jdf@pbhyc.UUCP (05/01/87)
Lately I have seen some mail order ads for the us robotics 2400 bps modem for under 200 bucks. In fact one was for 179. That seems like an awful good price for a 2400 bps modem. Has anyone used one? with an apple? with an ibm compatible? How good are they? The ad said hayes compatible. Is this true? If you have one and have used it for awhile would you recommend it? How do the switches compare with hayes? Thanks for the info. Jack
ranger@ecsvax.UUCP (Rick N. Fincher) (05/01/87)
The USR Courier 2400 modem has been advertised at $179 in some places. I have had no trouble with mine, but in the modem wars of a few months back a few people told of getting units that were Dead On Arrival. Mine is completely Hayes compatible. I have used it with no problem on IBM PC's as well as several types of Apple. It connects to every 2400 baud system I have tried it on with no problem. The reason the modem is so cheap is because it has been discontinued by USR. They have redesigned their 2400 baud modem (probably with a new chip set to save money) and have offered a 9600 baud model. I would say it's a good deal since USR is still in business and can fix the thing if it breaks in the future. Rick Fincher ranger@ecsvax Rick@ncsuvm (Bitnet)
mo@well.UUCP (Maurice Weitman) (05/02/87)
In article <3029@ecsvax.UUCP> ranger@ecsvax.UUCP (Rick N. Fincher) writes: > >The USR Courier 2400 modem has been advertised at $179 in some places. I don't think the USR modem that's been advertised for $179 is the Courier. It is an IBM-PC & compatibles internal modem, not the Courier external, and thus usable on Apple, etc. computers. -- Maurice Weitman ..!{dual,hplabs,lll-crg,ptsfa,glacier}!well!mo | <this is not a pipe POBox 10019 Berkeley, CA 94709 (415)549-0280 NSA food: CIA + FBI + Reagan = terrorism Quote: "I'm not a crook." RMN Disclaimer: Any errors in spelling, tact or fact are transmission errors.
rjn@hpfcmp.HP.COM (Bob Niland) (05/02/87)
re: "Lately I have seen some mail order ads for the us robotics 2400 bps
modem for under 200 bucks. In fact one was for 179."
This becoming another "urban myth". The $179 figure (which may have been in
error) was for the PC-backplane plug-in version and was a one-time only
offer. The best price I have seen on the external USR2400 is about $350. I
saw this after having paid $376 for mine.
Regards, Hewlett-Packard
Bob Niland 3404 East Harmony Road
[ihnp4|hplabs]!hpfcla!rjn Fort Collins CO 8ZailZperry@inteloa.intel.com (Perry The Cynic) (05/04/87)
In article <635@pbhyc.UUCP> jdf@pbhyc.UUCP (Jack Fine) writes: >Lately I have seen some mail order ads for the us robotics 2400 bps modem >for under 200 bucks. In fact one was for 179. That seems like an awful >good price for a 2400 bps modem. Has anyone used one? with an apple? with >an ibm compatible? How good are they? The ad said hayes compatible. Is >this true? If you have one and have used it for awhile would you recommend >it? How do the switches compare with hayes? Thanks for the info. >Jack I guess everybody will answer that, but for once I'll do it too... In the last months, I was forced to go through a succession of 2400 bps modems (because each one did Bad Things to me...). I was looking for a low-cost solution (surprise!) and I've ended up with an USR 2400. Short summary: It's not the best around (a Hayes 2400 beats it hands down), but for its price I haven't found anything better. Its functionality and noise-resistance are (in my opinion) adequate. Longer summary: I have used one and am using it and having no (unreasonable) problems. I use the internal version on an XT clone. The command set is compatible with the Hayes 1200 (no AT&... commands, no stable store, everything with switches), except that the L (sound level), Y (long space disconnect) and B (CCITT/1200 protocoll) commands are missing. It has the extended dial codes (/!@W) (I think - don't nail me). The commonly used S-registers work, though the bit-mapped ones are missing (so what's new?). In exchange, it has (almost) the full switch complement of the EXTERNAL Hayes 1200. Great if you run a BBS, rather useless if you call out, but it's all there if you want it... As for the Real Criterion: its noise-resistance at 2400 is fair but not overly great. I have a VERY noisy local connection to a particular BBS (probably a marginal exchange) that used to kill my previous modems every 30 minutes on average; a Hayes 2400 just burped and kept on going; the USR2400 dies rarely (perhaps once a month), though it sometimes sprouts gibberish for some seconds before getting its grip on reality... So, if you're looking for a 2400 bps modem for under $200, I think the USR is a fair buy (perhaps the best - I haven't found any better). It's the work-horse type of modem (no frills). USR has run a promotion giving special prices to BBS sysops, with the result that most BBS systems around here (Oregon) are using USR2400 modems for call-ins. I've talked (well, written) with some of these sysops, and no one had any bad things to say about it. Perhaps that's some kind of an assurance... I hope that helps -- perry ------------------------------------------------------------------------ << Perry The Cynic >> =>> perry@inteloa.intel.com <<= ...!tektronix!ogcvax!omepd!inteloa!perry (Peter Kiehtreiber) ...!verdix!omepd!inteloa!perry
stevem@fai.UUCP (Steve Minneman) (05/05/87)
In article <635@pbhyc.UUCP> jdf@pbhyc.UUCP (Jack Fine) writes: > > >Lately I have seen some mail order ads for the us robotics 2400 bps modem >for under 200 bucks. In fact one was for 179. That seems like an awful >good price for a 2400 bps modem. Has anyone used one? with an apple? with >an ibm compatible? How good are they? The ad said hayes compatible. Is >this true? If you have one and have used it for awhile would you recommend >it? How do the switches compare with hayes? Thanks for the info. > >Jack It's probably an o.k. modem for home use; but I would not recommend it for business use. The firmware seems to have a bug in it which causes it to occasionally go into a mode where it answers an incoming call and disconnects about one second later. Recycling the power clears up the problem for a while. -- Steven A. Minneman (Fujitsu America Inc, San Jose, Ca) !seismo!amdahl!fai!stevem The best government is no government at all.
