Wingnut@cup.portal.com (Chris Allan Goodey) (04/28/89)
> I'm holding an advertisement from Microcom for their new V.32 modem >that they claim runs at 38,400 bps in MNP Class 9. A little asking around >and I found that they list at $1395.00 and we can get them for as little as >$800.00!!!!! > > What's the story here?? Anyone have these, know about these, ever >used one?? Any and all information would be appreciated. > > Is this the END for TELEBIT TRAILBLAZERS! We could save over >$120.00 each buying these, and save a bundle on phone costs to boot. Maybe >Telebit would like to comment on no longer having the fastest/cheapest modem >around???? (I know telebit is out there, they post every so often). > > E-Mail or Follow-up, Thanks all. > > Steve. > > CCCC CCCC IIII Stephen Zehl UUCP: sz@cci632.UUCP >CC CC II Computer Consoles. Inc. Csnet: cci632!sz@cs.rochester.EDU >CC CC II Rochester, New York. Usenet: rutgers!rochester!cci632!sz > CCCC CCCC IIII DISCLAIMER: I speak for myself, not for my employer. Well, I don't think Telebit has to worry too much yet! A company I consult for got a pair on evaluation. We wanted to talk between a PC and an HP3000. We spent days just trying to get it to work with our existing 1200 and 2400 bps modems. After the local tech visited a few times, and called the factory umpteen times, we finally got it to work as a standard V.32 9600 bps modem. It was okay at that. It will connect to systems at up to 38k bps, but the actual transfer will only exceed 9600bps when the data compression finds suitable data. If you were sending a file with lots of white space, you might get faster than 9600 but I would not count on it. The manual is pretty thick as the modem has lots and lots of options. Trying to get those options to work is another matter. Even with factory and local tech help we basically ended up turning off every advanced feature to get it running. I thought the retail price was around $1595. If you can get them for $800, then they sound like a reasonable deal. But make sure to test them in your specific environment before paying for them. Under ideal circumstances, the data compression may be useful. It does support 2400bps with MNP level 5, and some fairly cheap PC modem cards are available in that model so the Microcom would make a good host modem for others to dial in to. V.32 modems fall back to 4800bps under bad line conditions, and often software can't handle that. Telebit modems can function well under conditions where other modems will give up. If you expect to have good line conditions most of the time, then this is not a problem. Personally, I would pay a few hundred more for the T2500 to get the V.32 compatibility plus the reliability of the Telebit Trailblazer. Also, the new Courier Dual HST is V.32, gets 14.4kbp without data compression when talking to another modem of the same model, and even a bit faster with data compression turned on, plus is compatible with the cheap old HST modems. Furthermore, I was not impressed with the mechanical quality, the physical design, indicator lights, etc. of the Microcom modem. I can't comment on the electric design, but almost everything about the modem made me think it was just another modem with nothing all that special to make it stand out. It did have some advanced, if specialized options. If one of these options was critical to your application, then it is worth a look. Otherwise I would keep looking. Some words are worth a thousand pictures - Wingnut@cup.portal.com