edgeport from digi.com

our company (Johnson Controls Inc/York/Interstate Battery) gives edgeports to ALL technicians for use in connecting to all of our controllers and older building automation equipment that utilizes rs232 (serial). our new laptops as well do not come with a serial anymore, thus its mandatory now unlike before when we did have 1 and still used an edgeport to get the ability to do 2 devices at a time (1 serial, 1 edgeport). in my case i have 2 edgeports so i can still use com1 and com2 for my work. just more wires heh.

edgeport USB, cheap, 18in dongle, very durable. and b/c its on a dongle it doesnt hang precariously off side of ur laptop.

TIP: take elec tape and wrap 2-3 times around edgeport head. to keep the plastic cover from separating accidently. might not even lose connection by why try.

never had a serial i couldnt talk to with an edgeport, even tried it with modems and a printer once. does work.

good luck

R

ps-if u need a new laptop, perhaps take a shot on a good older 1 that has a 232. just a thought. or a desktop perhaps if the system can stay at the track. just an idea.