CompuServe Messages

Gary: You'll want to check the fine print at the bottom of the ad. I don't know if I trust a company that lists big prices in their ad, then at the bottom in very small print they say to add 7% to all prices shown. Something not right about that. The ad says that the modem has Hayes compatability, but it doesn't say what is compatible. Does the modem comply with the Hayes AT command set only? The only standard they mention is the V.42 data compression standard, which seems to be emerging as a standard. They don't mention what the data format is. Is it V.32, Hayes, US Robitics HST, or something else? The standard there is somewhat more undefined. V.32 seemed to be the emerging standard however US Robitics made some early gains by selling their modems to BBS operators at very discounted prices. What I purchased for the office is US Robitics dual standard modems that have both HST and V.32. They're running about $580 now, although they were $1,000 earlier this year. Another option is a 2400 BPS modem with MNP-5 data compression, which can give up to 4800 BPS when transferring text (lower speeds when sending data), although you should be aware that CIS does not support any MNP level higher than 4 right now. Hope this confused things adequately. Paul