Eicon Diva Vs. Asus ISDNLink

neGev

I'm currently waiting for Eircom's technician to arrive at front door to install ISDN and I've been gauging other ISDN user's opinion of the various terminal adapters.
So far it seems to be a choice between either of the above TA's yet opinion seems to be split fairly evenly between the two. It'll be used mainly for gaming, so, which do you think is the best TA?
Also, the I'm running Win2000, so obviously It'll have to have Win2000 drivers.

Blade

I've the eicon diva and we compared it a few times with the asus on QW servers and our conclusion was that while the Asus had a slightly lower base ping (your talkin asus-28 to diva 30) the Asus appeared to rise higher in action than the diva. So basically the diva was all round more stable. I also heard that the Asus can be a bit of a b@stard to setup. The diva worked straight away and setup in seconds. I have this about 2 years now and I can tell you that of all the ISDN connects I've seen on servers mines usually around the lowest and most stable ping.

Defenistrator

As stated above, the diva is yer only girlie....I have been using eicon ISDN cards from day one, and never a complaint.

The user manual is a hoot though....

the manual caters for all the various incarnations of the Diva, including the PCMCIA version, the "thingie" you plug in to the PCMCIA card ( and in turn accepts the rj45) is called a dong, so I had to giggle whe the manual stated "...insert the dong into the Diva...." Reminds me of the Korean company that had a handheld PC, and called it the "Handjob"

D.

elexes

diva the only way to surf been using it for last 2 years without fail pings are always nice dosnt ever let me down win2k should auto pick it up and install it . have fun .

Quorthon

Not doubting whats been said above about the Diva, but just in case you manage to get the Asus cheaper or easier, I can wholeheartedly recommend it also. Basically I dont think you can go wrong with either.

Q

Defenistrator

Asus make quality kit, and they are chaeper, but setup of the Asus ISDN TA is a biatch. I bought a couple a few months ago, and I will never buy them again.

I suppose it is what you are used to. I find the Diva setup way easier. Win2K and onwards will recognize the card no problem, and get you onto the internet, THEN you can download the latest drivers from the Eicon site.

This btw is the way it is supposed to be, Card works out of the box, AND enables you to get to work immediatly.

bugler

I have the Asus, it's lovely. It is significantly cheaper than the Eicon Diva, is it not? Never had the slightest trouble setting it up either. Eight thumbs up!

Gerry

I've also seen qw and q3 pings with the asus and eicon, theres not much in it to be honest in qw, and you can't really judge it in q3, because you don't know if its the ta or the crap netcode that is giving you slight. I use the eicon diva pro 2.0 meself, and it has the extra advantage of using dsp's on the board to offload all the work from the cpu. I don't think the standard diva comes with that though. I think I experienced problems once setting up an asus ta, and win2k comes with drivers for the eicon which always helps, but as people have said, you can't go far wrong with either. If the asus is a good bit cheaper, go for that.

neGev

Thanks lads for the replies.
I can get the Eicon Diva (OEM version) for €69.25. That's not the Pro version though.
The Asus ISDNLink costs €35.72 (retail version)
Those prices are all from Komplett.ie
Bearing in mind what's been said, i think ill go fot the Eicon Diva, but not the pro version, seeing as I don't have that much money.
I think it's €277 so, weh, wish me luck.

TitanFire

I have Win 98 and am order ISDN in a few days. Which TA would be best for me? I like easy set up and want the best gaming ping I'm just browsing that Komplett.ie now

Cheers

strat

im a happy Asus user and i know 3-4 others who uise the asus and are well pleased

that a friend of mine has an eicon diva and is also happy

both fine TA's

get the cheapest one imo

Illkillya

I have had asus for a few years, no problems with it. Nearly all of my clanmates have asus TA also, great ping and no problems. The people i know who have Eicon diva get the same ping as us, but its a little bit more expensive I think.

However, I've heard about 4 people say that their Asus TA's blew up(!?) after a few years, so maybe for that reason the Eicon diva would be better

MrBlonde

Have both Eicon and Asus and my preference would be for the Asus. It is hard to setup but I generally get lower pings.

BKtje

got an eicon diva.
never had any problems in the two years i been using it.
Ping lower to Uk servers than some UK peeps on ISDN tho thats to do with ISP as well i guess.

Eicon diva had me confused at first but that was probably caused by my lack of knowledge at the time.

Its worked flawlessly under both win98se and win2000pro.

hope you get the one that suits ya.

( if ya can have a look at UK prices as they tend to be slightly cheaper. maybe ruled out by postage costs tho)

elexes

just bought a external diva ( kinda by axident ) going to check it against my internal one tonight .

anyone know of any differences becides the connection from the serial port

TitanFire

Well, I ordered the Eicon Diva last night for a grand total of €76. Hopefully I'll have it next week Ordered ISDN today too, so that means you better watch out now elexes! Titan's gonna get ya!

flamegrill

From what i have seen over the last week, fidlding with isdn cards, I am almost certain they both use the same chipset. Under linux both of them use the same driver. Although i have yet to see either of them working correctly :P, I will no doubt get it running next week..... both good cards.

Regards,

Paul

p.s. i wouldnt bother with ISDN myself, ill wait (miserably) for some form of broadband.

TitanFire

That's all well and good, but when *any* form of broadband looks like YEARS away, that's when ISDN doesnt look all that bad!! I'd be saving money after I get it installed.. allbeit E2.50 a month, but still, it's savings!

quozl

>Have both Eicon and Asus and my preference would be >for the Asus. It is hard to setup but I generally get lower >pings.

Words of wisdom. I too have both, and the ASUS is better. It always gives at least as good a ping as the eicon, and usually about 5ms better. More importantly, contrary to what Blade has found himself, I've found the ASUS much the more stable under high load (ie in combat). Me and Koopa played side by side a UK match from here, and the ASUS consistently outperformed (by a tiny margin) the Eicon, using the same phone line, same isp and same server.

The Asus is a bit harder to set up, but wouldnt you swap half an hour extra of your life for a slightly better connect? Depends on how much you care about your ping
quozl
As for using the same chipset, many TA's use the same driver under linux. Both the eicon and the asus are passive TA's so share the same driver under Hisax/Linux. I've no idea if they use the exact same chipset, but that still wouldnt mean they're the same - a Geforce from a good manufacturer ****s on one from Dell. theres more to a card than the chipset.