StarTech.com 4 Port Native PCI Express RS232 Serial Adapter Card with 16550 UART

Fater than a speeding bullett

Advantages: USB 1.1 Backwards Compatable
Disadvantages: Instalation

I bought this card for 12 quid out of desperation. The desperation was that a lot of USB1.1 devices were not working on my PC and a lot were; I'd be interested to know if anyone else has had this problem. Once I had installed the card and switched on the computer (running windows 2000) there were a few problems with installation of the drivers, the first being that the PDF files had language incompatibility problems. This is not a real problem though as there is word documents. The second problem was that the drivers cannot be installed directly from the CD this caused severe frustration for me as no matter which directory I looked in the hardware wizard could not find the drivers. Like all good engineers I never read instruction manuals even if I had it, they did not tell you what you had to do to install the drivers ...

Champ666 15.03.2004 · Read full review
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Review of StarTech.com 4 Port PCI High Speed USB 2.0 Adapter Card

Obscure accessory for obsolete Olympus Digicams

Advantages: reasonably high quality cable
Disadvantages: Of very limited use

My 100th review ? in some ways I wish I?d chosen a more glamorous item to cover, but this will have to do! Earlier Olympus Digital cameras used RS232c interfaces to connect directly to Personal Computers; my first semi-serious digital camera (an Olympus CAMEDIA C 960ZOOM reviewed previously) was one such example. Cameras of this vintage frequently have two 3.5mm jack sockets, one for Composite Video out (and feature a yellow collar) the other, for data is beige to match the cable. The cable is reasonably high quality, being roughly a metre long, and terminating in a 3.5mm jack plug at one end, and a 9 pin serial connection at the other. The camera automatically supplies the 12v signals required by an RS232 interface, there?s nothing ?smart? about the cable, it?s just a lump of wire! A screened cable is used, and features ...

dobieg 16.01.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Olympus serial cable - RS-232

Belkin Wireless PCI Card

Advantages: Simple setup, manages itself
Disadvantages: Very occasional low signal

Following on from my review of the Belkin wireless router, this is the piece of kit at the other end of the link. The PCI Desktop Card is whats required to allow the PC to communicate with the router. This product cost me £25 when I bought it. I was interested in the Belkin wireless router, so I played safe and used the same manufacturer for both items that would allow the router and my PC talk to each other. --Whats in the box-- On opening the box, there were no real surprises. There was the PCI card, the antenna, a quick installation guide and a CD which contained the drivers and a full manual. --Installation-- On reading the quick installation guide, it was apparent that the software had to be installed before the card was plugged in. The reason for this was because, when the hardware was detected, the software would ...

craggybuk 21.05.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Belkin Wireless G Desktop Card F5D7000