Re: Good deal on Modem

[nparker@cie.uoregon.edu (Neil Parker)]

In article <6bTv03lydbcb00@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com> fadden@uts.amdahl.com (Andy
McFadden) writes:
>In article <1993Sep28.094758.2314@pro-novapple.clark.net> rwk@pro-novapple.clark.net (Rick Krieger) writes:
>>Mac Warehouse has a good deal on a modem. It is the Linelink 144 (assembled
>>by Prometheus), v32, v32.bis, v42, v42bis...comes WITH a hardware
>>handshaking cable for ONLY $99!
>
>Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Prometheus also put together the "Zipper"
>modem for Priority One Electronics?
>
>I had one of their 2400bps ones.  It was far and away the single worst piece
>of computer equipment I have ever seen in my life.

If it was designed by the same people who wrote the ROM code for their
Apple II internal 1200 baud modem (the Promodem?), then I believe it.

I used one of these for a few months (borrowed from a friend, before I
bought my own modem).  The hardware seemed to work OK, but the on-board
firmware kept hanging and crashing.  I found out why when I tried
disassembling the ROMs--never before or since have I seen such
poorly-written machine code.  Obviously nobody ever bothered to test it
before it went on the market.

All this, of course, is irrelevant to the Linklink 144.  The Promodem 1200
dates back to the days when 1200 baud was "high speed," and we can hope
the people responsible for designing it and not testing it are long gone.

               - Neil Parker

(Egad...I think I just wrote a flame...)
--
Neil Parker                 No cute ASCII art...no cute quote...no cute
nparker@cie.uoregon.edu     disclaimer...no deposit, no return...
parker@corona.uoregon.edu   (This space intentionally left blank:           )