>> How well do they work?
I use a Worlport 14,400 v.42bis modem with the Zoomer. It works great,
although the single 9-volt battery doesn't last all that long (an hour or
so). Using the modem doesn't seem to decrease the life of the AA batteries
in the Zoomer noticeably. To be practical, you need to use the power adapter
(which comes with the modem) instead of the 9-volt battery. You'll also need
to get the Zoomer cable from Radio Shack (the non-null modem one). I realize
a 14.4 kb modem is overkill, but I also use this modem with my desktop Mac.
There is also a fax/data version of this modem if you want to use it for
faxing with your desktop computer.
As for your other questions, I'll have to let someone else answer as I only
use the Zoomer to get E-mail from AOL on trips with the built-in AOL
software.
--Steve Henck