USB adsl modem, power hungry ?

[Ponch]

Hi, this is for a friend I visited last week. He got himself a new notebook. He planned to use his adsl connection on that laptop but I ran into trouble (though I did get a few beers). There is no problem on his old PIII desktop (USB 1 surely), but when plugged on the laptop, the modem loses synchro every ~35 seconds. I don't think the parameters are the matter as if I understand, the odel just needs to be plugged in to get the synchro.

The only difference I can see is the laptop may have less power on the USB port, and has USB 2.

The modem is a Sagem 800 and the sheets say USB 1.1 and consumption <2,5watt. Phone and USB are the only cables to it. I did try with a bulkier USB cable and it's the same problem. Led blinks 15sec, then stays on 15, then goes off and again. When plugged in the desktop, blinks then stays on.

Is 2.5watt considered too much for a laptop's USB (even on main) ? I can't find any info on that level (here for an Acer Travelmate 7720G-302G). Anyone ?