EBME Forums Forums Maintenance Technical Assistance Laptops with no RS232 ! help !!!

Hello, I am thinking about getting a laptop to upgrade my aging 486 !!!

I would like wi-fi and all the new features but with limited space, thought about a laptop... But :

I now use the desktop PC to program radio equipment and to send data to modules etc where all the connections use RS232 and some apps I have written use MS-DOS and not windows !

Can I get a USB to RS232 changer (9way connector) but still be able to access the port under DOS on a laptop ? I think that the answer is no ! No shops will give an answer !

I know that a PC can be made into a dual boot system where the drive is split and you select what system you want when powering up.

Any help please !!!
Andy.

you can not use a USB with out the opperation system running. you can run a dos window.
Why not buy a laptop which has both D9 and usb?
the HP compaq nc6000 has both, and will allow you to boot from a floppy, which some systems will not.

Laptops today, tend not to come with RS232 Ports.
However a PCMICA RS232 Cards are available, since most laptops have this feature. But since a new laptop would probery come with Windows XP Pre-Insatlled. Your DOS program would proberly not work, You could try installing Windows 98 as well as XP as a DUAL Bootable drive to run your DOS program

LOOK UP www.worldpcs.co.uk for laptop details. Help and advice freely available. try emailing mark.durnel@ntlworld.com for tech support.

We've used usb-serial converters on laptops. Plugs into the USB on the lapto which sees it as com4 etc and works just like a normal RS232.
Graham

There are still laptops available with serial ports but they are becoming increasing hard to find and are generally of the Desktop replacement type, so not very portable.

USB to Serial adaptors may be your only option, but the experience I have of these is not great.
Cheap ones normal suffer from poor driver support, and silly problems like if you connect them to a different USB port the COM port number changes so you have to reconfigure your software.

And paying more does not guarantee a better product.

Personal experience has show the Belkin F5U103, to be about the best I have tried.
But even then, it has niggles. Like no WinXP driver disk in the box, you have to download the latest XP drivers for the web. And it costs over £30

I have no experience of this product, with DOS applications.

Chilly

Why not get your new laptop, and keep the trusty 486. What else were you going to do with it, Andy?

I have had to use 2 different USB-Serial converter leads - with few problems other than an oem logging programme crashing after about 2 hours. This was improved by running the programme under windows 98 compatibility mode in XP so I think the problem was the programme and not the converter lead. Both leads were purchased via ebay at about £12 inc delivery (equivalent was >£40 in PC world/DABS