No difference between paying £25 and £100 for a modem?

[MalePrincess]

Am I missing something here? I brought a V90.56K modem for just under £25+Vat and it runs fine fine fine...would it really have made much difference to pay out an extra £50? I would think not but I don't really know anything about these things.

[Desmo]

The main difference in modems is wether they are software or hardware driven.

Software modems use some of the main CPU's processor power to process data compression etc.

Hardware modems have their own processor to do this.

You may only be talking fractions of a second but it will make a difference.

Software modems are fine for browsing, but when it comes to playing on-line games hardware modems are far better.

[MalePrincess]

ok then..that sounds perfectly logical and I purposefully avoided a software. My proud £25pounder is a concrete hardware techno giggery thingy. Is there any difference between internal and external modems with regard to performance? I am still very unclear on this massive cost differential.

[Norphy]

More often than not, the extra cost is attributed to four things IMHO:
<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
[1] Brand
[2] Packaging
[3] Software
[4] Extra Features like memory for messages etc
</UL>

A 3COM/USR modem will always cost more than a Diamond or Modular Technology one. Similarly, a retail version of an item will cost more than an OEM one. A more expensive modem will usually come with better software as well.

Otherwise, its just like a Geforce card. Although say a Hercules one is more expensive than a Creative one, the hardware used is virtually identical so you'll get similar results with each one.

Or something

[MalePrincess]

ok "cool man", i see what you mean. thanks for the info....those trickery devils eh..sheesh?

[p5]

But the Hercules is clocked higher than the Creative and also has TV-Out and DVI for those video editing enthusiasts.

[Desmo]

eh?

[Norphy]

Well that comes under my point 4 then, doesn't it?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana">quote:</font><HR>[4] Extra Features<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[embattle]

Actually there is a difference. I've got a diamond express, which is fine for me since I plan to get ADSL :). However Pace modems were more expensive but would always provide better pings, pace went bust though. One of the better makes of modems is zoom atm.

[Gunga_Din]

Wel, I got meself one of those cheapo cards, and it works ok. Then a few months later, I thought I would get a newer, better one. So, off I trundled to PCWorld, and spent £70 an a 3COM USRobotics modem, got it home plugged it in and what happened? Slow, painfully slow, you have never seen anything like it. It would be quicker for me to get my Granny to run half way across the country to retrieve information. Anyway, the moral is big brand names and even bigger price tags does not necessarilly mean better. OK?