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sbaldrick posted:So much old equipment needs serial ports its not funny We have to deal with this for our field crew. I ended up settling on an ExpressCard serial adapter because the driver software allows you to pick a consistent COM port under Windows. The USB-to-serial cables cost much less but seem to assign a COM port rather arbitrarily, leading to Hunt the Wumpus to figure out what's not working properly. The device with the RS-232 port or the laptop? Speaking of which, this seems a fine opportunity to post the "roll your own" Easy transfer cable a field technician came up with when using Windows Easy Transfer to migrate his data to his new laptop:  
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Mar 29, 2016 00:43
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sbaldrick posted:So much old equipment needs serial ports its not funny It ships with Windows XP too!
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Mar 29, 2016 02:08
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We have to support a ton of old legacy network devices and yeah serial is so embedded in tech (it's lightyears easier to implement than USB and informal connectors can range from soldered pins to a paperclip) that it will never ever die. And it's plenty fast for 99.9% of business and industrial uses. Not everyone uses their laptop to stream 3D horse porn at 120fps.
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Mar 29, 2016 02:25
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The last serial port PC I replaced was a pentium 90 running a 16 bit app written in turbo c
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Mar 29, 2016 02:39
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sarehu posted:
http://www.fujitsu.com/fts/products/computing/pc/notebooks/lifebook-e556/  Not sure I'd call a $20 USB-to-serial cable a great benefit to TCO. ItBurns posted:It ships with Windows XP too! Disappointed that this was not an actual OS option
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Mar 29, 2016 03:26
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Went to my dentist last week and saw the x-ray machine is hooked up to Windows XP. I don't think there are even security updates for XP anymore.
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Mar 29, 2016 06:23
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Mu Zeta posted:Went to my dentist last week and saw the x-ray machine is hooked up to Windows XP. I don't think there are even security updates for XP anymore. And most people running XP haven't even installed the security updates that they can get. Almost everyone I have seen that has XP has service pack 2 or less.
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Mar 29, 2016 06:33
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Is it USB to parallel adapters that aren't true port replicators?
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Mar 29, 2016 07:47
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Anyone else having major wifi issues with the XPS13? I googled around and tried a few different drivers but it's looking more and more like I'll have to swap the card.VulgarandStupid posted:Anyone else having major wifi issues with the XPS13? I googled around and tried a few different drivers but it's looking more and more like I'll have to swap the card. I managed to install and old driver and then use Windows to update it, but if I didn't have a USB Ethernet, I'd be in a pretty rough place. VulgarandStupid fucked around with this message at 17:06 on Mar 30, 2016 |
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Mar 29, 2016 08:47
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Mu Zeta posted:Went to my dentist last week and saw the x-ray machine is hooked up to Windows XP. I don't think there are even security updates for XP anymore. It's more then likely not connected to the internet so is it a big deal?
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Mar 29, 2016 16:51
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XP in ATMs and medical equipment has extended support too.
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Mar 29, 2016 17:40
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dbcooper posted:Not sure I'd call a $20 USB-to-serial cable a great benefit to TCO. TCO generally refers to a gamut of costs that includes tech support costs when the machine breaks or when the adaptor doesn't work, and other external costs of work not getting done. Not to mention when you lose the adaptor. I had occasion to get an expresscard serial adapter and even then some had reviews saying they didn't work. And still they're a bit jiggly, the port has a spring that could tire, they're vulnerable to damage that'll bend the card or break the whole port, etc. If you're an inefficient Japanese company that can't make computers cheaply, just cry TCO.
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Mar 29, 2016 18:39
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As someone who uses a lot of rs232 to usb adapters at work I would much rather just plug in directly. Those things can be flaky as gently caress. It'd be nice if there was a small form factor uart connector instead of the gigantic db9 though.
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Mar 29, 2016 18:46
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The late Tecra W50 had an option for the smaller RS-232C:
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Mar 29, 2016 20:53
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When you've got millions in old equipment that will keep running as long as it is maintained then splurging for a laptop with a serial port is not really out of the question.
