3Com US Robotics WinModem $2 !!

[scornful]

I cant verify it (didnt buy one), but I was browsing the hardware section @ OfficeMax yesterday and they had the little slips you take up front marked at $2 for this modem. Cant remember the model number, but I assume it's one that was sellin for 'round $50 last year.... I'm on my way to buy bout 5 for friends now.... I'll update.

If it's for real, it's a hot price for USR at least.....

 

[lilstevo]

pci winmodem?

 

[scornful]

my bad.... yeah PCI

 

[Unsickle]

I got a generic winmodem with voice/fax for $10 at Frys yesterday.

It took forever to get the drivers working in Win2K, but so far it should do for a backup to my broadband.

 

[kaiotes]

i have had i would same exact same modem pci winmodem usr OEM for a couple of yrs.
had to manually upgrade to v.90 works great!
got it for like $40 at ubid.
if i can find 'em for $2 i'd buy another set

 

[diablonhn]

from my experience, USR winmodems disgust me...poor performance and compatibility (if your ISP doesn't have modems from USR with x2 technology even though v.90 is the standard, you'll get 28.8 kbs perfomance)...

 

[michael2]

If you cannot find the WinModem deal try this one for a $4.88 SmartLink modem at CompUSA:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=40&threadid=313086

 

[Colebert]

two words: HARDWARE MODEM!

 

[yodayoda]

two words: AMR MODEM! hehehe, i don't even need a modem because i've got DSL, but i was determined to fill the AMR slot on my motherboard. i found one company in irvine that made a AMR modem--it was like $15--and it works. what is hilarious is that you need to turn yuor speakers on in order to hear it dialing up it is so soft it is funny. i should take a picture of it for you guys, you would laugh your asses off, heehhe.

btw, AMR stands for Audio Modem Riser.

 

[Wolverine27]

Winmodems are junk...stick with a hardware driven modem.

 

[dcdomain]

Yeah, but as a backup to a broadband connection, why not at these prices?

 

[ii49ersii]

WOO!!! Ive always wanted to know what AMR stands for. This board is just too good, everyday you learn something to go with that fantastic deal.

 

[Cybordolphin]

Hate to break it to all of the "Hardware" modem guys out there...
but Winmodems are now faster. Here is one example.... read the bottom "What's hot/What's not". This is only one of many findings that now rule the hardware modems out.

So... this is a good find. But there are better modems than this one to be had for under $20 now.

Hardware modems are NOT always better OR faster.

(Note not only the PCI\Winmodem version of the Smartlink... but also the PCI version of the VIKING are faster than the ISA\Hardware versions)

The TRENDNET... womps many of the external/ISA/Hardware modems in speed.

This is becoming more and more common. Me thinks.

 

[fong718]

i use to have a US Robotics winmodem and it worked really well, got faster connection than when i used the other ones, but now i have cable and when i use dial-up, its like torture...

 

[abovewood]

WinModems are just as good.

 

[csc2]

First of all, different brands of modems will perform differently depending on the quality of the line. A benchmark of modem speeds on one line is irrelevant. The same modem might not be the fastest on your line.

What is important is that a Winmodem will ALWAYS slow your PC down because it uses your CPU instead of a dedicated DSP.

That said a Winmodem is fine for downloading and as a backup for broadband, but if you must use a modem as your only way to connect to the internet your better off with a PCI hardware modem. You can pick up a USR oem 2977 for around $40.

Otherwise if you can live with the 10-15% cpu utilization of a Winmodem then $2 is a steal.

Flagg

 

[RobsTV]

Nothing wrong with winmodems.
I've been using a USR ISA, and now a 3Com ISA, hardware modem for years. Normal connection at 49,333. Been sticking in those $5 PCI winmodems in others PC's for years as well. Normal connection 46,666, which is what my external Best Data hardware modem gets on a good day. Big deal, and you can't even tell the difference. However, if it's using the Lucent chipset, newer drivers are a must. Lucent Win Modem drivers and firmware..

10-15% CPU utilization? I don't think so. Back in the early days, when CPU's were running at 166mhz, perhaps that was true, which would mean they used 16-25mhz of that 166mhz cpu. 16-25mhz of todays 600 to 1Ghz cpu's works out to be around 1 to 4%, and isn't even noticable. It's much, much less of a hit than a normal sound card takes away.

You want speed? Team 2 or more 56k modems together, using some of the great software now available. I'm using Midpoint Gold to get close to 100k connections, using 2 netzero accounts.

 

[Wookieboy]

Not to beat a dead horse here, but even on my old p200mmx with 32 meg of ram, i got an average ping of 180-200 in quake2 using a 20 dollar Lucent Winmodem, whereas most of my friends with different "HIGH QUALITY HARdWAREMODEMS!" got like 250-300
It all depends on what you get, your lines etc. I have no problems with winmodems though.

 

[etech]

Genitech LT winmodem wouldn't even connect to one ISP I use, sent it back.
Creative Digicom winmodem, good connects, pings in the 200 area, slow downloads when more then 2 windows open.

USR ISA hardware modem, 100 pings, good consistent connects, not nearly as much lag when opening more then 3 or 4 windows. Gave to my father to use in his P133 computer.

I'd still buy one of these if I was close to a store. I'd like to compare it to the digicom piece of crap.

 

[PG]

10-15% cpu utilization

Haha, that's a good one.

Here's an interesting response from a Lucent engineer, (Ed Schulz):

> I was told by somebody that LT Win modem requires a Pentium 133 or higher speed PC but I only have a Pentium 100 and that's why it is slow.

Ed Schulz wrote:
Absolutely untrue. I am connected now using our reference LT Win Modem using recent production drivers at 48k. This is running on a 486 DX2/66. My mother runs her LT Win Modem on a 75 MHz Pentium with no problem.

In one lab study, the CPU load of our modem host controller was less than that of the Windows serial driver handling a standard external modem while downloading identical files at identical DCE rates. The fear that a well designed "Win Modem" will tax your precious CPU cycles is simply not true.

Here is where I got the info.

 

[Davegod75]

i've found the lucent winmodems are pretty darn good

 

[KameLeon]

doh! my local om didnt haven't any! oh well, tnx for the deal.

 

[xDanielx]

This is a good deal, but winmodems do SUCK! But USR makes great modems. If you wanna play some games on the net, this isnt the way to go. I got better pings with my isa 33.6 USR than several other winmodems I have tested. If your just gunna browse the net, then who cares. But of course I dont use a modem anymore either. I dont know if I could live on 56k again after DSL.

 

[linster]

I've used both Win and Hardware modems in my current computer and I don't see a difference.

 

[DorkBoy]

Thanks