cquenel@polyslo.UUCP (Christopher Quenelle) (05/05/87)
Hey, this price sounds like a good deal, but I have a question. I have an AT clone, and I want to be sure this internal card will run at 8MHz will run at 8MHz. My machine is not switchable (a cheap clone :-). What about the subject in general, any bitchin' cards that just won't run on faster machines ? Also, I guess a more general question, am I way off base ? Are memory cards the only cards that have speed problems ? -------------------------------- @---@ ------------------------------------ |Chris Quenelle | \. ./ | aka The Stainless Steel Lab Rat | |!ucbvax!voder!polyslo!cquenel | \ / | Squeak Squeak, Jingle Jingle | -------------------------------- ==o== ------------------------------------
sl@van-bc.UUCP (05/07/87)
In article <634@omepd> perry@inteloa.intel.com (Perry The Cynic) writes: >In article <635@pbhyc.UUCP> jdf@pbhyc.UUCP (Jack Fine) writes: >>Lately I have seen some mail order ads for the us robotics 2400 bps modem >>for under 200 bucks. In fact one was for 179. That seems like an awful >>good price for a 2400 bps modem. Has anyone used one? with an apple? with >low-cost solution (surprise!) and I've ended up with an USR 2400. > >Short summary: It's not the best around (a Hayes 2400 beats it hands down), >but for its price I haven't found anything better. Its functionality and >noise-resistance are (in my opinion) adequate. > I agree. I have two 2400 baud modems, a Hayes Smartmodem 2400 and a USR Courier 2400. I keep wanting to believe that the Hayes is better ... but the Courier seems to have less problems. Both modems are used for dialin lines for news distribution. I don't normally tell people which modem is on which line -- I tell them to try both and use the one which works the best. Currently three out of the three sites which take a full feed, use the Courier as their first choice in lines (without knowing that it was the Courier). My main problem with the Hayes seems to be connecting. For example I use a Hayes 1200 for testing from my Macintosh. Most of the time it won't connect properly to the Hayes Smartmodem 2400, but I never have any problems with the Courier. I notice the same problem with other people dialing in as well. Please note that all this is totally subjective. I havn't really analysed the problems all that well. Things just seem to run better with most people dialing into the Courier than the Hayes. I'm just in the process of getting another 2400 modem. At this point I can't justify the price differential to get another Hayes and will probably just get another USR Courier. I must be a believer, I'm still convinced it's all a hallucination, the Hayes has GOT TO BE BETTER, right :-) -- Stuart Lynne ihnp4!alberta!ubc-vision!van-bc!sl Vancouver,BC,604-937-7532
cbenda@unccvax.UUCP (carl m benda) (05/12/87)
In article <688@van-bc.UUCP>, sl@van-bc.UUCP writes: > Both modems are used for dialin lines for news distribution. I don't > normally tell people which modem is on which line -- I tell them to try both > and use the one which works the best. Currently three out of the three sites > which take a full feed, use the Courier as their first choice in lines > (without knowing that it was the Courier). > > My main problem with the Hayes seems to be connecting. For example I use a > Hayes 1200 for testing from my Macintosh. Most of the time it won't connect > properly to the Hayes Smartmodem 2400, but I never have any problems with > the Courier. I notice the same problem with other people dialing in as well. > It is not the Hayes modem's fault. I believe the problem is in the software that is used with the Hayes, and not with the modem itself. Last year a friend of mine and myself were setting up an AT in kermit server mode and a Hayes modem to be dialed from a remote pc. The problem was that after connection had been established, kermit (on the server side) neglected to send the modem (on the server side) the proper connection established ack- nowledgement signal, and so the modem (on the server side) dropped the call. What you should do is try and figure out what your Hayes 2400 wants to receive from YOUR machine, after it answers the phone. Hope this helps, Carl uucp:...!mcnc!unccvax!cbenda
myxm@beta.UUCP (Mike Mitchell) (05/12/87)
> In article <688@van-bc.UUCP>, sl@van-bc.UUCP writes: > > Hayes 1200 for testing from my Macintosh. Most of the time it won't connect > > properly to the Hayes Smartmodem 2400, but I never have any problems with > > the Courier. I notice the same problem with other people dialing in as well. > It is not the Hayes modem's fault. I believe the problem is in the software > > What you should do is try and figure out what your Hayes 2400 wants to receive I had problems getting a USR modem to answer the phone reliably for UUCP connections on a SUN. The software was looking for the responses from the modem as if it was a Hayes Smart(?)modem 1200. To fix the problem, I wound up sending the command string ATX0 to the USR. This seemed to fix all my problems. I still have to send this string if the power gets turned off and on to the modem (things die if I dont). Hope this might help. Mike Mitchell myxm@lanl.gov