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Mar 30, 2016 00:37
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When I was still an ECE grad student, one of the reasons I got a Dell Latitude was because it had a serial port. Working with embedded systems and all that. That was back in 2007 though.
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Mar 30, 2016 01:32
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With Chrome OS is it possible to have a full-screen terminal with tmux/screen-style switching between multiple SSH sessions? Or would I be better off installing linux on it?
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Mar 30, 2016 16:32
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fuf posted:With Chrome OS is it possible to have a full-screen terminal with tmux/screen-style switching between multiple SSH sessions? Alternatively, if you enable Developer Mode on a Chrome device, you can install screen or tmux and use those from a terminal. fuf posted:Or would I be better off installing linux on it?
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Mar 30, 2016 20:26
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A little off-topic from port chat, but Acer's $299 1080p Chromebook looks like a pretty good deal, and 12 hours of battery life for that model is pretty good.
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Mar 30, 2016 21:28
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E: That seems like a nice chassis to do up a 14'' UX305 type thingy in.. Maybe with a little more CPU horsepower and use the extra space inside for a bigger battery...
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Mar 30, 2016 21:49
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VulgarandStupid posted:Anyone else having major wifi issues with the XPS13? Yes. And video issues. And panel issues. And battery issues. And trackpad issues. That's why they're constantly on sale/refurb.
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Mar 31, 2016 01:49
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ExcessBLarg! posted:There's a few options. You can have a window with a bunch of terminal tabs that you can ctrl-tab through, or you can have multiple maximized terminal windows that you can alt-tab through. Is there a way to do this with regular chrome on my MBP?
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Mar 31, 2016 02:21
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ItBurns posted:Yes. And video issues. And panel issues. And battery issues. And trackpad issues. That's why they're constantly on sale/refurb.
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Mar 31, 2016 03:47
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Krime posted:Are the same problems present in the xps15? When I was researching my xps 15 I saw a lot of people complaining about this or that, but it was mostly just complaints about Dell Support. So while it's entirely possible you'll get a lemon, my best advice is to buy it from the Microsoft Store so you have painless returns.
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Mar 31, 2016 03:49
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ItBurns posted:Yes. And video issues. And panel issues. And battery issues. And trackpad issues. That's why they're constantly on sale/refurb. Got mine from the Microsoft store and i don't have any of this. I either got lucky or you just got a lemon.
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Mar 31, 2016 05:57
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supersteve posted:Got mine from the Microsoft store and i don't have any of this. I either got lucky or you just got a lemon. I got mine from the MS store too, but I had wifi problems. Eventually fixed it by downloading some version of the wifi drivers and then letting Windows update the driver. I had to use a USB ethernet dongle, though. It really pissed me off. I may have imagined some flickering, but most of my usage on the computer was trying to fix the wifi driver, and not paying full attention.
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Mar 31, 2016 07:55
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ExcessBLarg! posted:There's a few options. You can have a window with a bunch of terminal tabs that you can ctrl-tab through, or you can have multiple maximized terminal windows that you can alt-tab through. Either you can make full screen with the "full screen" key, the same way you can make any Chrome window full screen. Oh neat, that sounds plenty flexible enough. Thanks  No specific device yet just looking at cheap chromebooks in general.
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Mar 31, 2016 09:13
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Krime posted:Are the same problems present in the xps15? Half of those are frequent Windows 10 issues so it may not be the hardware.
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Mar 31, 2016 14:44
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Aphrodite posted:Half of those are frequent Windows 10 issues so it may not be the hardware. Part of the other half are "I wonder if intel fixed skylake" issues
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Mar 31, 2016 15:15
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A couple of months ago, I saw that the consensus here was an inspiron i7559. Now, it seems to be the XPS 13. Comparing the two, the i7559 seems to be larger and faster, but the XPS is more portable and has a better build quality. They're both $800. Is there anything else that I should keep in mind choosing between the two?
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Mar 31, 2016 21:20
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Bretzman posted:A couple of months ago, I saw that the consensus here was an inspiron i7559. Now, it seems to be the XPS 13. Do you want an Ultrabook or do you want a heavy desktop replacement?
