On 15 Jan 99, at 15:37, Ira Wallin wrote:

> I have heard that I am better off not getting a Winmodem.  Most
> machines seem to come with that.  What difference does it make
> prctically speaking?

  WinModems have two main drawbacks:

(a)  They steal processor time away from other tasks.  This isn't much of
a problem if you have a fast machine, and if you rarely run more than one
application at a time.

(b)  They require a special driver to implement this.  They generally come
with a driver for Windows, but users of DOS, OS/2 or Linux may not be so
lucky.

  They have one main advantage:  They're cheap.

> Also if the modem says "with sound" does that mean you can have a
> telephone conversation over it, or does it have to say something
> else?

  Maybe, with appropriate software.  The "internet phone" packages I've
looked at required both a network connection (could be a modem) and a
sound card.
  I did see, a couple of months back, a combined WinModem and sound
card combined on one card.


David G

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