an MSX machine in the pipeline. However since the show Dragon Data has stopped trading, the receiver is now looking for a buyer, so it looks like the end of the line for these new products.

JVC had some very interesting computer displays. They showed off their new MSX machines by hooking them up to laser discs, providing interactive golf and racing car games, control being superior to the arcade versions. No price was announced for this. Another of the manufacturers to show an MSX computer was Mitsubishi. All the stands with MSX computers seemed to have the same demo software running, i.e. a game in which you play the part of a penguin running over snow, jumping crevasses and avoiding seals. The cute graphics made up for the simplistic game.

Tatung had an Einstein computer on show, with a notable lack of software for it. It is not a computer many people are enthusiastic about.

Toshiba was showing their entry into the MSX market, proving that MSX allows you too mix add-ons by running a demo with a clear Perspex piano keyboard and a Yamaha MSX, sound module. Toshiba's machine is called the HX-10 and will be launched in September with discs and a printer.

Sanyo did not have a stand at CETEX, but took a whole floor on the rather plush Royal Garden Hotel in Knightsbridge during the show. After walking in I was presented with a Sanyo Olympic gold medal (a bit of cardboard with my name on it) and was led to the bar. I took an orange juice and headed for the computers. To continue the Olympic theme there was a fake athletics track on fake grass. A score board displayed a fake score and press and dealers wandered round the track eating real food and looking at real Sanyo products. The computers were hidden away from the cash registers, Hi-Fi, and microwave cookers in a little alcove. No one seemed to know much about MSX or the computers but they did have the penguin game.

The salesman told me that what made the Sanyo MCP-20 special was that it had a light pen option. He did not seem to understand that MSX meant that any MSX peripheral could be used with any MSX machine. The light pen costs 100 anyway so I don't think that that alone would sell the Sanyo. Another visitor explained that the thing that made the MCP-20 better value for money than its MSX rivals was the use of bank switching, which allows 60K of RAM (Random Access Memory) to be used from Basic in a 64K computer. However all the machines on show only had 32K fitted so no-one could demonstrate this. There was a disc drive but as it has only arrived from Japan that week no-one knew anything about it so it laid idle. All the machine worked on the US television standard, so they will require substantial changes to be adapted for use in Britain.

All in all it was a surprisingly good show, lots on display. My favourite item was nothing to do with computers, it was a goldfish bowl on a black plinth filled with rare gasses and lightning. It didn't do anything other than look splendid, but it does cost 2500 so I don't think I'll be buying one!