laptops with serial port

AMCross · 8 Oct 2009 at 15:55

hi there

any ideas where i can get one of the above

serial to usb convertors will not work 100% so need a new lappy with at least one serial port

any ideas ?

rickyt · 8 Oct 2009 at 15:59

Dont think you'll get a NEW lappy with a serial port .I've just bought an old second hand Fujitsu because it has a serial port for connection to a TechII . Your right about the USB to serial devices , they just dont seem to work .

iaind · 8 Oct 2009 at 16:28

I had a contractor in doing some work the other day - he had a brand new HP laptop with a serial port on it.

Cant remember what it was though

michael baxter · 8 Oct 2009 at 16:33

By the way, what kind of problems have you had with USB-Serial adaptors?

AMCross · 8 Oct 2009 at 17:55

hp/compaq no longer sell any laptop's with these ports

dell have only ome model the latitude E5500

usb to serial adaptors in the past have failed too many times and i have tried the cheapest to the so called best and the answer is the same not reliable enough

Focus · 9 Oct 2009 at 21:44

The HP Compaq 6735b Notebooks have a serial port. We have just started using them at work and they where bought specifically for the serial port.

bigredshark · 9 Oct 2009 at 22:22

Just get a decent adaptor, I have an HP branded one which didn't require any drivers and has never failed to work in the literally thousands of times I've used in on loads of different laptops. Choosing a laptop based on it having a serial port is fairly dumb...

Moeks · 10 Oct 2009 at 11:19

bigredshark said:
Just get a decent adaptor, I have an HP branded one which didn't require any drivers and has never failed to work in the literally thousands of times I've used in on loads of different laptops. Choosing a laptop based on it having a serial port is fairly dumb...

Also fairly necessary for some things, at work we use (well I don't, not actually my area, but you know what I mean) a piece of very specific diagnostic equipment, purpose built for the job at hand, it works via a serial port and the machine is setup in such a way that the diagnostic software cannot be copied to another machine, they won't even run without a 'security key' which is basically a USB dongle with some kind of encryption program on it that allows the software to run ...well anyway, this equipment does not seem to work via an adapter (we have tried it) ...I imagine there are other instances where this may be the case aswell.

Thus choosing a laptop because it has a serial port, is indeed something that for very specific tasks and under certain circumstances, is necessary now. As you probably realised, it isn't like there is a lot of choice in this regard now.

We actually use some older IBM's for this purpose, so I can't help you with a modern alternative I'm afraid.