Tech Question - New laptop

[Reedus]

My old Dell 600m finally crashed and burned and is no more. I am now in the market for another laptop and hell no I am not buying another Dell. My question is, do they still make laptops with a 9 pin serial port or did USB do away with that slower port? I need a laptop with a serial port or at least some way of adding a serial port to it. Any suggestions?

[Sombeech]

My old Dell 600m finally crashed and burned and is no more. I am now in the market for another laptop and hell no I am not buying another Dell. My question is, do they still make laptops with a 9 pin serial port or did USB do away with that slower port? I need a laptop with a serial port or at least some way of adding a serial port to it. Any suggestions?

You can buy a USB - Serial converter for maybe 10 bucks. I've had one floating around at one point.

[asdf]

If you do find a new laptop with a serial port there is a good chance that it may not even work.

[BruteForce]

My old Dell 600m finally crashed and burned and is no more. I am now in the market for another laptop and hell no I am not buying another Dell. My question is, do they still make laptops with a 9 pin serial port or did USB do away with that slower port? I need a laptop with a serial port or at least some way of adding a serial port to it. Any suggestions?

A few follow-up questions. Is the laptop for personal or business use? Several business-use laptops still come with a 9pin serial, but as mentioned, I'd recommend a USB-to-Serial adapter.

Dell does make decent laptops, if you purchase the right one.

For home use, I have an XPS and it's had no issues that I havent generated (breaking the keyboard, etc). On the business side, I purchase all Dell Latitude E6500's for the office in max'd-out configuration.

Before you buy another machine, determine 1) how its going to be used and 2) the amount you want to spend (max).

Whatever you get, make sure it has integrated WLAN/Broadband (Verizon, etc), 4gb memory and a decent video card (256-512mb).

Good luck!

[Reedus]

The only reason I even kept the pos around was to do diagnostic stuff on my car. My OBD cable was serial only, so I need a laptop with some sort of serial input whether it is a USB converter or standard. From doing a little search, it sounds like they don't put these on computers anymore.

[Reedus]

My old Dell 600m finally crashed and burned and is no more. I am now in the market for another laptop and hell no I am not buying another Dell. My question is, do they still make laptops with a 9 pin serial port or did USB do away with that slower port? I need a laptop with a serial port or at least some way of adding a serial port to it. Any suggestions?

A few follow-up questions. Is the laptop for personal or business use? Several business-use laptops still come with a 9pin serial, but as mentioned, I'd recommend a USB-to-Serial adapter.

Dell does make decent laptops, if you purchase the right one.

For home use, I have an XPS and it's had no issues that I havent generated (breaking the keyboard, etc). On the business side, I purchase all Dell Latitude E6500's for the office in max'd-out configuration.

Before you buy another machine, determine 1) how its going to be used and 2) the amount you want to spend (max).

Whatever you get, make sure it has integrated WLAN/Broadband (Verizon, etc), 4gb memory and a decent video card (256-512mb).

Good luck!

Not so much the computer I hated as the customer service and "i don't give a shit" attitude. I had several problems with my laptop when it was new and it was like pulling teeth to get anywhere.

The new one will be for personal use, main requirements are storage and connectivity.

[DiscGo]

Dell makes decent laptops, and they have serial ports (unlike IBM). You sound frustrated with Dell, but one thing I can tell you from working in the IT field is that there are lots of bad stories of all the big companies sucking. You really do get a lot for you dollar with Dell.

[R]

I know it's popular to badmouth Apple, but I have to say that their customer service has been outstanding.

[DiscGo]

Not so much the computer I hated as the customer service and "i don't give a shit" attitude. I had several problems with my laptop when it was new and it was like pulling teeth to get anywhere.


I used to work for Dell and I can tell you that it sucked. Their policies do get worse and worse as far as screwing over the customer goes.

[BruteForce]

Not so much the computer I hated as the customer service and "i don't give a shit" attitude. I had several problems with my laptop when it was new and it was like pulling teeth to get anywhere.


I used to work for Dell and I can tell you that it sucked. Their policies do get worse and worse as far as screwing over the customer goes.

I can't disagree with that. On all devices I've purchased from Dell, I get the 24x7 onsite support. There's no fuss. Just phone and by next day, somebody is onsite replacing a bad component. Its costs a bit more, but its better than dealing with "Rick" in Mumbai! :nono:

[accadacca]

Apple laptops are much cheaper. Have you seen the commercials... :lobby: