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The solution is a PCMCIA or Express Serial Card. This card will provide a standard DB9 serial port for any laptop. Most laptops today come with a USB Serial Port and there is no reliable solution on the market to connect your CNC machine via a laptop using this USB technology. We have researched for years now looking for an USB to Serial adapter to reliably work under Windows 2000 and XP. Most have problems sending data to and from the CNC and working with 32 bit applications. Why take a chance?

RS-232 serial PCMCIA and Express cards are an ideal solution for any laptop adding additional ports to a wide variety of portable systems. Because they share electronic fundamentals with native bus architectures such as PCI and ISA, they function exactly like standard COM ports and can be addressed as such by most application software. In addition, their small size and the fact that the card itself can be left inside the computer at all times, make them practical choices for the most ported portable systems. Once added, it shows up in Windows Device Manager as COMM 1 or any desire port you choose.

RS-232 serial PCMCIA cards are designed to provide maximum performance while taking up minimal system resources. For high performance is heavy multitasking environments, the cards are implemented with 16750 UARTs containing 64-byte FIFOs. This along with special clock-multiplying features enables data transfer rates as high as 921.6 kbps. (4-port cards still use 16550 UARTs for standard 115.2 kbps speeds, but are due for an upgrade soon.) The cards also conserve system resources with their low power requirements that maximized battery life. They also have selectable and shareable interrupts, further extending a portable or handheld system's limited resources. And their multi-platform operating support makes them the single practical choice for a diverse fleet of portable systems.

Purchase a PCMCIA or Express card from us today to connect your laptop to any CNC! We can also supply you with an RS232 cable to communicate to your CNC Control. Free technical support is included with every purchase! Visit our "ORDERING" page to process your order today.  

New laptops do not include PCMCIA ports, but are including a new standard called "Express Card". The following picture shows both types of cards. Note there are two Express Card formats - 54 and 34. An Express Card/34 will fit into an Express Card/54 slot, but not visa versa.

Most laptops will also include some sort of blank plastic piece that fits into the Express Card or PCMCIA slot. The plastic piece should roughly match the same and dimensions of the image below.