Psion's Dacom subsidiary has combined modem and network features into a single PC Card device that enables notebook-computer users to free a PC Card slot.
The latest addition to the Psion Gold Card family is a multi-function card bus that sports both 56K modem and 10/100 Ethernet network features. It has two outlets: one for the phone and one for network.
The modem plug works only with American-type phone jacks, which could be a problem for users of the narrower British-type phone jacks.
The installation software is not user-friendly. The process is quite complicated, involving floppy disks and Windows 98 system drivers, and took me a total of 45 minutes.
Psion should offer a CD-Rom version of the software in order to reduce the clumsy procedure.
After installation, I tried to connect to Netvigator, one of the Internet service providers I use. Dialling into a 56 kbps connection, my computer got a 44.4 kbps connection speed - normal and not particularly fast. Most desktop PCs with a 56 kbps modem can connect at 45 kbps or faster.
I tried to use a free software called 'MTU Speed' to increase my connection speed. It was successful in speeding it up a bit, but the Psion Dacom remained slower than an ordinary external modem.
