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From: wtm@neoucom.UUCP (Bill Mayhew)
Newsgroups: net.micro
Subject: Re: $299 2400 bps modem
Message-ID: <274@neoucom.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 13-Sep-86 11:36:34 EDT
Article-I.D.: neoucom.274
Posted: Sat Sep 13 11:36:34 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 13-Sep-86 23:42:12 EDT
References: <3685@brl-smoke.ARPA>
Organization: Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
Lines: 36
Summary: I had some trouble with Qubie modems  (300/1200 bps).

I was running my terminal at home with a Qubie external 300/1200
bps modem for a while.  The Qubie scored very well in Hayes
compatibility, but not very well in long term reliability.

Dealing with Qubie via US mail was never too effective.  But a
phone call usually elicited a response in a few days.  Quite the
opposite of what I would have expected.  They originally lost my
order, but shipped over-night once I called them demanding to know
where the heck my purchase was.  The service department was equally
problematic, requiring a call every few days to remind them that
they had my modem.  Once prodded, the service dept. was also
prompt.

The modem I had came in a gold aluminum box; I notice that the ads
of recent in Byte now picture the beast in a different case, so
perhaps the circuitry inside has improved.  The problem in the
modems (3 in all) that I had from Qubie seemd to be the 3 relays
that were used to connect it to the fone line.  Their operation
would become erratic, then eventually cease altogether.  It was the
circuitry driving them rather than the relays themselves that
seemed to fail.  The first modem I got lasted about a year, the
second one about 4 days, and the last one just over a month.

When it worked, the Qubie functioned pretty nicely.  Perhaps, it
was just a little more affected by noise than some.

Finally, I gave up and replaced that modem with an anchor
automation cheepie.  The Anchor has been working quite well for
about 6 months now.  I peeked inside and saw that the Anchor was
much less complicated and only sported a single relay inside.   If
the Anchor 2400 bps modem were as nice as the 1200, I'd be willing
to recommend it; the only thing is that success of one product line
seems to say little about another product line from the same
manufacturer these days, especially when modems are concerned.

  --Bill