Dave-Platt%LADC@cisl-service-multics.arpa (Dave Platt) (12/09/85)
I saw the modem in the DAK catalog, and ordered it about a month ago. Un(?)fortunately, DAK gorfed up my Visa-card number when verifying it, got a "no authorization", and sent me a letter asking for a check or money order if I still wanted the modem. By then, I had heard the following, and decided not to get it after all: After ordering it, I mentioned having done so on a BBS I peruse frequently. Another BBS'er responded with a comment, saying that the ADC modem looks very much as if it's a private-label packaging of a modem made by a company here in California (I don't recall the company name, save that it starts with "L"; Levco, maybe???). He mentioned that this modem, and a whole bunch of others had recently been reviewed in one of the PC magazines; it received a very high bang-for-the-buck rating, but a fairly low absolute-level-of-quality rating. Apparently its ability to "hang onto" a low-quality signal is not very good (poor noise filtration, a simplistic decoding algorithm, or some such). It will apparently perform well when used to make local calls over high-quality phone lines, but tends to fall apart when used to make long-distance calls (especially, I'd guess, over some of the "alternate" long-distance carriers whose bandwidth / noise / echo suppression is not as good as AT&T & the better alternate carriers). DAK's owner mentioned in the ad that he noticed no difference between the ADC and the Hayes 1200 he'd been using... but if he was connecting mostly with database systems in the LA area (or with the local CompuServe or Tymnet access numbers) then his experience might not be a good indication of how it would perform in a more difficult environment. Please note - all of the above is third-hand news & rumor. I'd suggest that anyone seriously interested in the ADC modem dig through some back issues of the popular PC magazines (PC World, perhaps??) and see if you can find the article that compared the modems. Also, you might just go ahead and order the ADC modem from DAK, and see how it works in your application; DAK offers a 30-day no-questions-asked guarantee on everything they sell, and my experience with their various guarantees has been that they do keep their word. For now, I'm going to stick with my venerable Racal-Vadic VS212P modem. Its major shortcoming is that it's not Hayes-compatible (I understand that their new 300/1200/2400 "Maxwell" modem supports both Hayes and their own command sets). It has been very reliable in the 2+ years that I've owned it, and its noise immunity is very good; I do occasional cross-country XMODEM transfers with very few problems. 'nuff said.
terry2@ihlpa.UUCP (Nelson) (07/29/86)
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR QUESTIONABLE MODEM ***
Does anyone out there own the ADC 1200 baud modem that DAK is
selling for $169? Specifically, is this modem capable of outpulsing
the "*" symbol in the touch tone mode? Some "Hayes compatible"
modems can only outpulse digits 0-9. The "*" symbol is used to
disable Calls Waiting i.e. *70,5551234. Do you like the modem?
Any problems?
Please E-mail responses. I'll post a summary if replies warrant.
Thanks!!!
--
..ihnp4!ihlpm!terry2 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "All this is
| Terry Nelson | because of me
Keep | AT&T Bell Laboratories | and not my
It | Naperville, Illinois | employer!"
Warm =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- doon@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Harry W. Reed) (07/30/86)
In article <1593@ihlpa.UUCP> terry2@ihlpa.UUCP (Nelson) writes: >modems can only outpulse digits 0-9. The "*" symbol is used to ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >disable Calls Waiting i.e. *70,5551234. Do you like the modem? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Hm, is this a feature unique to some parts of the country or is this pretty much standard for those with call waiting? Harry Reed sdcrdcf!doon
hsu@eneevax.UUCP (Dave Hsu) (08/03/86)
In article <2915@sdcrdcf.UUCP> doon@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Harry W. Reed) writes: >In article <1593@ihlpa.UUCP> terry2@ihlpa.UUCP (Nelson) writes: >>modems can only outpulse digits 0-9. The "*" symbol is used to > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >>disable Calls Waiting i.e. *70,5551234. Do you like the modem? > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >Hm, is this a feature unique to some parts of the country or is this >pretty much standard for those with call waiting? > > Harry Reed This is still a regional feature. Out here around DC, C&P's Telephone's crossbar hasn't been programmed to recognize * codes yet. -dave -- David Hsu (301) 454-1433 || -8798 || -8715 "I know no-thing!" -eneevax Communications & Signal Processing Laboratory / EE Systems Staff Systems Research Center, Bldg 093 / Engineering Computer Facility The University of Maryland -~- College Park, MD 20742 ARPA: hsu@eneevax.umd.edu UUCP: [seismo,allegra,rlgvax]!umcp-cs!eneevax!hsu "Get back in the cupboard, you pantomimetic regal person..."