tjc@husky.uucp (Tom Crawford) (05/29/85)
Replace this wine lith your favorite cartoon character Hello again netlanders, This system is going down tomorrow and I don't know when it will be up again. So, I thought I'd better alleviate the guilt that I would get if I didn't post the results to my modem and terminal emulation survey. These results are not exhaustive, they only seem that way. I know this is big, but there is armloads of information. If you want to save it-call Greenpeace. MODEMS: Nobody could confirm the rumor that 1200 baud prices were going to fall soon because of a proliferation of the 2400 type, so either the price is stable for a few months and the rumor isn't true, or it's the best kept secret since the Manhatten Project. The big news that may keep the whole thing up in the air is a protocol rivalry in the 2400 market. One of my letters summerized it well: "The top two competitors are MNP, developed at Microcom, and X.PC, developed at Tymnet. The article says that Hayes *won't* support MNP; however, it also say that Hayes hasn't formally decided. Ten other modem manufacturers (including Microcom), however, seem to support MNP. Microsoft (and others that I can't remember) are supporting X.PC; and Microsoft even has a communications program that supports it. So if you believe that standards are set by the marketplace, then nothing is really definite. If you aren't familiar with X.PC, then a one phrase description might be in order: it's a CRC-16 summing, hardware-free, subset of X.25 that supports the ISO OSI Physical, Data-link, Transport, Network, and Session Levels. [As far as I can tell, not being an expert.] Compare this to MNP, which [again, according to the article] works best when implemented with devoted hardware, and doesn't offer Network or Session Level protocols. Anyway, with X.PC you can get the goodies similar to TCP/IP, or XNS; and still have it on a micro--these protocols are useful at 1200 baud, too. The scenario that I envision goes something like this: Working at home on my Macintosh, I send a MacWrite document over the modem using X.PC to a laserprinter somewhere on campus (since I can't afford a laserprinter); and all that I have to do is select the Print Command. " This might hold prices stable until something appears more dominant (opinion). Most people are using Prometheus' ProModem, although people are happy with other things: "I have been satisfied with my ProModem; it holds up well with poor lines, and the price/performance is the best of any modem that I have compared. I think many others will agree. I bought mine from Compumail. (I posted an article to net.micro.mac in response to an article about mail-order houses; I'll forward it if you can't find it.) For $300 and 2nd day delivery, I couldn't find anyone willing to offer a Hayes. The other modems that I liked were the US Robotics Password, the Apple, and the Racal-Vadics. None could match the value of the ProModem, except the Password, mail-order priced at $269. (I forgot who offered it for that price.) You might note that none of these modems are totally Hayes compatible. The one that comes the closest is the ProModem; the Apple won't escape to command mode with the +++ sequence without hanging-up; the Password command set is incomplete; and the Racal-Vadics were over budget. " " You might look into the Microcom modem that is available for the Mac. We are using *hundreds* of their stand-alone modems here where I work and they have been extremely reliable. It also has the capability of starting out with 1200 and upgrade later on to 2400 baud. The error correcting features are really nice (if you are talking through another Microcom or some other modem that support their MNP protocol) when you have a bad quality phone line. " That's the gist of the modem replys. As for me, I expect to get an Apple 1200 because I can get it for a 25% discount on an outdated promotion and the Mac is definitely compatible with it, even though others are compatible also. (I know, this philosophy can break down real quick.) EMULATORS: a) inexpensive b) standard emulation c) universal downloading (pick any two) People are not too adverse to MacTerminal (MacT). However, those that use something else are not too prone to return. You can customize MacT, however, you still can run to some downloading grief, but it's usually an inconvenience rather than an impossibility. Nobody really said much about ver. 2.0, so we will wait and see. Someone referred to InTouch, but all I heard was that is supported binary and Crosstalk mode (I'm not clear on what that is), and it had screen- activated controls to send BREAK, etc. No price, no emulation options, we will wait and see. Some of the boys around here have used BLAST. Their impression is that