Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Does anyone have suggestions for Serial adapters for new laptops?

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Posted by Robert LaValley (Member # 4319) on 09-07-2010, 09:21 PM:

I have a brand new dell with windows 7 on it. It has one of those express card slots as well as 4 usb ports. I need to find an adapter to interface with equipment RS232 style. Any suggestions? The crappy usb to serial adapter that I got does not work with CP650's which is half of my problem. I believe though I got what paid for on that one since it was way cheap. So I'm looking for something that will actually work. Any suggestions?

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 09-07-2010, 09:27 PM:

Robert, I am using the Keyspan USB to serial adapter and it works great with all the Dolby and QSC hardware I have encountered so far.

Here's a link to one supplier, do a Google search and you might find it cheaper: (though this is where I got mine)

LINKY

Posted by Eric Robinson (Member # 2966) on 09-07-2010, 10:40 PM:

Aten USB to serial adapter - even works with THX R2 analyzer

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 09-07-2010, 11:12 PM:

The Keyspan is one of the best I've found on the USB->RS232 front. However, I have run into situations (particularly in A/V stuff) where it chokes. I like the SocketCom PCMCIA serial adapters (if your puter has that slot). They behave like hard serial ports and are high speed. Never had it choke.

Steve

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 09-08-2010, 01:32 AM:

Ya, even some of the new laptops are void of the PC slot now ... like floppy drives: a thing of the past ...

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 09-08-2010, 03:21 AM:

This is what I use...

Dell legacy port extender

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 09-08-2010, 06:49 AM:

Express Card slots, unlike the older PCMCIA, PC-Card, etc. slots carry only PCI-Express and USB signals. It's quite unlikely that someone builds a serial card using the PCI-E interface. So, with ExpressCard, you will have the same driver/interface as with external USB-Serial converters, a standard plain vanilla USB-Serial bridge.

I would simply try different brands until you find one that works. Actually there are more possible issues than just the brand or type of converter. Usually the problem is on the application side, not being able to access virtual com ports or higher port numbers. Windows7 will not make things easier on the driver side. Keyspan is certainly a good choice.

Dell still sells notebooks with 'real' COM ports.
Sometimes it is better to buy a phased out second hand XP business notebook for 100-200 US$ with a real COM for this type of work.

- Carsten

Posted by Bruce Hansen (Member # 281) on 09-08-2010, 07:59 PM:

There might have been a driver that came with the USB to RS232 adaptor, try running that. If no driver came with it, try finding one.

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 09-09-2010, 08:33 AM:

I use the Quatech SSP-100-G PCMCIA serrial port and have had no issues which was not the case with the USB ones

Posted by Robert Minichino (Member # 3495) on 09-09-2010, 09:08 AM:

I've found the best converters, even for fussy devices that aren't really RS232, are based on the FTDI FT232 chips. I've got some no-name converter off of eBay that uses this chip and it works great.