|
|
| Author |
Message |
remmers
|
|
Eagle 9600 baud modem from Digicom?
| 
Dec 8 23:37 UTC 1992 |
Does anyone here know anything about the Digicom Eagle 9600 baud modem
with Fax capability? It's got all the usual alphanumeric soup
(V.32, MNP5, V.42bis, MNP2-4) and is being offered at a price of $199
for people who subscribe to Prodigy's new 9600 baud service.
|
| 26 responses total. |
mju
|
|
response 1 of 26:
|
Dec 9 05:48 UTC 1992 |
It's supposedly similar to a Digicom Scout, which is supposed to be
a nice modem. It may or may not be V.32bis (14.4Kbps) in addition
to V.32 (9600bps); some people say that it does V.32bis, but
Prodigy doesn't mention that because they only have V.32 lines.
(It's strange, but I used to think V.32 was fast -- until I tried
V.32bis.)
|
danr
|
|
response 2 of 26:
|
Dec 9 12:22 UTC 1992 |
The talk on comp.dcom.modems is that these are essentially a Digicom
Scout Plus. I own a Scout Plus, and I like it a lot. After going
through the initial hassles of getting the modem and comm program
set up, I have had no problems with it. I haven't really tried faxing
with it, though.
If the thing actually does v.32bis, I'd say it's a steal. I paid $289
for my external Scout Plus.
|
power
|
|
response 3 of 26:
|
Dec 9 21:07 UTC 1992 |
Yeah, but how much is the Prodigy 9600 service that you have to get?
And how much is it worth? (about as much as a single sided single
density 8" disk? Or less?)
|
remmers
|
|
response 4 of 26:
|
Dec 10 00:18 UTC 1992 |
I believe the 9600bps service will be $2 more per month.
Actually, the description of the modem on prodigy does mention V.32bis.
We've decided to upgrade to the 9600bps service and get the modem. They
say it will be delivered in 2 to 3 weeks. We'll let you know how it works
out.
|
chelsea
|
|
response 5 of 26:
|
Dec 17 22:08 UTC 1992 |
The Eagle modem arrived today, and so far, so good. Without even
opening the manual I was able to install the fax software and both
send a receive test faxes. The 9600 connection to Prodigy sure does
make that slug of a system move along nicely. Downloading from
Hal 9000 went amazingly fast.
Included for $199 was modem, Win/DosFax Lite software, cable and
adapters, and manuals. Not bad. Now, does anyone have the fax
number for Santa's workshop?
|
danr
|
|
response 6 of 26:
|
Dec 17 23:21 UTC 1992 |
Is it only a 9600 or does it do 14.4 k as well?
|
chelsea
|
|
response 7 of 26:
|
Dec 18 03:25 UTC 1992 |
Data transmission is V.32bis 14.4Kbps, V.32 9600 bps, and on down.
Fax is 9600 bps Group III, TR 29, Class 1 Command Set. There is a note
about "up to 57.6 Kbps throughput". I think I may have reached the
point where the data can come in faster than my little 386SX can
deal with it, or at least refresh the screen.
|
mcnally
|
|
response 8 of 26:
|
Dec 19 19:00 UTC 1992 |
Is this an internal or external modem? Must be external, since you
mention that "cable and adapters" were included..
|
remmers
|
|
response 9 of 26:
|
Dec 20 13:28 UTC 1992 |
It's external.
|
chelsea
|
|
response 10 of 26:
|
Dec 20 17:45 UTC 1992 |
I've been reading some on Prodigy about this modem offer. Seems
that when it started, a few months ago, they were indeed offering
Eagle (non-plus) 9600 baud data modems for the $199. Then Digicom
discontinued the Eagle (also known as Scout) and instead substitued
the Eagle Plus (Scout Plus) 14.4 v.32bis modem for the same price.
Prodigy updated the capabilities in their information blurb but
kept the upgrade very low-key.
True to what you'd expect, some of those who ordered early on are
outraged they aren't being given the option of exchanging their
Eagles for Eagle Plus modems.
