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U.S. ROBOTICS USR5633A 56K USB Faxmodem | List Price: $54.99
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Brand: USRobotics
Binding: Electronics
Warranty: 2 years warranty
Features: - Send e-mail and attachments faster - Need to send a batch of digital pictures or a large presentatio
- Get online quicker - Quick Connect lets you establish your connection faster, so you spend less time
- Don t miss that important phone call - U
- Exclusive U
Works great! ...despite poor previous reviews [Posted on 2006-06-10]
Let me briefly describe my situation.
I live in a very rural area with phone service only. In the past, perhaps due to limited capability of rural phone service, I've experienced rather slow dial-up connection speeds (ALWAYS less than 28.8). I have a somewhat new (< 1 year) Dell Dimension 5100 Pentium 4 with 512M ram with 7-USB 2.0 ports. It came with a stock Dell Conexant internal modem, which began to fail recently. I decided to take out the internal modem and purchase an external USB modem. First I tried a Dynex DX-M300 which was the only one on the shelf at my local Best Buy. The installation was a bit shaky, and although at first the Dynex worked, it eventually would crash and blue-screen my computer at every attempt to connect. Even when I tried to uninstall the Dynex modem my computer would blue-screen and crash! A bit dejected, and despite the mostly poor reviews here regarding the USR 5633A, I decided to use the "System Restore" procedure on my Dell to turn back the clock to a point well before I installed the ill-fated Dynex unit, and try this USR 5633a unit. There seems to be limited options for us dial-up-only folks, and I was a bit inspired by the comment on a past USR 5633 review here stating: "...if you have a fast PC and a fast and powered USB connection, you should give this a try. It's a good concept, but it is definitely not downwardly compatible."
With great fear and trembling, I installed the USR 5633 unit & drivers, expecting the "blue-screen of death" at every click.To my wonderful surprise, the modem works well! My dial-up connection speeds have seen a modest increase (I have seen a connection speed of 32, which I had never seen before the USR unit). The connection time is also improved, decreasing from an average time of 1 min to about half that with the USR 5633a. Further, all the included software works well, especially the feature notifying you of incoming call and prompting you to take call (and drop internet connection) or ignore call (and continue). Note that my ISP does not support the v.92 standard (no surprise here...), so the modem cannot use the Caller ID feature.
On the downside, I have experienced a couple of drop-offs from the connection (who hasn't with dial-up?), but I expect this is not due to the modem performance.
Overall this is a great unit which I have installed and used succesfully for about a week.
Frankly, with my smoothly operating USR 5633a, I wonder if I would even sign up for broadband if it became available here. The cost of broadband (approx.$50 per month) seems more-than-a-bit high. My dial-up service (LocalNet) costs $10 a month, and seems to be all I need to read the morning newspapers, send/receive e-mail, and download (albeit patiently) the occasional large file.
BTW, I am sending this review off to you via the USR 5633a modem.
U.S. Robotics 56K Modem [Posted on 2006-08-23]
Have nothiing but good to say about this product and those I have used in the past. Flawless performance.
No Linux Support [Posted on 2006-09-06]
This may be a fine modem, but it requires proprietary drivers that are not available for Linux.
Worth Buying [Posted on 2006-10-29]
I could get a flash connection instead of a dial up. But with this Modem you don't need it. I have had it for a while a my connection never breaks nor recieve errors transfering. My downloads are always 5KBs and up and We don't have a V92 !
The only thing that I don't like is the software that it comes for sending faxes. It puts 2 unnecesary icons in my taskbar everytime I start Windows. And also It does not support sending multiple faxes or scheduling them like Microsoft fax. I really don't use it.
If you need a modem that works like a flash one this is your option.
Best modem [Posted on 2006-11-10]
Lightning took out the modem in my laptop. I purchased the U.S. ROBOTICS modem.
The install was painless and the modem gives me faster connections than the original modem.
I recommend this one. It may cost more but it is worth the money.
Click here for more details and discount information...
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