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What's the best thinkpad I can get with a serial port
Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2017 1:04 pm
by jedisurfer1
What's the best thinkpad or best laptop with a serial port. Company I consult with has lots of RS-232 equipment and the prolific usb serial sometimes doesn't work with some devices (though I may have been shipped a clone of a prolific chip from amazon).
Re: What's the best thinkpad I can get with a
Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2017 1:30 pm
by RealBlackStuff
IBM/Lenovo is no longer an option since the T30, but you could consider this: a Serial Port ExpressCard, such as
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product. ... 6839328018
Such a card will fit in any new(er) laptop with ExpressCard slot, such as mentioned here:
http://www.tomsguide.com/answers/id-237 ... slots.html
Or check the competition as mentioned here:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductL ... Submit=ENE
Re: What's the best thinkpad I can get with a
Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2017 1:35 pm
by dr_st
T6x support an Ultrabay Parallel/Serial adapter that connects to the native port on the board, no?
Re: What's the best thinkpad I can get with a
Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2017 1:53 pm
by ajkula66
jedisurfer1 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 12, 2017 1:04 pm
What's the best thinkpad or best laptop with a serial port. Company I consult with has lots of RS-232 equipment and the prolific usb serial sometimes doesn't work with some devices (though I may have been shipped a clone of a prolific chip from amazon).
You should be able to find a fairly recent ToughBook with a serial port. Having said that, they are generally on the heavy side, even business-rugged units like CF-52/53.
Re: What's the best thinkpad I can get with a
Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2017 2:03 pm
by theterminator93
Correct, the T60/61 supports the parallel/serial port Ultrabay adapter (if you can find one). I have one that I use with my T601F and it works well, however if I eject/remove it to use a different ultrabay device (e.g. DVD drive, HDD or 2nd battery), if I re-insert it, it won't be recognized until I reboot.
The P/N is 40Y8121.
Re: What's the best thinkpad I can get with a
Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2017 4:32 pm
by NonesensE
The X6x* support the parallel/serial port ultrabay adapter, too, through the ultrabase (portable docking station).
Re: What's the best thinkpad I can get with a
Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2017 4:43 pm
by ZaZ
I seem to recall the Dell Latitude D630 having am on-board serial port. It's not as rugged as the ToughBook, but considerably lighter.
Re: What's the best thinkpad I can get with a
Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2017 6:10 pm
by jdrou
ZaZ wrote: ↑Mon Jun 12, 2017 4:43 pm
I seem to recall the Dell Latitude D630 having am on-board serial port. It's not as rugged as the ToughBook, but considerably lighter.
Yes that was one of the last laptops to have it. I picked up a couple from ebay for that reason. So far I've been able to use USB adapters for everything I needed though.
Re: What's the best thinkpad I can get with a
Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2017 2:25 pm
by jaspen-meyer
The T400 is the last thinkpad with a serial port -- but there's a hitch. The port isn't exposed, which is to say there is no physical port on the notebook. You need a 2504 docking station.
Re: What's the best thinkpad I can get with a serial port
Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2017 9:17 pm
by Saucey
Someone recycled an HP Probook 6550b at my work and I fixed it up for resale.
I was surprised to find a serial port on the machine.
I don't care for its size and form factor... no trackpoint in the model I was using, but it does have a 1st gen i5 and AMD Radeon HD 4550 graphics.
Still, the 720p 15.6" display isn't so satisfying to see, dunno if they have switchable graphics, battery reported 2 hours of life at 80%...