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-- Should I get a thinmodem or Xircom (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=18496)

Should I get a thinmodem or Xircom

What do you have or what do you think I should get I really need help on this There is a guy on ebay selling the Xircom for 65 and I think I might get it even though its alot bigger it can get wireless Well what do you think I should do?

Thanks
Matt

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I love Visors

I would say thinmodem, but you also have to tote the dongle thing. The Xircom does make a nice stand for the visor while it sits in it if you don't have a keyboard, but while you have to carry the thinmodem and the dongle, you would have to carry a Xircom, extra batteries and a phone cord of some sort unless you know there will be one available, just my 2 cents.

If you have a deluxe, solo, platinum, or neo Visor, I would get the Xircom, cause modems EAT batteries.

If oyu have a Prism, Edge or Pro get the thimodem. Cause itcomeswith great software, is small, and kicks a$$!

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-miradu

I have a xircom and am happy with it - did take some time to get used to its quirks - mainly that it needs to have fully charged batteries to function well once they start to drop a little it tends to freeze up. As soon as it does that I just pop in new batteries and it works fine. The downside you've got batteries with a fair amount of life left in them just not enough to keep the modem happy.

If you travel outside the US - the xircom used to be the only modem that would work. I've not kept up with changes in the others to know if that is still the case. Might be worth checking out if that's a factor for you.

Never kept the Xircom long enough to have to worry about batteries (may have been my problem, sorry, STaples), but they mention on the website that a star-tac phone battery will work if you have one, if the modem is that bad with batteries, it would probably warrant buying a rechargeable one.

quote:

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Originally posted by dampeoples
if the modem is that bad with batteries

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God bless America, my home sweet home...

Definately glad I got the thinmodem then, even though I missed the rebate by two days!

my thinmodem worked fine in Ireland last year....

I only wish the thinmodem would fax......Don't suppose they can do that in a software upgrade...<sniff>

for the new price... Xircom

No one's pointed out that the price on the Xircom is $49.95 everywhere now. It's $39.95 on Palmgear but you have to pay $8 for shipping.

For that price, I don't care if I have to carry around 8 sets of batteries... 56k for that little?!?!? Picked one up yesterday and had a great time getting it installed and working. I was on Earthlink getting my mail inside of 5 minutes. Avantgo updates are wickedly fast too, much faster than I thought they would be with a modem after seeing what it was like during a HotSync at work with a T-1!

I haven't had it long enough to have the battery problems, but I don't care if I have to have some AAA's stashed away to keep it working, it's better than killing the main batts all the time.

As for the size, I think it's an ideal size/shape to hold in my hand with it installed and I don't mind the weight at all (used to use Newton). It's a terrific stand to sit on the desk and use when the modem's in.

My .02 anyhow.

Palmgear selling Thinmodem at $79.96 now. Get $30 rebate from Thinmodem. You can get a Thinmodem for $49.96.

Xircom LOVES batteries

If I even glance in the direction of my Xircom modem sitting on my desk, the battery power drops 20%. I have tried Duracell Ultra's all the way down to generic "store brand" batteries. It seems like I can use my modem about three or four times, maybe about 20-30 minutes each time, and those suckers are Dead.

To make matters worse, when the batteries start to get low, my Prism starts acting funny (Resets, lockups, etc). i find I don't use my Xircom as much as I would like to because of this problem.

One last thing - When I put a fresh batch of batteries in my Xircom, my charging light comes on for a while. If the battery is low, it blinks like it is charging my Visor. When it is full, the light is solid. I have kind of suspected the the AAA batteries are feeding my Visor some juice, and that is partly why the battery life is so poor.

The physical quality and speed of the modem is fine, and the included multimail program is nice. It is worth $39.95 or so, but not worth the $125.00 that I spent on mine.

Doug

www.tdscomputer.com

quote:

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Originally posted by dampeoples
I would say thinmodem, but you also have to tote the dongle thing.

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The dongle is basically an adapter for the Thinmodem to a telephone jack. It really doesn't take up a whole lot of space, it's 6ft. long with a relatively small end, but it negates the whole idea of a standard sized springboard, in my book. Instead of carrying around one of those little tiny cord rollers, this is what you have to use, and too bad if you break it!

In addition to the 6' cable that comes with the Thinmodem, CardAccess also sells a short 4" adapter that has a jack at the end to connect to a standard phone cord or one of those retractable cord rollers.

[IMG]http://www.cardaccess-inc.com/images/Dongle(actualsize).gif[/IMG]

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God bless America, my home sweet home...