US Robotics 33.6 Internal Faxmodem
Model 840

BRAND New!  Factory sealed - never opened!

This is the #1 selling modem in the world!
A real Sportster -- not the cheaper Winmodem!!

Many modem manufacturers (including certain other US Robotics models) are slashing costs by removing chips from their modems and simulating the functionality using your CPU.  This saves them money, but slows your system and requires you to install special drivers which may cause compatibility nightmares.  These  modems are variously referred to as "host-based", "controllerless", "computer-dependent",  "HCF", "HSP" or "software" modems.  One or more models by Boca, Diamond, 3Com/USR, ActionTec, NewCom, Motorola,  Zoom, Compaq, Best Data, Cardinal, Lucent and many others are now doing this.  Manufacturers are often not very explicit about what you are getting.  Beware of any modem which states a minimum CPU speed requirement.

Unlike many of these modems, the Sportster 840:

• Works on any PC -- 8086 through Pentium.

• Works on any O/S including DOS, Win 3.1, Win95/Win98, Windows NT, Linux, etc.

• Has on-board hardware implementation of 16550 UART and controller.

• Does not use Rockwell RPI™ technology to offload data compression and error correction to a special driver - another chip saving technology used by various modem manufactures.

• Is most definitely not an "HSP" (Host Signal Processing) modem. These modems have been called "Winmodems taken to the extreme" - modems where the entire DSP (digital signal processor) as well as its RAM and ROM have been eliminated!  These modems are extremely CPU intensive and very sensitive to the hardware they are run on. They may fail or just work poorly if your processor type or brand is "wrong" - sometimes even if you are running the "wrong" video graphics mode. Not the case with the Sportster 840 - it has an on-board dedicated 92Mhz DSP as well as on-board RAM and flash ROM to support it.

• Requires no drivers*

Either Plug 'n Play or set it yourself:

• Win95/Win98 users - take one jumper off and it sets itself up! Or set it yourself (below).

• DOS, Win 3.1, & technical types: Defaults to COM2 but can be set to COM1 - COM4 (3f8, 2f8, 3e8, 2e8) and any of five IRQ's. (2, 3, 4, 5 or 7) with included jumpers. If Plug 'n Play ever gave you trouble, this modem is your answer!

• Windows NT users (or potential NT users) - "Plug 'n Play only" modems can be big headaches for NT users, since NT does not really support it. And "Windows" modems present an entirely different problem because each brand and model requires its own "VxD" driver, and, by design, NT will never support a Win95 style "VxD" driver. NT specific (non-VxD) Winmodem drivers are often hard to come by, or non-existent altogether. The Sportster 840 needs no drivers at all* and solves both of these problems.

Complete with all cables and documentation including "Connections" CD-ROM, big color "idiot-proof" installation guide, and a 194 page users guide!

Buyer pays actual shipping- no packaging or "handling" charges. Checks or Money Orders accepted -  Money Orders ship immediately.

Satisfaction guaranteed!!

*No driver files required. To install on Windows platforms, only the standard configuration ("inf") file is needed (included on the CD-ROM - or make a floppy by getting & running this file). You may not really need it, either -- For Win95/98 and NT, you can  usually just use the built-in "Sportster 28,800-33,600"  selection which will then use the Microsoft supplied files.

Other neat features: Unlike many cheaper modems, the telephone line "in"  and "out" jacks are not simply connected together. In the Sportster, the "phone" jack actually disconnects from the "line" jack whenever the modem is in use. This prevents dropped carrier when someone accidentally picks up the phone and also increases noise immunity. Large, 1¼" diameter, 8 ohm dynamic speaker audio transducer produces loud, quality sound for monitoring your dial up- even when the modem is buried deep inside the computer or when ambient noise is high. Cheaper modems use a tiny ½" or smaller cheap "piezo" device which is soft, tinny, and chintzy sounding. Volume level can be decreased in software settings if desired, however. More about COM ports and IRQ's: With many modems, using COM3 or COM4 (if they even exist) will cause interrupt sharing (COM1 shares w/ COM3 and COM2 w/ COM4)- this effectively precludes the modem from being used at the same time as the device it is sharing the interrupt with (certainly a problem with a serial mouse!). Interrupt sharing can also cause system crashes. With the Sportster, you can give COM3 or COM4 its own interrupt. Note, in particular (especially if you're low on interrupts), you can select the seldom used, so-called "cascade" interrupt, IRQ 2/9. This is done by selecting "2" on the modem. Some OS's (e.g.Win98) may refer to it as "9", but these are really the same interrupt and it works perfectly. More about "Windows Modems" Back in Nov 1996, PC World tested a Winmodem on a 486/66 while simultaneously playing a game on the computer. They found that the file download time increased by 33%, and meanwhile the game "bogged down so much it was unplayable... Based on the results of these informal tests, we removed the Winmodem and other future PC-dependent modems from Top 10 competition until we can create a realistic benchmark that will put standard and computer-dependent modems on the same footing." Even faster computers are affected - very  recently (Nov '98) PC Magazine  tested two "controllerless" (a.k.a. "Windows") modems (the USR "Winmodem" and BOCA "WinStorm") and found that they consume between 17% and 25% of "system resources" during a file transfer on a Dell Pentium 133.  HSP modems are even worse- the Navas Group reports about 50% CPU usage for these modems, also on a Pentium 133. Specifications: Standard ISA bus (not PCI) DATA: 33.6 KBPS and V.34 28.8 KBPS, V.32 bis at 14.4, etc. FAX: V.17 14.4bps, V.29 9600 BPS , V.27 ter 4800 BPS Group III, etc. On-board 16550 UART On-board MOV surge protection On-board 64K hi-speed static RAM On-board 256K FLASH ROM On-board 92 Mhz DSP Sold and shipped as 33.6 KBPS.  If desired a 56k V.90 software (flash) upgrade can be purchased from US Robotics  (contact US Robotics for price and availability). USR Product Code 00084004.
Below: an opened box so you can see what's inside - your unit will be sealed!!
See all the parts you won't be missing !	Sound complicated? Look here...