I understand that the later laptops (without serial ports) can having trouble mapping with serial / usb converters connected.

Anyone got any experience of this?

[Edited on 14-1-07 by RazMan]

I use one of these

http://www.expansys.com/p.aspx?i=101609

Never had an issue talking to any software that requires a com port. Much more reliable than the older usb-serial leads that I've used.

I don't have experience on the mapping part, but have a lot of experience using serial ports for all kinds of programming/terminal sessions etc...

The problem with the usb to serial converters is that they only get a 5VDC feed and limited power(shared with other USB devices), while RS-232 (serial) is not strictly defined regarding signal levels. Signal levels need to be between +/-5VDC and +/-15VDC

Another problem is that they get assigned a COM port number different from COM1 & COM2 wich makes some (older) programs useless as they sometimes need COM1 or COM2. You can change this, but it's a hassle. And each time you unplug the converter it changes COM number again. And again the hassle starts.

Therefore we (at work) use PCMCIA RS-232 adapters, wich are much more stable and also get 5VDC fed to them but without sharing the load and don't suffer the constant change in COM number. Only set it correct once and it stays that way. They also support busmastering meaning that communication is done without the CPU, so it keeps communicating even if the PC is having high CPU load.
Only downside is that they are more expensive and harder to find. But if you need it regularly, use them instead of the USB thingy.

Just my advice.

Had some errors in it


[Edited on 15/1/07 by Werner Van Loock]

Excellent info Werner I will try and find a PCMCIA serial adapter and hopefully that will be easier.
I am still looking for a suitable lappy at the moment and the older ones are getting scarce.

Thanks guys

I had this problem at the weekend having bought a cable Serial/USB to work with Megajolt and my new laptop.

Once I downloaded the driver from the net (thanks TheFBI, PeteF) all was fine and had it working last night.

Guess I must be lucky.