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 ...
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 ...
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 PCIcard, 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 ...
Product Information for "StarTech.com 4 Port Native PCI Express RS232 Serial Adapter Card with 16550 UART" »
General
MPN
PEX4S552, PEX4S952
Device Type
Serial adapter - 4 ports
Form Factor
Plug-in card - low profile, Plug-in card
Interface (Bus) Type
PCI Express x1, PCI Express
PCI Specification Revision
PCIe 1.0a
Depth
21 cm, 9 cm
Height
12 cm, 6.5 cm
Weight
75 g, 58 g
Width
2 cm
Networking
Connectivity Technology
Wired
Data Link Protocol
RS-232
Data Transfer Rate
460 Kbps
Features
Software flow control, hardware flow control
Expansion / connectivity
Interfaces
4 x serial - RS-232 - 9 pin D-Sub (DB-9)
Compatible Slots
1 x PCI Express x1, 1 x PCI Express
Miscellaneous
Included Accessories
Low-profile bracket, full-height bracket, 1 x bracket with two DB9 connectors
Compliant Standards
CE, FCC, RoHS
Software / system requirements
Software Included
Drivers & Utilities
OS Required
Microsoft Windows 2000, Apple MacOS X 10.4 or later, SuSE Linux Kernel 2.6.x, Microsoft Windows 2003, Microsoft Windows Vista / XP
Manufacturer warranty
Service & Support
Limited lifetime warranty
Service & Support Details
Limited warranty - lifetime
Manufacturer's product description
This 4 port PCI Express based serial adapter card lets you turn a PCI Express slot into four RS232 (DB9) serial connections. The adapter card is based on a native single chip design, that allows you to harness the full capability of PCI Express (PCIe) - providing optimum reliability and speed while reducing the load applied to the CPU by as much as 48% over conventional serial cards. The RS232 Serial Adapter Card is compatible with a broad range of operating systems, including Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista, Linux Kernel 2.6.11 and up, as well as MAC OS 10.4 and above. To ensure broad compatibility, the 4 port PCIe Serial Adapter card includes an optional low profile bracket that allows the card to be installed in virtually any computer case - making it easier to add serial ports to a PCI Express enabled computer, regardless of the size of the computer case.
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