Gerard
04-13-2004, 01:06 AM
Back in January of 2002 I wrote a full review of Socket's CF modem for dialup connectivity. That's still here:
http://www.pocketnow.com/mobile.php?a=portal_detail&t=reviews&id=181
Well recently I got an Axim X5, my first X-scale PPC, and discovered to my horror that the Socket modem which had served me so well in several devices, including my notebook PC, for three years, it just didn't work in the Dell. Looking at their site I soon found that there is a physical incompatibility problem. They recommended there that I contact the company by email and ask for a newer model.
Well, after more than two years I was a bit skeptical. Seemed a lot to ask that a new modem be sent out to replace an old one, just because my newer PPC wasn't compatible. Not a lot of things work that way. I did email, but asking about any possibility of a software upgrade, some trick to make the modem work. Nope, no way, only RMA replacement. The contact person asked for my mailing address, sent me an RMA approval letter in RTF format - with a 30-day limit.
I printed the thing off and sent her the modem. A bit less than 2 weeks later I had a new modem, this one with the addition of 3 LEDs to indicate link status, power to the modem being recognised, and a flickering one displaying realtime data flow. The phone jack opening is much improved, being smooth plastic around the opening instead of sharp-edged stainless steel, so removal of the jack is easier. Performance is just as good as it's always been with my Socket modem: brilliant.
I write this here as a sort of thanks. I'd have placed these comments into the discussion tagged to my review, but it seems that thread has vanished over the past month sometime. The review still stands, until the gremlins get that too, but the Discuss link at the bottom fails to find a viable thread. So does a pretty thorough search of the forums. Oh well, guess it's old news... but Socket support is definitely anything but. This company has a solid reputation, and actions like this are part of the reason why. I don't feel that they owed me a modem, but they stand behind their products, and that's worth commenting on.
I've seen a lot of miserable laxity from some companies, most recently for me Pretec being a painful example. After a year of letters about the many failings of their 1.3Mp CF camera module, my warranty period expired. Their many replies to my emails were frustrating in their skirting around the return/refund question. I just could not get a straight answer out of anyone at Pretec. This has happened to no less than Jason Dunn, who earlier than I had received one of these things and found it so defective as to make him reluctant to post a review, thinking that it must have been a bad sample. Nope, these just stink as cameras, and Pretec seems aware of the fact, and yet unwilling to desist shipping them out. They've even roped Casio's Scott Nelson into co-selling the things out of the much diminished Casio USA operation.
That's worlds apart from the tidy and generous actions of Socket. I'm sure a lot of folks have good or bad stories about many companies. Mine's just here because I had reviewed the product, and felt a follow-up was in order. I look forward to more years of reliable service from this fine modem, though I am now also using wireless here and there.
http://www.pocketnow.com/mobile.php?a=portal_detail&t=reviews&id=181
Well recently I got an Axim X5, my first X-scale PPC, and discovered to my horror that the Socket modem which had served me so well in several devices, including my notebook PC, for three years, it just didn't work in the Dell. Looking at their site I soon found that there is a physical incompatibility problem. They recommended there that I contact the company by email and ask for a newer model.
Well, after more than two years I was a bit skeptical. Seemed a lot to ask that a new modem be sent out to replace an old one, just because my newer PPC wasn't compatible. Not a lot of things work that way. I did email, but asking about any possibility of a software upgrade, some trick to make the modem work. Nope, no way, only RMA replacement. The contact person asked for my mailing address, sent me an RMA approval letter in RTF format - with a 30-day limit.
I printed the thing off and sent her the modem. A bit less than 2 weeks later I had a new modem, this one with the addition of 3 LEDs to indicate link status, power to the modem being recognised, and a flickering one displaying realtime data flow. The phone jack opening is much improved, being smooth plastic around the opening instead of sharp-edged stainless steel, so removal of the jack is easier. Performance is just as good as it's always been with my Socket modem: brilliant.
I write this here as a sort of thanks. I'd have placed these comments into the discussion tagged to my review, but it seems that thread has vanished over the past month sometime. The review still stands, until the gremlins get that too, but the Discuss link at the bottom fails to find a viable thread. So does a pretty thorough search of the forums. Oh well, guess it's old news... but Socket support is definitely anything but. This company has a solid reputation, and actions like this are part of the reason why. I don't feel that they owed me a modem, but they stand behind their products, and that's worth commenting on.
I've seen a lot of miserable laxity from some companies, most recently for me Pretec being a painful example. After a year of letters about the many failings of their 1.3Mp CF camera module, my warranty period expired. Their many replies to my emails were frustrating in their skirting around the return/refund question. I just could not get a straight answer out of anyone at Pretec. This has happened to no less than Jason Dunn, who earlier than I had received one of these things and found it so defective as to make him reluctant to post a review, thinking that it must have been a bad sample. Nope, these just stink as cameras, and Pretec seems aware of the fact, and yet unwilling to desist shipping them out. They've even roped Casio's Scott Nelson into co-selling the things out of the much diminished Casio USA operation.
That's worlds apart from the tidy and generous actions of Socket. I'm sure a lot of folks have good or bad stories about many companies. Mine's just here because I had reviewed the product, and felt a follow-up was in order. I look forward to more years of reliable service from this fine modem, though I am now also using wireless here and there.