#H.S. Modem Recomendation
10-Jan-95 13:32:20
Sb: #181103-#H.S. Modem Recomendation
Fm: Supra Corp 76004,565
To: Michael Shea 76665,3360
Hi..
A couple of things..
On the Supra 288- the V34 version of this modem is now shipping, it supports
V34, VFC (Rockwell's early implimentation of the 288 protocal), V32bis, V32,
and V22.. It does not support V32Terbo (the 19.2 protocal). I am biased but I
like it. I have on my desk and have been testing with the Supra (of course), a
MultiModem ZDX (AT&T chipset, supports V34 but not VFC), the PPI PM288MT II
(supports the same as Supra's–based on the same datapump with a different
processor), a ZyXel U-1496E (a Terbo modem supporting 19.2 Ter but not VFC or
V34), USR's Sportster and Courier (older and newer rom codes-older roms had
various bugs with V42bis (among other things)), oh yea, and a AT&T protype V34
(doesn't support VFC), and the Rockwell protype with their base rom code.
The Courier supports everything (like the ads say), but then it costs more
(quite a bit more). I am not sure if the Sportster supports Terbo or not, I
have never had the need to test whether it did or not. Their rom code is
getting more stable (I had real problems with some connections with their
earlier code).
The PPI (like the Supra based on the Rockwell 288DPI datapump) reminds me a bit
of our LC (because of the type of display).
The reason it has taken this long for our product to reach the market is that
we wanted to be sure that we had overcome all the various
compatibility/connectability problems before we shipped (maybe we learned
something from the V32bis release, but then I wasn't here then, so I can't
say). The combination of the price, our design (metal case, alpha-numeric
display), and features (we have reworked both Silent Answer and adaptive answer
to perform more reliably than any of our modems in the past–yes we will be
porting the new code back to earlier modems) of the the new SupraFax 288 V34, I
honestly think it is a good buy. You should be seeing various reviews of V34
modems starting in March and I am confident that our modem will perform quite
well.
I didn't really mean to make this a sales pitch but there seemed to be some
confusion about the different modems. I use my Supra V34 to access my internet
server from home and connect V34 288 regularly (local call). I do not mean to
say that you will get 288 connects everytime you call out because I doubt you
will. I don't trust the phone companies enough to say that, but I do connect
at speeds higher than 21600 calling all over the world (I do get some connects
lower than that but what can you do?). With our new modem I am also able to
fax to Germany and France at 14.4 much more reliably than I have in the past
with any modem.
Later all,
Alex Johnson Product Testing Supervisor Supra Corp.