The TRS-80 Model 100 ideabook. (book reviews) John Anderson.

* The TRS-80 Model 100 Portable Computer by David A. Lien. 555 pp. Compusoft Publishing, P.O. Box 19669, San Diego, CA 92119. $19.95. The acknowledged master of TRS-80 legerdemain sets his sights on the Model 100. Lien wrote the original light-hearted manual for the TRS-80 Model 1, which got me excited about computers way back in 1978. He has a light, amusing, but highly focused style, and an uncanny ability to imparr complex concepts painlessly. Profusely illustrated, thoroughly indexed, and chock full of meaty programming examples. To my mind a bookshelf must for Model 100 owners.

* The TRS-80 Model 100 Ideabook by David H. Ahl. 141 pp. Creative Computing Press, 39 East Hanover Ave., Morris Plains, NJ 07950. $8.95. Banish the thought--I did not include this entry because my boss told me so, I included it rather because it contains 50 classic programs ready-to-run on the Model 100. These include problem-solving, drill and practice, function-plotting, probability, geometry, science, and of course, games. The classics, Lunar Lander and Hammurabi, are there, in all their glory, but formatted for the LCD. And nothing can teach you Basic quicker than learning how these simple programs run. My early interest in micros is attributable directly to Mssrs. Ahl and Lien.

Review Grade: A