OK OK , I will do the hard work again and compare the results , it will be interesting to verify your old book's claim.
How about masking the lower 12 bits and only using the upper 3 bits like this.
randNo = Rand() & 0x7000;
randNo --> shifted 12 bits
would this be better you rekon ?
Do I have to do the division which I can do because there is no timing critical events what so ever, the microcontroller would be sitting idle for few seconds.
mahmood