August 1, 1984




          Arthur DeAuthor
          8088 Heming Way
          New York, NY  10016


          Dear Arthur:

               Welcome to PC:Project Printers!

               We're doing it again -- a massive study of the PC
          products our readers need to know about.  This is the
          biggest one of all -- there are over 300 printers that work
          with a PC, and we're going to review as many of them as
          possible.  We've tried to get all of them, but all we can do
          is get most of them -- besides, One Park is an old building,
          and we're not sure if the floor would hold up.

               As it is, we'll have around 150, so that's half of the
          field.  Who knows, maybe we'll do it again next year and
          fill in the blanks.  Of course, by then there'll be 500
          printers to test!

               You're probably wondering why you've received over
          7,500 words (not including appendices) of advice on how to
          test and evaluate each printer, and write a short (750 word)
          article about it.  The reason is simple -- the project is
          large, and we need you, along with an army of colleagues, to
          write 150 articles!  They need to have some common format,
          style and size or our readers will leave with a strong sense
          of confusion and chaos -- exactly the impression about
          printers that we're trying to relieve them of.

               And it's not just the size.  PC compatible printers
          come in all shapes and sizes (everything from a shoe box to
          several cartons mounted on equipment pallets).  They all
          need to be evaluated and written about on a consistent
          basis.

               For the same reasons we've asked you to come in to PC's
          offices to do the testing -- sorry, it just has to be done
          that way -- you can do the writing anywhere you want.  When
          you leave you can take much of the literature and documenta-
          tion away with you for your writing, but it'll have to be
          returned when you're done.


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               Take some time to read through the methodology and
          writing guide, and go over the appendices. The guide is
          meant to be your "user manual" for the project, and you'll
          want to bring it with you when you're here for testing.
          It's probably too short (despite its bulk), but several of
          us will be around to answer any questions you have while
          doing the testing.

               The appendices contain sample outputs of the test
          programs and should give you a better idea of what's to be
          accomplished during the testing.  The programs have been
          modified somewhat since the appendices were produced (Craig
          Stark proved to be a fussy Beta tester), but the basics of
          what they do hasn't changed.

               You should have a lot of fun with PC:Project Printers.
          It's been fun (OK, I lie sometimes) just putting it together
          and doing the planning.  You can be certain PC's readers
          will get a lot of beneficial information out of it.

               See you soon!



                                        Sincerely,


                                        John Dickinson




          JCD/cls