Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!purdue!ames!elroy!peregrine!ccicpg!cci632!rit!ritcsh!derrick
From: derrick@ritcsh.UUCP (Derrick Williams)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: modems
Keywords: supra 2400 vs. smart one
Message-ID: <2928@ritcsh.UUCP>
Date: 24 Apr 89 16:38:34 GMT
References: <1714@blake.acs.washington.edu>
Reply-To: derrick@ritcsh.UUCP (Derrick Williams)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Computer Science House @ RIT - Rochester, NY
Lines: 36


 A while back Kevin asked about the pros and cons of Supra Modems.

 Modems nowadays are pretty much commodity items, so I'll take it as granted
that everyone knows the accepted standard (I.e, hayes compatability, lights,
etc.), so I'll just touch on the characteristics.
 I own a Supra 2400, my third modem. The Supra is probably the cheapest stand
alone modem on the market,and it's really compact, not much larger than a
radar detector. It's made out of real metal (remember metal?)(for the casing)
and it's pretty solid, after 3 months of use. I've had no problems with
line noise errors or operations. It's worth your money.
 However, there are two quirks (features?) that annoy me about this modem.
One is its speaker. It's a little dinky, and can be hard to hear sometimes.
While modem's arn't supposed to be hi-fi units, it'll be nice to hear what's
going on if someone's playing music down the hall. It can be adjusted by
program commands, but I'll rather be able to crank it up with a knob or
some kind of control.
 Another feature is that the Supra forgets a command after going online. This isnot a problem, but can be annoying. For example, if one dials a computer, and
for whatever reason, gets disconnected, it's not possible to dial the number
again by typing "a/". You have to redial the number.
 These are the only things I can think of. If you really want top-of-the line
quality, get a Hayes Smartmodem. I brought a 300 baud one in 1982, and it's
still going strong, even though it's poinless to use 300bps. I've dropped it
from a second story window to a sidewalk once, and it wasn't even fazed. I
would never think of trying this with the Supra.
 So to make sense of all this rambling - The supra is a good deal, will perform
for you for normal modem operations (good for bbs's) and comes with a 2 year
warranty (I think, better check this out) , and can be had for less than $140.

                                                            Thanks,

                                                             Derrick Williams
                                                           ROch. Inst. Of Tech