-=> Quoting Conrad Tsang to All <=-

 CT> Just want to know if anyone has experienced with the Diamond chipset
 CT> (Pump TM) v.34 modems. These modems, were selling for $299 which were
 CT> very cheap. The (Pump) Technology seems to give me a bit of worry.

 CT> If anyone has that modem, can you please tell me if they are good or
 CT> not? 
 CT> thanks

I actually bought a Diamond Datapump v34 modem by mail order (as I'm
in Newcastle) in December.

I must say that I had a couple of problems but I have one now that
is working.

I'm using Win95 and Terminat v3.0 for DOS (either through DOS or Win) and the
first modem I was couriered up was recognised by Win95 and set up but then
wouldn't work.  I tried it in a friend's system without success.

I rang them up and they said that they have never had a faulty one before.
I returned it and they sent me up a replacement.  When I got that the same
thing happened!

I exploded when I rang them again but they told me that the first one I had
sent back worked when they had tried it.

In the end I agreed to try one more and they sent me a third one, I still had
the second one.

The third one did work.  It seems as good as the Dynalink (more on this later)
that I was using. Similar sort of downloads etc.  Unfortunately I don't think
my line quality is as good as it could be because most of the time I only get
24000 or 26400 conects.

I don't know the outcome of the 2nd modem when I returned it, ie whether
it worked etc..

A couple of interesting points:

1.  I was told by the Company that the Diamond Datapump is identical
to the Dynalink and some others as they are made by the same company and
rebadged.  Plenty of badge engineering does go on these days.

2.  I was also told be the company that Oz-Email use some of these modems.

3.  I think Datapump is just fancy terminology for being "fast".

4.  I look at it that the modem has 3 years warrenty so if it stuffs up after
2 years 11 months they will fix it.  If it happens after 3 years then modems
will probably be really cheap then and you would have got your money's worth
out of it ($100 per year cost).

5.  I believe that the company Diamond Technology has been in existence for
five years now so it hasn't just appeared.

6.  They have 14 days money back guarentee so you can "test" it in your own
home with your system and lines.  This was a bone of contention with me as
the original I ordered 12 December 1995.  I sent it back within a few days.
The replacement modem didn't arrive which I had to chase up.  Which I did after
Christmas because when I rang 22 Dec 95 in the afternoon there was no answer.
It arrived 28 or 29 December.  When it didn't work, I rang them after the New
Year wanting my money back and he was saying that the original 14 days was up.
They have a deduction of a percentage of purchase price after 14 days.
I refused to accept this as it wasn't my fault that the 14 days was up.  In the
end I agreed to try a third modem which worked so I didn't have to hit them
up.  I think I could have got there easily with Consumer Affairs.

7.  At $299 you are looking at the Internal model which I have.  These are
Austel approved.  Be careful if buying a 2ND HAND one as I recall that they
were selling a non-approved version until about the last quarter in 1995 if
I recall correctly from APC ads.  If it is 2ND HAND it may not be
Austel-approved.

8.  If you're in Sydney you could probably get to Mascot to see it.

Sorry about the long winded answer.  I wanted you to get the full picture and
not a "I had a heap of problems but I'm using one" scenario.

If you have any other questions please feel free to ask.

Regards
John

... Answers: $1, Short: $5, Correct: $25, dumb looks are still free.
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