Would like to have the touch screen, but probably won't happen. So, what is required for a laptop? Looked around, but haven't seen this mentioned anywhere. Windows XP or better? CD drive, or is DVD required? How much memory? Obviously USB is needed. Anything else? Thank you, Jim.

XP, Vista or Win7...have run s/w on all three platforms without issue. CD drive for installing from CD or net to get s/w from Holley.com DVD not required. Anything current will have enough memory....

I tune alot of parameters using the shift/ctrl and up/down or left/right arrow keys. e.g. Holding down ctrl and arrow up increases small increments and arrow right is larger increments...easy for say adjusting timing vs typing in the number on the fly. You can also use the shift key and highlight/change multiple cells the same way. So make sure the keyboard is decent.

I have an older Cmdr 950 setup that wants a serial port/cable. for whatever reason I haven't been able to get a USB to serial adapter to work. Anybody know what year they stopped putting serial ports on laptops?

Tom, I don't think there's a set year that serial ports were phased out. With that said, you're not likely to find a native serial port on any lower-end laptop made in the past 3+ years.

I'd try a different USB/Serial converter and a different serial cable if you're having trouble. It'd be a lot less hassle than getting a different laptop. If you (or anyone) needs a little help verifying/troubleshooting serial port settings or anything, feel free to ask. I do IT work for a living, so I'm pretty familiar with this stuff.

-Dave

Tom,

fwiw...I've used the one that has a prolific driver on my sony viao....works fine (vista). it was a radioshack unit.

Dave, Dennis

I too work in IT and can usually get anything to work if it's even remotely possible. That's why I was getting frustrated with my junk. Can't see any good reason for it not to work. Probably some weirdness with RS-232 flow control or something.

I bought a nicer one from Newegg, figured it would just P'n'P on XP. installed the driver from the vendors website but nooooooo....

I'll try it again, maybe use the driver off the CD that came with it instead.

Tom,

fwiw...I've used the one that has a prolific driver on my sony viao....works fine (vista). it was a radioshack unit.

The Micro Center-branded unit that I have also uses the prolific driver.

-Dave

I'm using an Aten UC-232A USB<->Serial converter and it works fine with the C950.

what does "prolific driver" mean? The driver has many children?

Thanks Zwede. I'll look for one of those.

Tom, see the attached image from my computer's device manager. This is what I meant by the "prolific" driver.

Interesting thing happened though -- I plugged this USB-Serial converter into my desktop so I could take the screenshot. I don't normally use this device on my desktop. Plug-n-play installed it as a Motorola modem, not a serial port. I right-clicked the device, and clicked Uninstall to remove it.

I ran the "PL-2303 Driver Installer.EXE" file for the driver install that came with this USB-Serial converter. I plugged it back in and it was seen properly as a regular serial port.

Maybe the same procedure would work for you Tom without buying any new hardware. The driver file is about 1.5meg. Send me a PM with your email address and I'll gladly send it to you if you want to give it a try.

-Dave

Dave, you have PM