Thinkpads Forum

http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/usb_serial.htm

Does anyone know if RS232 to USB adapter like the one in above link will work with a 380ED? Or do I need a docking station to get a USB port?

If you are trying to get a USB port from a serial port, you wont be able to do it with any currently available product that I know of.

These adapters are for connecting Serial addons to your USB port, not converting a serial port into a USB port you can use for usb devices.

You could buy a pcmcia USB adapter though to get usb ports.

I agree with kensplace. I have used a PCMCIA card like what he describes to add USB 2.0 functionality to a 600E that only had USB 1.0.

RAM Electronics wrote:The important thing to understand is that usb adapters basically work in one "direction". A computer must have USB in order to use USB devices with it*. In other words, say you have a USB CD writer you want to use with a computer that does not have any USB ports. There is no way to do this!

http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/usb_converters.html

David, thanks for pointing out that snippet from that site.

380ED does not have a cardbus slot (only 16-bit PCMCIA). AFAIK, there never was a 16-bit cards for USB, so that expansion route is out.

Anyone knows what chipset intel used for the 380ED? It is not mentioned here:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... RVK73.html

I got this laptop from carbon_unit and it is really in *mint* condition. It looks as if it is 1 week old, even newer than my 1-year old T60. Not one single scratch! The hinges are solid, the screen is sharp and bright, and the keyboard - ah, even better than the 600X. It is currently running windows 95 (+ office 2000) like a champ. The RAM is maxed to 80MB and the HDD is size ~3 GB.

If you want a USB 2.0 port I believe you are out of luck. Now if USB 1.0 will work for you, say for a mouse or something then there where some CF USB cards around.

Also Belkin has a network attached USB hub, so you might want to consider that.