Trev, at 23:18 on Jul 29 1996, you wrote to Bill Grimsley...

TR> I note the Viper's now selling for $299 (external).  

BG> Damn good price.  Is that 28k8 V.34 or 33k6 V.34+ ?  

TR> V34, add $25 for V34+ (plus $10 freight if you're not local).  

Much cheaper than their ~$65 V.34+ upgrade EPROM then.

TR> Or simply buy the new external Spirit Cobra for $399 

Is that their name for what is basically a Viper with V.34+ code included?

TR> (some places are offering it for $299 with a $100 tradein on any faxmodem) 
TR> and gain voice as well as V34+.  

6 months ago, I'd have told them to shove it, but now that you can't give
away an old 2400/9600 fax modem, it's not such a bad deal after all.

TR> Cheapest USR Courier I've seen is ~$500.  

BG> Closer to ~$400 now.  

TR> The distributor's "corporate" discount price is ~$500
according to their 
TR> latest price list (actually listed at $475 incl. tax but they've 
TR> miscalculated the sales tax :-).  

That's not all they've miscalculated, it would appear.  Some dealers are
advertising Couriers for around $439, which I consider to be good value.

BG> It's probably also worth pointing out that my first V.32bis modem cost me 
BG> over A$1000 (as presumably, did yours), so $400 for a Courier sounds fairly 
BG> trivial in comparison.  

TR> Ouch! My first and only V32bis modem - Spirit II - cost me just $650.  

Sorry, I meant V.32 (NetComm M5 for ~$1100, from memory).  My first V.32bis
modem was an Intel 400, landed cost A$760.

TR> My original TR-100 PEP Trailblazer on the other hand cost a cool $2,100, 
TR> followed by a Netcomm M5 V32 modem at $1,000.  

So how come your M5 was cheaper than mine?  I am not at all amused...

Regards, Bill
@EOT:

--- MsgedSQ/2 3.50