Home > Consumer Reviews > Apple MA034Z/A External V.2 USB Modem
Apple MA034Z/A External V.2 USB Modem
See it at Amazon.com for $49.00Average Customer Rating
(4.0 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First | + Share12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Does what it is supposed to, although a little pricy
(4 out of 5) by Richard C. Nemanick on Jul 25, 2007 (St. Louis, MO United States)This modem could not be easier to use. You plug it in, and it is ready to go. You need to add your phone number and ISP information, which is easy to do either in the Network Preferences (under System Preferences) or in the Internet Connect application. No other configuration is required.
I gave it 4 stars because something like this shouldn't cost ~$50. I can appreciate that Apple removed it as a built-in item on my MacBook because they are not used frequently (I got by for an entire year before I needed it), but $50 was a bit steep for a modem in 2007.
I gave it 4 stars because something like this shouldn't cost ~$50. I can appreciate that Apple removed it as a built-in item on my MacBook because they are not used frequently (I got by for an entire year before I needed it), but $50 was a bit steep for a modem in 2007.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
works great
(5 out of 5) by Bruce D. Funk on Feb 14, 2007 (Heidelberg, Germany)I ordered this for my son, who was just switching to a mac (mini).
he plugged it in, followed the configuration info, and was on the air in minutes. Bought it because it was apple, and yes, it pays to get the apple products. didn't really find a better price for apple or non-apple that had any decent reviews.... so this is a product well recommended.
he plugged it in, followed the configuration info, and was on the air in minutes. Bought it because it was apple, and yes, it pays to get the apple products. didn't really find a better price for apple or non-apple that had any decent reviews.... so this is a product well recommended.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Great modem, too bad Apple didn't include it internally...
(5 out of 5) by Macondray J. Steiger on May 6, 2007 (Forestville, CA USA)Apple's USB modem works fine on my new MacBook Pro, but it's too bad that they decided not to include the modem internally, since laptops are often used for travel, and outside of Silicon Valley and the mojor metropolitan areas dial-up is often the only option.
One more bit of electronics rolling around in my laptop case to keep track of, along with my USB camera card reader, another external bit which Apple decided not to include into their already expensive MacBook Pro.
One more bit of electronics rolling around in my laptop case to keep track of, along with my USB camera card reader, another external bit which Apple decided not to include into their already expensive MacBook Pro.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Using on an iMac- nothing but frustration
(1 out of 5) by Wigg on Mar 17, 2008This modem gave me nothing but frustration. It connects only for a couple minutes at a time, then it hangs up unexpectedly. I read that it can have some trouble because of magnetism in the computer. But I have tried everything- different usb ports, using a long usb extension cord, etc. Nothing helps.
Another major annoyance for me: I keep the computer asleep whenever it's not in use. But picking up the phone (any phone in the house) wakes up the computer!
I will be returning this to the store- worthless.
I am using an iMac G5 w/built-in iSight.
Edit (update): I returned this modem and bought the 56K V.92 Lite Extended USB Macintosh Hardware Base Modem. Amazon does not seem to carry this, but I got it on
provantage dot c o m
for $45 shipped. Works great- no disconnects and doesnt wake up the imac when I pick up the phone. Using it to type this review!
Another major annoyance for me: I keep the computer asleep whenever it's not in use. But picking up the phone (any phone in the house) wakes up the computer!
I will be returning this to the store- worthless.
I am using an iMac G5 w/built-in iSight.
Edit (update): I returned this modem and bought the 56K V.92 Lite Extended USB Macintosh Hardware Base Modem. Amazon does not seem to carry this, but I got it on
provantage dot c o m
for $45 shipped. Works great- no disconnects and doesnt wake up the imac when I pick up the phone. Using it to type this review!
23 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
MacBook Pro Users Beware
(2 out of 5) by Sigrid E. Mortensen on May 22, 2007Although it doesn't say so explicitly in Amazon's description of this item, the Apple MA034Z external modem will not work with the Intel processor inside the MacBook Pro.
I spent a very frustrated 4 days trying everything I could think of to make this baby work with my MacBook Pro 17" running OS X 10.4.9 -- including scouring the internet from various internet cafés and finding out that many MacBook owners have trouble with this product. It only connected successfully once out of (probably) 100 tries. Of course, that one time was while I was on the phone to my ISP's technical support representative, when together we concluded that the success of the connection had absolutely nothing to do with any of the changes we'd made to the settings. Sure enough, with the same settings it never worked again.
Thinking it was just a defective modem, I finally got the idea to try it on my PowerBook G4 laptop (which never needed an external modem because it has an internal built-in). There, it worked flawlessly every time.
In the process of returning it to Amazon, I noticed that on the modem packaging, it says, "Requires Macintosh computer with PowerPC G4 or later...." In other words, it is designed to work with a PowerPC processor, not the Intel. This is consistent with my experiment.
So, if you need an external modem for use with a PowerPC processor, this will undoubtedly work for you. But if you have an Intel machine, skip this product. I put the onus on Amazon for this. Their description of the product should at the very least include the wording on the package. (To Amazon's credit, though, they did admit their error and are refunding my postage for the return.)
For what it's worth, I finally got connected using an Apple M8799LL/A AirPort Extreme Base Station with Modem and Antenna Port, which I'd forgotten we already owned. It's obviously a more expensive solution for getting connected but if, like me, you live in the boonies and rely on dial-up, and if you can use the other features of an Airport (like having more than one computer in your household connected to a wireless network), it may be worth it.
I spent a very frustrated 4 days trying everything I could think of to make this baby work with my MacBook Pro 17" running OS X 10.4.9 -- including scouring the internet from various internet cafés and finding out that many MacBook owners have trouble with this product. It only connected successfully once out of (probably) 100 tries. Of course, that one time was while I was on the phone to my ISP's technical support representative, when together we concluded that the success of the connection had absolutely nothing to do with any of the changes we'd made to the settings. Sure enough, with the same settings it never worked again.
Thinking it was just a defective modem, I finally got the idea to try it on my PowerBook G4 laptop (which never needed an external modem because it has an internal built-in). There, it worked flawlessly every time.
In the process of returning it to Amazon, I noticed that on the modem packaging, it says, "Requires Macintosh computer with PowerPC G4 or later...." In other words, it is designed to work with a PowerPC processor, not the Intel. This is consistent with my experiment.
So, if you need an external modem for use with a PowerPC processor, this will undoubtedly work for you. But if you have an Intel machine, skip this product. I put the onus on Amazon for this. Their description of the product should at the very least include the wording on the package. (To Amazon's credit, though, they did admit their error and are refunding my postage for the return.)
For what it's worth, I finally got connected using an Apple M8799LL/A AirPort Extreme Base Station with Modem and Antenna Port, which I'd forgotten we already owned. It's obviously a more expensive solution for getting connected but if, like me, you live in the boonies and rely on dial-up, and if you can use the other features of an Airport (like having more than one computer in your household connected to a wireless network), it may be worth it.