Modem Reviews

Without a modem or ethernet card, your Pocket PC is just a PC companion product -- it must have a PC to get mail, surf, or message.

With a modem, your Pocket PC becomes a truly stand alone device.

This modem is the sturdiest design I've seen for dialing through a regular analog phone line. No frail parts to snap off, no weird connections that require you to purchase a different cable to connect. You'll be able to take this right out of the box, plug it in and get connected.

With this small, rugged modem I'm able to check my e-mail at times when hauling out my laptop would do -- waiting near the gate at an airport, at breaks in meetings, while visiting a client, etc. The ability to sync up my avantgo pages or get my most recent e-mail has been a great benefit to me, especially since I travel.

(Wondering why this review reads the same as the Pretec Modem review? It's the same gadget; this one just carries the Compaq brand.)

Your Pocket PC is just a toy until you have this modem.

Can you tell me if it works with, or protecs your modem from, digital phone lines??? Does it have any surge protection? How is it better than the Xirtec CF modem? Please respond I am soon going to need to get a modem for my P/PC and want to get the best one and I have a IPAQ and don't know if I am better off sticking with COMPAQ products for compatability/warranty issues. thank you !

This is an excellent modem. I've never had a problem with it. However, it is almost identical to the CF modem by Pretec. I bought both and compared them. In fact, it is made for Compaq by Pretec. My advice to Steve, buy the Pretec modem and save some cash.

While this piece of hardware works flawlessly--and, as another reviewer notes, is a great way to turn a modem into an Ethernet feed--it's a silly concept to actually network more than 1 computer using a conventional modem as found in the RM356. Once you see this thing in action feeding 4 computers, you understand how silly the concept is... not to mention that 4 56kbps modems are, in fact, cheaper than this 1 unit.

In short, get (or wait for) broadband, make sure your broadband modem is of the ethernet variety, then buy one of the multitude of lower priced switches/minihubs available here and elsewhere if you want to share that connection.

This product has been very helpful in our office. We have 6-8 computers connected to the router (and a connected hub) on a 56k connection. It may be a bit slow at times if several people are trying to download large documents at once (which is very rare), but that certainly outweighs the hassle of having to shout across the office to see who's online and wait your turn for the modem phone line. And it outweighs the cost of having a phone line for each computer... the person that said four modems are cheaper than this router might be right, but not for long once you get four monthly phone bills!!! Also, this router has allowed us to network our office so we can share documents and printers. I recommend it!

If you don't have broadband, but would like to have your laptop access the Internet through a wireless connection, this would be a good option (you would also need to by a wireless base station as well). An alternative is the Apple Airport.

I ordered this with high hopes. I was severely disappointed. This unit came with Metrocall service and after 2 weeks of doing everything humanly possible, and 4 hours online with customer service and everyone possible, I mailed it back today. This unit looked great and was a serious disappointment. Part of the problem is that you have 3 or more providers with each piece of equipment. 1)hardware 2)wireless service 3)software writers for hardware operation and programs. This just seems to be too many cooks in the kitchen. Everytime I had a problem, each would point fingers at the others. I, being the customer did not appreciate that and the attendant wasting of my time.

(I have a visor deluxe graphite, but I will post it up under all visors, because the comments apply to all of them unless otherwise noted)

I finally decided to get a handheld, so after dropping a few hints, I got a Visor Deluxe for my 15th birthday (OK, OK, I totally walked my dad through the purchase process, but who cares?)

9 days (and based on battery use, over 2 months of normal use) later, here is my review. The Visor is pretty small, I don't know what people saying it was bulky were talking about. It is really easy to use, it took no getting used to, except for the graphiti. That's still a little wierd. It has a backlit screen, but I never figured out how to turn it on, my friend did. You hold down the power button. Hotsyncing couldn't be easier, you press the hotsync button on the cradle or on the visor's screen and it goes. The 2 MB visor will probably be good enough for you if you only download Freeware Apps and use it as an organizer, but if you are like me, you will need the 8MB of the deluxe, platinum, prism and edge. The screen is very clear of most things (digital photo albums can look pretty bad, but I think it is the App and not the Visor) It has been very reliable so far, I have installed nearly every App I could find, and no freezes, even soft ones. The stylus has a built in screwdriver and reset tool.

The downside- The OS is not upgradible, maybe someone will make a springboard module someday, but I doubt it, and it will cost alot and not allow you to use the springboard for anything else, killing it's main selling point over the Palm. And also, I am careful with it so I have put no scratches on it, but I let some people borrow it, and I am seeing some. I am mad now (no, that does not read mad cow, mad now) Screen covers cost about $2, but they take all the un out of even owning one. they are that terrible. If worst comes to worst, you can replace the screen down the road for $50. even if you have to replace it once a year (which you shouldn't, but just for the sake of argument) it is worth it. A screen cover ruins everything. Being the careful user you will be, you shouldn't scratch it too badly too quickly.