it's complete but complex: user abusive. VT100 emulation, file transfer, but a pain to use unless you become a BLAST wizard. ProCom: " >ProCom-M, on the other hand, is a big disappointment. It came in a >sealed box with the Mac cable and NOT A SHRED OF PRINTED >DOCUMENTATION. There was a manual contained in document files that you >could access with ProCom and read on the screen. I tried to print >them from the file menu, but they drove the Imagewriter crazy because >they contained control characters (evidently from the previous >Wordstar version of the manual, which was apparently copied verbatim). >Strike one. > >The manual was apparently written by a person not fluent in the >English language. [I don't mean this disparagingly -- he writes >English a lot better than I can write any non-English language]. >SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS, PLEASE NOTE: if a software product is worth >releasing, it is worth documenting in a readable form by a >professional writer. It doesn't cost a fortune, but reflects well on >your firm and products. (flame off). Strike two. > >Advertising material for the "MacPac" and ProCom-M states that it does >"simple terminal emulation". Well, that apparently means that it >emulates a "simple terminal" -- a TTY. Alas, no VT100 or even VT52 (or >even, for gosh sakes, an adm3a :-) ). VT100 is promised for Real Soon >Now. Strike three. > >There are several serious bugs in ProCom-M version 0.9X. One is that >you can't use it from the external disk drive -- if you do, the phone >directory is blank and it won't load any phone number files from disk. >It also bombs every now and then for no apparent reason. (No, I didn't >note the ID but I will for their Tech Support.) Another bug is that >the cursor won't move left (either destructively or non-destructively) >when BACKSPACE is received (or echoed locally). It uses CTRL-BACKSPACE >for DEL and CTRL-[ for ESC (or so I was told by the developer). BREAK >is sent by selecting it from the Commands menu. Strike four. > >I haven't yet tried downloading/uploading using XMODEM protocol or >capture mode. Presumably, it works. " Nothing new on Smartcom. All I have is Mike Ward's previously posted review to the net that says that it is a tremendous package. I'd repost that but this is becoming a behemoth. It emulates well, downloads well, interfaces well, reasonable cross compatibility with other Hayes look- alikes and is an all around great guy to have at a party. Three things: it costs $150, it takes up 206K of disk space, and escape is ^[. This last trick does not allow you to use Smartcom, Switcher, and vi at the same time. (I'm not sure about any two of the three). Yes, I have Red Ryder, but haven't become an RR wiz yet. It's only $40 in shareware, but it doesn't emulate anything. A real bummer if you want to play hack on the Mac. Big News: I have a Kermit that works! It's free! It emulates a VT100! I'm posting it to net.sources.mac! It can only download if the connectee has Kermit too. (bummer) It seems to work nicely. However, I'm having a problem of getting our host to talk to me after I download a file. This happens on the new version of Kermit that I have for my IBM-PC though, too. I suspect that the problem is really in the Unix Kermit that we have because the MacKermit performs Maavolously in other kermit environments. It still downloads from our system (it just won't talk to me afterwards) and I can play hack (all this and public domain too). There are alot of Versaterm fiends out there. They love it. It retails for $99 and if you can't find it locally, the address is: Peripherals, Computers and Supplies, Inc. 2232 Perkiomen Ave. Mt. Penn, Pa. 19606 (215) 779-0522 I will probably pick up a copy of this RSN (just got to get off my can). I assume that it does VT100 emulation, but apparently it also does Tektronix emulation. I'll further assume that this means you can turn your Mac into a graphics terminal. That's it. I know, this sucker is long, but I wanted to spew forth the facts as they were spewed forth to me. Once again, these express the opinions of myself and those who sent me mail and not those of the Eastman Kodak Co., the currently abysmal Rochester Red Wings, or Mighty Manfred the Wonder Dog. And if any of the companies that I referred to in the above text knew what I said about them, they would tell my mother on me. Tom Crawford, EK co. **hey kid-remember your creator** P.S. It figures: You always get one more reply as you compose the letter: "Friend, get either a real cheap 1200-Baud modem (advertised in Byte for <$200) or wait 'a little' for a 2400 at <$500. seems as if VersaTerm is the one chosen by the in-crowd. depends what you need it for. you may like an emulator of a Tektronix better. Cheers, Werner "