Anyone know where I can find a cheap serial port card for a desktop computer?

[ddeder]

I have an old computer which uses a serial mouse. No USB ports or PS/2 port for a mouse. I have a new digital camera that uses either a serial port or a USB port. I would like to buy a PCI card with a serial port although I guess I could get a PCI USB Card and a new mouse. So does anyone know where I can find a PCI serial port card? Also, once a serial port card or a USB card is installed in the computer, does the computer normally automatically configure it (are they PnP)?

 

[Miramonti]

check the f/s board, I'm sure it'll be easy to find one. In fact I've got an extra parallel port card and 2 extra high speed serial cards but unfortunately no regular 16550 uart serial cards.

 

[Woody419]

Go with the USB card. A serial port card is painfully slow downloading photos from your camera.
2048 x 1536, 2000KB file - serial port: 6 minutes download time each photo
2048 x 1536, 2000KB file - USB port: 4 seconds download time each photo

I recently took some photos of the Olympic torch when it came through town and downloaded the photos onto two different computers, one with a serial connection and one with USB.

 

[dkozloski]

I searched the world over several years ago for a PCI bus serial card but I never found one that worked that didn't have a pass-through cable from an ISA slot. I think the problem is the way IRQ's are handled in the PCI bus. Plenty of people were willing to sell me cards that looked like what I wanted but none of them would function. When I pinned down the vendors they would admit that nobody else could get them to work either.

 

[Woody419]

I have used a Siig Dual Parallel Port card for years with no problems, I would trust their USB port cards.

 

[Lord Evermore]

Why the need to also get a new mouse? Just because you get a USB adapter doesn't mean you need to replace the serial mouse.

Anything USB is probably plug and play and will handle the IRQ's. (USB adapter definitely is.)

http://www.siig.com/

SIIG has been making this type of product for a long time.

However, a USB adapter would probably be your better upgrade. Better speed, and it'll allow you to use more new products. (There may be a possibility of a USB adapter not working in a very old system, but anything within the last 5 years should work.)

jjsole: a high-speed serial port card should be backward compatible with any serial device.

 

[Eug]

Eeek! Serial for a digicam? Get the USB card if your setup supports it.

In fact, I've ordered a Firewire compact flash reader since I needed a reader anyway, and I felt that USB was already a bit slow. (I have a 4 Megapixel camera and take LOTS of pictures.)

Anyways, I threw away a few of those serial cards a while back. Too bad...

 

[ddeder]

Okay, I'm convinced. USB card is the way to go. And you are right Evermore, I won't need a new mouse. I'm not sure why I ever thought I would.

Thanks for the input everyone.

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I've done some checking and have found some PCI USB cards that are reasonably priced. Problem is that they all say they require Windows 98 or later. I need this for a Windows 95 machine. I know USB can be used with Windows 95 as my own Windows 95 machine came with two USB ports on the computer and two on the monitor. Anybody know of a PCI USB card that can be used with Windows 95?

 

[Woody419]

I would suggest a system upgrade to Win98se. Much more stable than 95. The digital camera software would work better too.