>> ....I also have a PCMCIA slot and an old modem >> card from a previous laptop, so that might be a better option than >> wrestling with a winmodem. I don't know yet.... > > The old PCMCIA modem card might not be a fax modem. If the laptop does > have a "good old" DB-9 serial port connector, then going to Best Buy > (or CompUSA, etc.) and getting something like a Creative Blaster analog > RS232 serial modem might be also quite easy and painless. I have a strong aversion to external peripherals dangling off a box... looks too much like a high school science project. And external modems are known to get very hot. I used one somebody gave me to keep my coffee cup warm. :) That Blaster is pretty much the internal modem I had in a previous machine I built. Maybe I should just revive that old dog with a new motherboard and CPU. But hmm, I think that Blaster card needed an ISA slot. Don't know if new mobos have those anymore. (?) Robert, you're probably right all 'round. Thanks.