Comparing to a Palm- this is Much better than a Palm. My friend has a Palm. I hate it. OK, I don't hate it, but it is a mere shadow of mine. the screen quality of the Visor is much better for moving things such as games, and the buttons on the visor are 10 times easier to push, the difference between winning and losing in many cases. The Springboard port is the final factor that puts the Visor way ahead of the Palm. You can get modems, cameras, more space, GPS, cell phones, voice recording, Games, Mp3 players (tisk tisk, stealing music, eh? Kids these days!) You name it, they got it. (look under springboard modules here at Amazon for things I missed) But one thing that annoys me about the Visor and not about the Palm is the infrared port. The visors is in an Akward location, and the Palm's is not (see pictures) And the Visor does not have an upgradible OS, but that doesn't matter too much, so far they have been little more than a minor update. All in all, definitly buy the Visor.

Choosing the right Visor- REGULAR- This has OS 3.1 and 2MB of ram. this is enough only for people who plan to use it for it's designed purpose. If it's not enough, you can upgrade later via Springboard cards. 4 shades of grey DELUXE-Cool colors (which I opted against to avoid too much attention), 3.1, and 8MB of Ram. 4 shades of grey too. PLATINUM-Faster processor, but it's not necessary. However, if you can cough up the cash, it is worth it, because it displays 16 shades of grey and OS 3.5. EDGE-Just like the Platinum, only much thinner. However, putting on a springboard card makes it about as thick as the regular ones. PRISM-Just like the Platinum, only it is in color. Definitly worth it if you got the cash.

PS-to avoid scratches, DON'T LET PEOPLE BORROW IT!!!!!!! I can't stress that enough. People are stupid. Kids these days!

I just got my @ctiveLink last week and used it to find my way around this new town I'm relocating to. It worked great. I sent myself an e-mail containing all the house addresses I was looking for then used the travel info to get from place to place. Nice addition to my toys!

I thought these units were wonderful until mine literally(!) went up in smoke. A chip by the powerjack overheated, and continued to burn until it finally melted itself off the PCB. The unit was mounted on a wood wall in my attic - a little hotter and I could have lost everything!

Before the flame-out I thought it was great - small, cheap and easy to use. Now I'll think twice about trusting their products.

At the price this switch seems like a great deal. The switch is nice and small and I swapped it out for my old 10 mbps hub without a problem. I did not know what to expect in terms of performance, but a 550 MB file that use to take about 10 minutes with the 10 mbps hub now transfers in about 4 minutes.

This is a great inexpensive switch! I share an ADSL connection with my roomates, but the modem/router we have only has a 4-port hub built into it limited to 10Mbps. All I had to do was plug the computers into this switch, and the switch into one of the router's ports. Everything works just the same, and now we have a switched 100Mbps internal network, with room for more computers (and a free ethernet card to boot)! The "Auto-sense Crossover ports" in this switch make networking a breeze. I don't know why their other model (PN828ES) retails for so much more just because it has an uplink port.

While this seemed like a great idea, this module did not work as promised. It was not removable and portable as the ad claims. I removed it once to allow a peer to try it in her handspring and when I tried to put it back, it no longer would work, and I lost all the files I had placed on it. Also, it now only says it has 2MB of memory, and can't hold much of anything worthwhile. My advice - if you need 16MB, then purchase a new PDA, that's what I'm going to end up doing. This module isn't worth the hassle.

Buy one ... programs run directly off of it , unlike other memory options. works great right out of the box!

This module is a life saver for any Visor owners reaching the memory capacity of their PDA. As with all other springboards, you just pop it in, and the onboard software is installed. Use FileMover to transfer some of those apps and files to the module and run from there. No need to mess with shuffling files in and out of RAM to make room anymore. Not everything will run from the Flash module, but you can usually offload enough of it to free up several MB of RAM.

Next to some of the other memory expansion modules like the Hagiwara 16 MB or the memory card adaptors, an extra 8 MB seems puny, but that's what I thought of the 8 MB limit in the PDA itself. It's taken me a year to collect enough apps and data that are useful enough to warrant keeping on my Visor fulltime. Now I need more room, and this card does the trick.

Although your mileage may vary, the Hawking directional antenna did not work very well for my situation.

I needed a way to extend the range of my wireless network inside my house. I wanted to get reception one floor below and many rooms over from the location of my wireless access point. After connecting the Hawking corner antenna to my D-Link DI-614+ access point, I hardly gained any range - although throughput may have increased a little.

