ratwell Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 (edited) My first modem was a 1030. My second was an XM301. My fourth was a Supra 2400. My third modem was a disaster. It was an Avatex 1200 purchased from non-other than White House Computer: The ads were full page inside cover on Antic (this one is from Feb 1987): The Avatar was a very low cost 1200 baud modem at the time ($95) and gave me all sorts of grief. However before I could complain about it, I was waiting over 6 months for it to arrive! Digging through Antic Magazine Vol 6 No 6 (Oct 1987) I was reminded of this debacle: I thought I read at the time that more people complained to Antic about this one advertiser than all others combined. I did eventually receive the modem but what a experience for a young person to go through... Edited April 15, 2021 by ratwell 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilsaluki Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 I did eventually receive the modem but what a experience for a young person to go through... I was a young person then and couldn't afford the online charges. Lucky you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+slx Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 And I was expecting revelations about an Atari tucked into a corner of the Oval Office... 2 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Allan Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 There was an Atari 8-bit 3 1/2 inch drive advertised in Antic or Analog that I ordered. It took forever and when I got it, it was missing stuff. I couldn't use it. I returned it but never got my money back. They went out of business soon after. I think there was mention of the problems people were having with the company in one of the issues. I don't remember any more than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+slx Posted April 17, 2021 Share Posted April 17, 2021 On 4/16/2021 at 2:00 AM, Allan said: There was an Atari 8-bit 3 1/2 inch drive advertised in Antic or Analog that I ordered. It took forever and when I got it, it was missing stuff. I couldn't use it. I returned it but never got my money back. They went out of business soon after. I think there was mention of the problems people were having with the company in one of the issues. I don't remember any more than that. You would have been off better keeping it, missing stuff or not. Those are rare as hen's teeth and probably worth a fortune now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bf2k+ Posted April 17, 2021 Share Posted April 17, 2021 I had one of those Avatex 1200s. I don't remember it being terrible other than the fact that it was not 100% Hayes compatible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarian1 Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 My first modem was an Avatex 1200. I remember buying it at the West Coast Computer Fair and the only reason I bought it was because it was the only Hayes-compatible modem that it was under $100. 1200 baud modems were around $150+ (as seen in the advertisement above), and being a poor teenager, I had to save every cent I can, so it was a real bargain. I later found out it was only 95% Hayes-compatible, but I never had a problem with the few missing Hayes-compatible modem commands, so it wasn't a big deal to me. That lasted until 2400 baud modems fell under $100. (see a pattern? ?) I order twice from White House Computer. The first was an Indus GT drive which I still have and worked last time I used it. The second was weird. It was about the time they started winding down operations or something weird was happening. I ordered two Wico bat handle joysticks. It also took a while to arrive and what I got instead was a 3-way Wico handle joystick (score!) and a cheap Quickshot (I think?) joystick which was not very good. Instead of returning it, we decided to keep it. Luckily we did, because we later found out the above - that they were going out of business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 Can't help it but every time I see this thread title I'm thinking "Bill and Monica". 2 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari_Ace Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 Another interesting mail order house failure was Black Patch Systems, which has 1-800-ATARI-02 as their phone number. You can find ads for them in Current Notes starting in June, 1985, an interview with the owner in November, 1986 (where he claims a 300k per month run rate), and a brief mention in the June 1987 issue about their bankruptcy. Some of their ads have a small reference to "Toad Services", and I believe David Troy was an employee of Black Patch. He started Toad Computers around the time Black Patch closed (their first Current Notes ad is May 1987), and it grew into the largest Atari mail-order firm in the US. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfollowell Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 10 minutes ago, Atari_Ace said: Some of their ads have a small reference to "Toad Services", and I believe David Troy was an employee of Black Patch. He started Toad Computers around the time Black Patch closed (their first Current Notes ad is May 1987), and it grew into the largest Atari mail-order firm in the US. I remember getting the Toad Computers catalogs. They were like the Sears Wish Book for Atari fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted April 19, 2021 Share Posted April 19, 2021 I also had an Avatex modem. 2400 Baud, IIRC. After starting out at 300, this was a dramatic improvement. Worked well, and when a surge took it out, they sent me a new one, free! But I don't remember where I bought it. How far we've come on this journey! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfollowell Posted April 19, 2021 Share Posted April 19, 2021 1 hour ago, Larry said: I also had an Avatex modem. 2400 Baud, IIRC. After starting out at 300, this was a dramatic improvement. Worked well, and when a surge took it out, they sent me a new one, free! But I don't remember where I bought it. How far we've come on this journey! Yeah, I went from a 300bps Atari 1030, to a U.S. Robotics 14.4Kbps with my first PC style computer. Talk about a speed jump! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratwell Posted April 19, 2021 Author Share Posted April 19, 2021 (edited) On 4/17/2021 at 10:41 PM, atarian1 said: I later found out it was only 95% Hayes-compatible, but I never had a problem with the few missing Hayes-compatible modem commands, so it wasn't a big deal to me. I can't remember if the Hayes compatible version appeared at the same time but I originally went with the lower cost model because of my budget. When you couldn't connect to a BBS because of line noise or baud rate mismatch, the lack of a speaker, voice/data switch and 300/1200 mode button just made it unnecessarily difficult to figure out why. When it worked it worked, but it also felt a step backwards from my XM301. Edited April 19, 2021 by ratwell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ripdubski Posted April 19, 2021 Share Posted April 19, 2021 I had the 1200hc version. It was my first "high speed" modem. I started with the 1030, and a MPP something after that, then the Avatex. I got the Avatex mail order but dont remember from where. Could very well have been White House, but maybe one of the other "big" advertisers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarian1 Posted April 20, 2021 Share Posted April 20, 2021 12 hours ago, ratwell said: I can't remember if the Hayes compatible version appeared at the same time but I originally went with the lower cost model because of my budget. When you couldn't connect to a BBS because of line noise or baud rate mismatch, the lack of a speaker, voice/data switch and 300/1200 mode button just made it unnecessarily difficult to figure out why. When it worked it worked, but it also felt a step backwards from my XM301. Are we talking about the same modem here? The Avatex 1200 did have a voice/data switch and 300/1200 baud switch. It did not have a speaker which they fixed in the 1200hc version. I always had a rotary telephone on top of the modem to make up for the lack of a speaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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