If anyone is interested in getting one of these, Prodigy is now
offering free software and (I believe) free trial time, so you
could get on and order one. Members are limited to ordering no more
than six.
|
danr
|
|
response 11 of 26:
|
Dec 20 22:29 UTC 1992 |
This is a *good* deal. I payed $279 for the same modem just a couple
of months ago. I still think I got a good deal. It worked great once
I figured out how to get it set up properly.
|
mju
|
|
response 12 of 26:
|
Dec 21 01:46 UTC 1992 |
Well, the Eagle isn't exactly the same as the Scout. According to
someone in comp.dcom.modems who works for Prodigy, a few changes
were made in the default configuration to allow people to connect
to Prodigy without changing anything -- error-correction is off
by default, for example. But as I understand it there's nothing
significant that's been changed.
|
danr
|
|
response 13 of 26:
|
Dec 21 12:42 UTC 1992 |
If the hardware is the same, who cares about the default configuration?
|
mcnally
|
|
response 14 of 26:
|
Dec 22 21:29 UTC 1992 |
I'm very interested in how well this works out. I've been looking
for a V.32bis faxmodem for some time now. I've been leaning towards
the Zyxel, but my wallet keeps saying "not yet".. Something that
clocked in at under $200 would be great if it worked well.. All I
know is that I can't continue using SLIP at 2400bps or I'll go insane!
|
mju
|
|
response 15 of 26:
|
Dec 24 19:05 UTC 1992 |
OTOH, someone just posted in comp.dcom.modems that they were very
pissed off when they ordered what they thought was an Eagle+ from
Prodigy, and ended up getting an Eagle (no plus). Apparently
the Eagle just does V.32, while the Eagle+ does V.32bis.
|
tsty
|
|
response 16 of 26:
|
Dec 30 09:03 UTC 1992 |
<<that would pisss me off too ....>>
|
chelsea
|
|
response 17 of 26:
|
Dec 30 10:23 UTC 1992 |
So far, so good with the Eagle+ modem. I'm connecting at 14.4 modem
to modem, with much higher flow from my modem to my cpu. Z modem
dowloads are closer to 9600 baud though, and from what I've been
reading that's probably due to a non-buffered UART serial chip which is
causing a bottleneck with higher-speed transfers. The modem tries,
but errors slow the whole thing down to about 1000 cps. But my
download needs are modest so I don't think the difference is going
to be a problem. I also understand upgrading that serial chip is
quite inexpensive, like $20.
Connecting to Grex, M-net, Prodigy, AOL, Hal 9000 goes without problem.
I did need to alter a couple of things in non-volitile memory, settings
which were intended to make Prodigy logins easier (which I can't
really see why they did this as the init string for dialing Prodigy
already saw to these settings in volitile memory). Fax transfer works
flawlessly, and the fax software which came with the modem will do me
just fine. Overall, I'm pleased.
|
tsty
|
|
response 18 of 26:
|
Dec 30 19:44 UTC 1992 |
And if you're pleased, so am I !! Q: does this external also
mate with Macintosh, complete with fax Send/Receive software?
A friend of mine is looking/looking/looking ...?
|
danr
|
|
response 19 of 26:
|
Dec 30 21:06 UTC 1992 |
If the friends comm program talks Hayes-compatible command sets I
don't see why not.
|
chelsea
|
|
response 20 of 26:
|
Dec 31 10:25 UTC 1992 |
Prodigy says the Mac version of this offer will be available soon.
I'd think that means the same modem but with Mac software and cables.
I'll let you know if I hear of it being available.
|
mju
|
|
response 21 of 26:
|
Dec 31 13:37 UTC 1992 |
(And now the guy complaining about the absence of V.32bis has
retracted his statement, saying it was just a configuration error
on his part. I'm not sure *what* to believe.)
|
tsty
|
|
response 22 of 26:
|
Jan 1 10:46 UTC 1993 |
chelsea - I'll forward this selected part of this .cf to friend
iwth your permission. thankxx
|
chelsea
|
|
response 23 of 26:
|
Jan 1 14:19 UTC 1993 |
No problem.
|
mcnally
|
|
response 24 of 26:
|
Jan 14 07:41 UTC 1993 |
Assuming you didn't already subscribe to Prodigy, how much would this
cost you, total?
|