Chris,

... doesn't anybody use dialup?

Few use it now. Another way to connect is via a Linux router which connects PPP through the modem, on demand. Your NO or A2 machine can connect to the router by Ethernet or by PPP over a null-modem cable. Any number of machines on your LAN can connect this way using one modem. Incidentally, my old 486 and Pentium 1 laptops work very neatly with a null-modem cable. I don't know anything about 'magnify view'; sorry, ... Peter E. -- Google "pathology workshop"