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What is the best USB-to-RS232 adapter out there?

That's true if you need an easy-to-use programing adaptor. Unfortunately most folks don't.

Qualify that for embedded systems developers and hobbyists.

And once you qualify it, you see why they are disappearing.

However, each cost real estate on an already cramped laptop. Also for the most part, their original purpose has been obsoleted. Let's examine each in turn.

Designed to hook up external modems, mice, and terminals. Modems are all internal now for the most part. The ones that are not are USB. Mice turned from serial ports years ago. Virtually all are USB now. Terminals are a specialty item in both directions. Using a PC as a terminal has been transferred to a network function. Using a terminal with a PC has been a non-started under DOS/Windows even though I've done it on occasion with my Linux boxes over the years.

In short unless you are an embedded systems developer or a user of some type of serial port based instrumentation, the serial port has become an appendix. Finally if you really need a serial port, the $10 USB-serial adaptor will fill 90% of the needs without occupying any additional space.

So there's no longer a public need for a real serial port.

It's a sad requiem, but a true one.

Ditto. Name me one modern printer that actually carries a parallel interface? Good luck!

The general public used printer ports to attach printers. That was their only purpose. For us embedded systems folks it served as an easy to use, easy to attach digital interface. But that's not its intended purpose, which as now been transferred to USB.

Parallel is dead too. I mourn its loss. I finally have a laptop with no parallel port.

You'd have a tough time explaining to the GP what ECC is all about. Then you'd have to explain that it'll crash your application when your memory is altered instead of giving incorrect output. Then you'll get laughed out the building! ;-)

Everything about PC hardware/software is about being good enough. SCSI was superior. IDE was good enough. real serial and parallel are better. USB is good enough. ECC memory? Non ECC was/is good enough.

So I'm learning to live with the limitations. I'm working on new interfaces for my Trivial PIC programmers

formatting link
because I know that legacy port free PCs will become the norm very soon. This includes a serial bootstrap programmer that only uses TX/RX so that it works with all USB/serial cables including ones with poor timing between modem control and data transmission. I'm also considering a programmer that uses keyboard LEDs blinking in sequence to do the programming. Each of these can be used to bootstrap a USB enabled PIC so that an intelligent USB based loader/bootloader can be contsructed.

Useability and reliability for whom? Certainly not the GP.

BAJ

Reply to
Byron A Jeff
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Some are coming back on the devices.

The connectors are the major real estate.

You obviously think a printer is one of those ink jet abominations! Most notably, Brother in the last 18 months had to bring out models with standard printer ports from customer pressure as many places use print servers.

Most laser printers (not meant as a GDI pseudo printer) actually these days actually have 1284 and USB, then network devices have RJ45 as well.

The corporate and other organisations tend to prefer parallel or network printers, if nothing else USB printer drivers are a real pain in a network for inability to cope with OS changes or in some cases not be useable over a network.

Laptops will always have minimal connectors as it means real estate for connectors and holes in the casing. Printers are still available with parallel interfaces.

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Reply to
Paul Carpenter

There's a forth thing missing from many laptops - a reset switch. When windows BSODs, or something hangs the machine, you have to take the battery out.

A fifth thing that some, but not all, laptops have is a clear physical switch to disable the WiFi interface.

Reply to
David Brown

All the laptops I have had so far had a power switch that powered down from any crash when pressed for 5 seconds.

Meindert

Reply to
Meindert Sprang

The public don't want serial as they have USB and "nothing uses serial anymore" :-(

Also "all printers" use USB now...

The problem is the majority market don't use modems, eprom programmers and Jtag's. they don't need termial windows on com1 :-( There are some laptops with serial and parallel ports on byt they are few and far between usually the high end ones as it is cheaper to put several USB ports on a laptop.

I have several times thought about marketing my own brand of laptops with RS232 and parallel ports on for the very reasons you sight. The problem is they could not be as inexpensive as the normal ones. The sheer volume brings the price down.

Too true. but switches cost money.

That is essential.

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Reply to
Chris Hills

The older Toshiba ones I've used have a hard reset switch behind a small hole in the case. You poke something in there to reset the machine.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

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Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

I bought a new laptop awile ago. One store that I visited had all of the laptops bolted down to the display in such a way that you couldn't see the rear connectors. I asked the pimple faced kid working there which ones had a parallel port. He said "whats that".

Unfortunately, I travel with a a few parallel port dongles. Serial ports are not a problem (the USB adapters work fine for me).

-Hershel

Reply to
Hershel Roberson

PC-Card parallel port?

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- Did not test it myself though. Has 25 pin connector.

I thought of this solution when I was looking for a laptop last year. I managed to get one of the last HP NW8000's with parallel+serial before they were obsoleted last year.

Nice machine, I really like the 7th motherboard I recently got installed :-)

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Ulf Samuelsson
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Reply to
Ulf Samuelsson

I'm jealous. My laptop only holds 1 motherboard.

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Grant Edwards                   grante             Yow!  Look! A ladder! Maybe
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Reply to
Grant Edwards

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