Subject: REVIEW: SupraSonic 288V+/336V+ Modem
From: [email-masked] (Matt Sawyer)
Date: 27 Jul 1997 23:26:23 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews

PRODUCT NAME

	SupraSonic 288V+/336V+ Modem

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

	A v.34bis modem with Data/Fax/Voice.  It is capable of speeds
up to 33.6kbps data & 14.4kbps fax.  It has Flash ROM, Caller ID, and
includes all cables & a headset.

AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION

	Name:		Diamond Multimedia
			Supra Communications Division
	Address:	7101 Supra Drive SW
			Albany, OR 97321
			USA

	Telephone:	1-800-727-8772
	Fax:		1-360-604-1401
	FaxBack:	1-541-967-0072

	E-mail:		[email-masked] (General Support)
	Web:		http://www.supra.com

LIST PRICE

	The current estimated retail price (ERP) is $199.95 USD.

DEMO VERSION

	None.

SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

	HARDWARE

		The only hardware needed is an unused serial port. A
		25 pin serial cable is included in the box.

	SOFTWARE
	
		In order to use the modem, you will need some sort of
		terminal, fax, or voice mail software.

COPY PROTECTION

	None.

MACHINE USED FOR TESTING

	Amiga 4000 (Desktop), 2 MB Chip RAM, 80 MB Fast RAM
	1 internal 1.76 MB floppy
	2 Maxtor 1.6 GB IDE hard drives
	1 internal Toshiba 6.7x SCSI-2 CD-ROM drive
	1 internal Iomega 1.0 GB SCSI-2 Jaz drive
	phase5 Cyberstorm MKII 68060 accelerator
	phase5 Cyberstorm SCSI-2 module
	phase5 CyberVision64 graphics card
	Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 17TX Monitor

	AmigaOS 3.1 (Kickstart 40.68 and Workbench 40.42)
	CyberGraphX v3
	Term v4.7c
	GP-Fax v2.342

INSTALLATION

	The modem is simple to install.	 Just take it out of the box and
	using the supplied 25 pin modem cable, connect it to your Amiga's
	serial port.

	If you buy the PC version, then there is nothing else to do as it
	comes preconfigured with settings that work with an Amiga.

	If you buy the MAC version, you may need to type a few AT commands
	to change the default configuration settings in order to make it
	compatible with an Amiga.  Read your user manual!

REVIEW

	Well, what can I say?  This is another in a long line of Supra
	(now Diamond Multimedia) modems that I have owned.  As with each
	of it's predicessors, it has worked flawlessly and reliably for
	the 12 months that I've owned it so far.

	The modem was originally only 28.8kbps, but I upgraded it to
	33.6kbps.  The upgrade to 33.6kbps was easy as the modem contains
	a Flash ROM.  I just downloaded the new Flash ROM code off of the
	Supra web site and using Term, I transfered the new ROM code to
	the modem's Flash ROM using x-modem.  Unfortunately, the modem
	is not upgradeable to the new 56kbps protocols.

	My Internet Service Provider (ISP) only supports 28.8kbps dial-up
	at the moment.	The modem reliably connects at 28.8kbps in the
	receive direction and usually 24.0, 26.4 or 28.8kbps in the transmit
	direction.  I haven't ever tried to connect to another 33.6kbps
	modem, so I do not know how well it would connect at that speed.

	The few times I have sent faxes, it connected at 14.4kbps, so I
	was very happy with that.

	The modem comes with a bunch of fax & communications software for
	Windows95/NT (PC package).  Of course this is all useless on an
	Amiga.	Instead, I happily use Term and GP-Fax.

	I originally bought the modem for the voice support. What I've found
	is that there is only one software package for Amiga for voice
	mail called AVM.  I was unable to get this package to work with the
	modem.	To be fair though, I did not really put much effort into it.
	I fiddled with it for a couple hours and then just gave up.  So, if
	anyone has it working, feel free to e-mail me and let me know how you
	got it to work.

	I do not have Caller ID, so I cannot comment on how well that works.
	Nor have I tried the included headset as I have not been able to find
	any Amiga software to use it with.

DOCUMENTATION

	The modem comes with several user's manuals.  There is a detailed
	reference manual, a getting started manual and user's manuals for
	the included software.

	Every time I have refered to the documentation I have been able to
	find what I am looking for with one exception.	The exception is
	information on the AT commands for voice support.  There isn't any
	reference to these at all.  I checked Supra's website, and there
	isn't any information on the voice commands there either.  However,
	the modem uses the Rockwell chipset and Rockwell has information
	on the chipset, including all supported AT commands, on their
	website - http://www.rockwell.com.

LIKES

	I am very happy with the product overall.  As I mentioned above,
	this is my 4th or 5th Supra modem going back to the 1200 baud days,
	and they have all been extremely reliable and have performed at or
	above my expectations.

	One thing that I especially like about this particular modem is the
	LCD display.  It has a dual line LCD display which shows protocol,
	transmit speed, receive speed, renegoatiating, etc.  It's a vast
	improvement over the classic Supra 2 character LCD display on their
	previous models.

DISLIKES AND SUGGESTIONS

	My only dislike was that Supra did not provide technical reference
	documentation on the voice commands.  But these can be easily
	obtained from the Rockwell site (see documentation above).

COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS

	I also currently own a SupraFAXmodem 33.6.  The difference between
	the two modems is only the display and the SupraSonic has voice
	support.  Otherwise, both modems perform equally well.

	I have used a variety of 28.8kbps modems via compatability testing
	for my work.  These have ranged from Hayes, US Robotics, Multitech,
	Motorola, etc.	The Supra modems have always performed very well in
	comparison to the other brands.

BUGS

	I personally have not found any bugs.  Supra has continously updated
	it's website with the latest released (and Beta) ROM code to fix
	bugs others have found.

VENDOR SUPPORT

	I sent e-mail to Supra's tech support to inquire about the missing
	documentation on the voice commands.  I received a response the
	next day pointing me to Rockwell's web site where I could download
	the chipset reference manual.  I was very pleased with the response
	time and the content of the response.

	As mentioned above, Supra provides ROM updates on it's website.

WARRANTY

	The warranty for this product is 5 years from the original retail
	purchase date.

CONCLUSIONS

	In conclusion, I am very happy with the modem.	It has been very
	reliable and has performed above my expectations.  If you are
	buying it for voice support, you might want to think twice as the
	Amiga is lacking software in this area.

	I would give this product 5 out of 5 stars.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

	Copyright 1997 Matthew Sawyer

	This review may be Freely Distributed as long as it is only
	distributed in it's entirety.

	You may contact the author at:

	Matthew Sawyer
	E-Mail: [email-masked]

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