Modems for Technical Communicators

[Michael Uhl <uhl -at- VISLAB -dot- EPA -dot- GOV>]

If you plan to view Web pages from home, I would recommend that you
break open the piggy bank and go for a 28,8 modem and make sure it
has a good data flow controller. I bought a Hayes High-Speed Serial
Port for my PC and the data receive/transmit is so much smoother.

If you settle for a 14,4 modem, you save money, but may end feeling
left behind or screaming over the long delays in graphics access.

I'm sure my TECHWR-L colleagues have opinions about this modem subject...
we talked about it within the last year...some folks were defending their
2400 baud dinosaurs as being just fine...

And, BTW, it pays to spend a little extra and buy a name-brand modem, such
as U.S. Robotics or Hayes. Buy a copy of _Computer Shopper_ and look at
the reviews. My brother-in-law told me that _Computer Shopper_ recently
reviewed 28,8 modems.

Also, if you plan to do a lot of online work/play, I suggest an external
modem. You can troubleshoot problems much more easily and reset it if
you get into trouble.

-Mike, whose heart is filled with techno-lust


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Michael Andrew Uhl                          Internet: uhl -at- vislab -dot- epa -dot- gov
Lead Technical Writer                       Compuserve: 72624,2155
Scientific Visualization Center (SVC) &     Phone: (919) 541-4283 [W]
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