[comp.sys.mac.hardware] Purchasing a modem. Help needed!!

friedman@mbcl.rutgers.edu (10/15/90)

I am in the process of deciding on a modem.  Considering the range of prices
(and the limited funds I have availible) I want a good but inexpensive modem.
I have seen ads from MacWarehouse for the Power User 2400 baud modem ($99).

I don't need any software.  Does anyone have any experience with this model?

You can send directly to me at the following internet address:

Thanks

-Rich

Friedman@mbcl.rutgers.edu

wnn@ornl.gov (Wolfgang N. Naegeli) (10/16/90)

In article <38.2718739d@mbcl.rutgers.edu> friedman@mbcl.rutgers.edu writes:
> I am in the process of deciding on a modem.  Considering the range of 
prices
> (and the limited funds I have availible) I want a good but inexpensive 
modem.

You can now get a ZOOM 2400 MX modem under the name Magic modem for $69 
from
Texas MacStuf, 1-800-MAC-STUF. You might not want to order from this 
company though, since they charge a 15% restocking fee if you don't like 
the modem and return it for a refund.

MacProducts USA, 1-800-MAC-DISK, sells the same modem but also including 
the serial modem cable for $80, and they don't have such a dubious refund 
policy.

We made a group purchase of some 25 of these modems more than one year ago directly from ZOOM (they no longer market this model themselves). I have been using it almost daily and am very pleased with it, as are the other users. I 
actually like it better than the Hayes Smartmodem 2400 that I use at work. 
I have only heard from one person who had trouble with the MX 2400,
and I could not verify whether it was a real problem or operator error.

I have seen a message from someone complaining about poor performance, but 
he compared it with a 1200 Baud modem, and I suspect that it was just very poor phone lines. He didn't seem to have tried running the ZOOM at 1200 Baud for comaprison. I'd say the ZOOM is at least as robust to line noise as the Hayes.


Wolfgang N. Naegeli
President, MacClique--East Tennessee Macintosh Users Group
Internet: wnn@ornl.gov    Bitnet: wnn@ornlstc
Phone: 615-574-6143       Fax: 615-574-6141
QuickMail (QM-QM): Wolfgang Naegeli @ 615-574-4510
Snail:  Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6206