I would highly recommend a repeater instead, such as the D-Link DWL-800AP+. It's a little more expensive (~$68) but you get so much more bang for your buck. A repeater is a smart little box full of electronics vs. the little bit of metal and plastic you get with the antenna. I am happily using the network downstairs in my home at high speeds with the D-Link repeater and no Hawking directional antenna. (My laptop is a 17" Apple PowerBook with built-in WiFi and it works great with D-Link)

received this antenna from amazon.com, install on same location where I used 6dbi antenna
the signal has 1 bar increase on windows
then, I check the prism settings for MN710
the percentage has 10-16 point increase over hawking 6dbi omni antenna
and now, the signal is good enough
since the antenna is located on the edge of the house, that the signal still can sweep across the whole house
this is a good buy

I have no idea what the person writing the review above was talking about. I had exactly the opposite experience with both products. I put the HAI15SC on a D-Link DI-624 802.11 G/B wireless router and saw a huge improvement !! I'm using three Apple Powerbooks with airport cards - the D-link is a great wireless router but the signal was pretty weak in our house (lot of walls). Put the HAI15SC in and the signal strength increased significantly in the entire house. Rooms that had not signal were now able to get small signal. Highly recommended ! Friends who bought this also experienced a benefit. On the other hand I did buy the D Link DWL G800AP repeater - went through 2 of them in fact - and neither of them worked. I returned them both after weeks of trying to get them to work and some 16 calls to D Link tech support. D Link tech support finally admitted that they were not sure why they did not work - it was a new product and maybe had problems. Take a pass on the D Link repeater and try the antenna - its a lot cheaper. The D Link repeaters do NOT work - they drop signal. Trust me - I tried have set up several networks. Been through three wireless routers, three antennas (I'm big on buying, trying, returning if it does not perform.) The HAI15SC works very well.

Installation and configuration of this modem under Linux and Windows was a breeze. Performance was decent for a modem. However, the cable connecting to the modem easily slipped out disconnecting me from the Internet numerous times. Currently, the connection is not reliable at all. My connection breaks if the cable is moved just slightly. I purchased a D-Link modem/NIC from D-Link today. Farewell ZOOM!

I bought this modem because I recently installed Linux (Mandrake 8.0 kernel 2.4.3) on my laptop. Since my laptop had shipped with a Winmodem I needed to find a modem that would work. I read the customer reviews and noticed that one said it installed easily on his Linux system. It does! However, I needed to do two things: 1.) go to Zoom's website. There I found simple installation instructions for Linux in their tech support section and 2.)install a program called "minicom" which was on my Linux installation CD. In all, I think this took me about 10 minutes, including going on the web and printing the instructions! Very simple! The modem functions superbly under Linux!

I was happy with my old PCMCIA card because it connected at 46k consistently, which I thought was a good connection speed. Well, after the cord broke and I could not replace it because it was a discontinued model, I purchased the Zoom PCMCIA card. Set up was very easy but even better, I connect at 49K and 50K just about every time I go online.

This great. I like this product. I already own itand it works fantastic. I hope you people who dont have this get it. I rate this 4/5 and i think its worth of buying it.

Its great! I have 2 computer and i can network. I rate it 4/5.

Well, it is very useful if you use it to download emails or send them while on the road, but.. If you want to surf the web for a long time... I do not reccomend it, it disconnects after a determinate amount of time. I prefer a wireless option, that is, using your cell phone as an wireless modem, this way it doesn't matter how much time you spend online...

To use the Palm Modem you have to belong or sign up for unlimited service to: AT&T, Compuserve, Earthlink, PSINet or if networked at work, Unix Verio Windows NT RAS server.

When connecting to the Avantgo.com, the modem will sync to the site for just download enough informtion for the e-mails or web site. It appears in order to go to another web clipping, the modem has to re-connect, which seems like a hassle.

However, for limited internet usage, and could also be used for stock market symbols, the modem will connect to the web clipping and then shut off.

The modem has limited uses and is only a land line with no wireless use. The modem also uses 2 tripple A batteries, without recharable option.

Ever since Palm began releasing modem products for their PDAs, having one as a backup connectivity device has been a priority for me.

Sure you can do a litle web surfing but that is not its' true calling or intention. Checking your eMail is what this modem is all about and where it shines like the true star it is. Setup is easy and the supplied software is not the best but will get you where you want to go.

Battery life is great and that makes it always a good device to carry along on any business trip.

very good - while it lasts. Bought 2 during past 2 years, each lasted approx. 6 months before breaking down/

I have a older 486 and this modem installed the first time and works without a hitch. It is so quiet that if it didnt have a light on the X-jack you wouldnt know it was working. Highly recomend this modem and you can always trust 3-com.

This card performs flawlessly...is very easy to install..and has some cool features...the xjack plug lights up a cool orange neon when the modem is in use and pulses during dialing...dialup is super fast...