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Mar 31, 2016 21:23
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Bretzman posted:A couple of months ago, I saw that the consensus here was an inspiron i7559. Now, it seems to be the XPS 13. They're in very different segments. That Inspiron is fat, feels cheap, very not-portable but a good value if you want to play video games on your laptop, and not move it often. The XPS 13 is compact, travels much better, and if you're going to use it at home you can hook it up to a cheap 22" monitor or something if you want a bigger screen anyway. If you're buying a laptop for gaming or to put on a desk and never move, get the Inspiron. If you intend to carry this thing regularly, get the XPS.
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Mar 31, 2016 21:37
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Twerk from Home posted:They're in very different segments. That Inspiron is fat, feels cheap, very not-portable but a good value if you want to play video games on your laptop, and not move it often. The XPS 13 is compact, travels much better, and if you're going to use it at home you can hook it up to a cheap 22" monitor or something if you want a bigger screen anyway. Well, my current laptop (an HP Pavilion G6) has been mostly rooted in one place, since the battery is mostly gone and the fan is loud since trying to clean it is difficult. For the 4 years it worked without degrading, it was a perfectly usable machine. Looking at the two, the Inspiron feels closer to that level of performance. Assuming the exploit issues that were mentioned back then have been patched out or are easy to fix, I'll probably go in that direction.
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Apr 1, 2016 00:07
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NewFatMike posted:A little off-topic from port chat, but Acer's $299 1080p Chromebook looks like a pretty good deal, and 12 hours of battery life for that model is pretty good. This looks awesome. 300$ for a MacBook Air-lite running a web browser. When I actually had a MBA 90% of the time it was only running a browser anyways.
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Apr 1, 2016 01:03
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Did they fix the boot loaders or firmware or whatever so you can run regular Linux distributions on the Intel chrome books?
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Apr 1, 2016 02:40
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supersteve posted:Got mine from the Microsoft store and i don't have any of this. I either got lucky or you just got a lemon. There are widespread issues with the XPS series, both the current and last. Krime posted:Are the same problems present in the xps15? No, which is why it isn't permanently on sale. Bretzman posted:A couple of months ago, I saw that the consensus here was an inspiron i7559. Now, it seems to be the XPS 13. These are two completely different computers. The i7559 is a good value for 'gamers' because it's not a complete trash fire and comes with a decent graphics card while the XPS 13 is a small/light/well built but otherwise mediocre ultrabook. ItBurns fucked around with this message at 05:14 on Apr 1, 2016 |
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Apr 1, 2016 05:09
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ItBurns posted:the XPS 13 is a small/light/well built but otherwise mediocre ultrabook. Are you only saying this because of the QC issues? In a vacuum, what ultrabook is better than an XPS 13 if you don't get a lemon? I was going to qualify it as a non-Mac ultrabook, but the 13 is way better than the MBA and MB 12" for different reasons.
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Apr 1, 2016 05:24
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BottleKnight posted:Are you only saying this because of the QC issues? In a vacuum, what ultrabook is better than an XPS 13 if you don't get a lemon? I was going to qualify it as a non-Mac ultrabook, but the 13 is way better than the MBA and MB 12" for different reasons. It's not really a matter of getting a lemon as much as it is that it's not outstanding and has a number of flaws. It's just OK. It is an acceptable laptop.
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Apr 1, 2016 05:28
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ItBurns posted:It's not really a matter of getting a lemon as much as it is that it's not outstanding and has a number of flaws. It's just OK. It is an acceptable laptop. That's fair. Has anyone seen or gotten their hands on a Galaxy Tab Pro S? It's a horrible name, but looks like a very interesting tablet. And for a Surface clone to have an AMOLED screen... I don't know, it seems like a great choice for people who want a consumption tablet first and a web browser/word processor second.
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Apr 1, 2016 05:33
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ItBurns posted:It's not really a matter of getting a lemon as much as it is that it's not outstanding and has a number of flaws. It's just OK. It is an acceptable laptop. If the XPS 13 is only acceptable then you won't get a 'good' laptop for anything close to that price.
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Apr 1, 2016 05:53
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