OT: Small / light NOT expensive PC with RS-232 port

R

Robert Baer

Guest
Any suggestions along this line?
It should support Windows, ideally Win2K, but Win7 (or XP SP2) if
push comes to shove.
Unfortunately, Win98SE is no longer an option unless a legal version
is available cheap via e-bay (i tossed all my older disks).
 
Robert Baer <robertbaer@localnet.com> wrote:
> Any suggestions along this line?

I'm assuming you don't want a laptop.

A used/refurbished "slimtop" PC might do what you want for $100-$120.
Some will still have one hardware serial port. Most all of them have
either one PCI or PCI Express slot, to which you can easily add a 1 or
2 port serial card for $20 or so. If you think you need the card, don't
buy it until you have the computer in hand; sometimes vendors are
confused about which expansion slots the PC actually has.

See my previous post to a possibly similar query at any of the
following:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!original/sci.electronics.design/USHjcHl4xA8/-bvQRztSLfEJ
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!original/sci.electronics.design/USHjcHl4xA8/-bvQRztSLfEJ>
http://is.gd/OXH9AT

It should support Windows, ideally Win2K, but Win7 (or XP SP2) if
push comes to shove.
Click to expand...

I understand having old apps that can't deal with a new OS, but I would
suggest that you at least choose an OS whose vendor end-of-life date is
still in the future. Even if just by a few months. :) Assuming you're
not going to be connected to the Internet, and that you have 2 GB or
less of memory, and maybe a slower processor, XP is IMHO a better choice
than Win7.

Matt Roberds
 
On 1/29/2014 8:22 PM, Robert Baer wrote:
Any suggestions along this line?
It should support Windows, ideally Win2K, but Win7 (or XP SP2) if
push comes to shove.
Unfortunately, Win98SE is no longer an option unless a legal version
is available cheap via e-bay (i tossed all my older disks).
Click to expand...

Anything new would need to support W7 or W8.

Please define "NOT expensive" ?

Do you want one, two, 25, 137 ?

I would guess that having to support Win?? means you have some legacy
software that does not have any replacement.

Via has lots of small solutions.

http://www.viaembedded.com/en/products/boards/?adsfrom=EN-dec&adsdesc=vab-820

Good luck

hamilton
 
Salvation Army, etc.

Tim

--
Seven Transistor Labs
Electrical Engineering Consultation

Website: http://seventransistorlabs.com
"Robert Baer" <robertbaer@localnet.com> wrote in message
news:yzjGu.243953$wB.206796@fx28.iad...
Any suggestions along this line?
It should support Windows, ideally Win2K, but Win7 (or XP SP2) if push
comes to shove.
Unfortunately, Win98SE is no longer an option unless a legal version
is available cheap via e-bay (i tossed all my older disks).
Click to expand...
 
On 30/01/2014 03:22, Robert Baer wrote:
Any suggestions along this line?
Click to expand...

Scrapyard?

It should support Windows, ideally Win2K, but Win7 (or XP SP2) if
push comes to shove.
Unfortunately, Win98SE is no longer an option unless a legal version
is available cheap via e-bay (i tossed all my older disks).
Click to expand...

That was pretty silly. I still have disks for almost everything going
back to DOS2.10 and I always record registration license codes in case I
ever need to reinstall something old on a VM for testing.

In practice an end of life Dell or HP compact PC with an XP license
included from whoever the US equivalent of these guys is:

http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/product_detail/13077/Optiplex-GX620-SFF-Intel-P4-2-8Ghz-1GB-80GB-XP-Pro/

You may need to pay more for the RS232 card than you do for the PC!

--
Regards,
Martin Brown
 
On 1/29/14 7:22 PM, Robert Baer wrote:
Any suggestions along this line?
It should support Windows, ideally Win2K, but Win7 (or XP SP2) if
push comes to shove.
Unfortunately, Win98SE is no longer an option unless a legal version
is available cheap via e-bay (i tossed all my older disks).
Click to expand...
It's too bad Windows is a requirement. You could get a Raspberry Pi for
pretty cheap, but it runs BSD AFAIK. Then, just get a USB to RS-232
dongle. Done.

Anyway, I don't know if its still any good, but years ago I used to use
"http://www.pricewatch.com/" to find good deals.

In the "PC - Barebones" section, there is a Pentium 4 for $75 (+$20
shipping)

In the "PC - No OS" section there is an Intel Core 2 Duo also for $75.

I don't know about you, but that's "cheap" to me.

You might be able to build one cheaper, depending on how you value your
time, by buying the parts and assembling it yourself.
 
On Wednesday, January 29, 2014 10:22:06 PM UTC-5, Robert Baer wrote:
Any suggestions along this line?

It should support Windows, ideally Win2K, but Win7 (or XP SP2) if

push comes to shove.

Unfortunately, Win98SE is no longer an option unless a legal version

is available cheap via e-bay (i tossed all my older disks).
Click to expand...

I bought an XP machine plus monitor and kbd, mouse for $90 from a guy who reconditions them. It had an RS232 port. It is a good machine. He also sold me several SATA 500 gb drives for $30.
Old technology VERY cheep.
jb
Check craigslist. YMMV.
 
Martin Brown wrote:
On 30/01/2014 03:22, Robert Baer wrote:

Any suggestions along this line?

Scrapyard?

It should support Windows, ideally Win2K, but Win7 (or XP SP2) if
push comes to shove.
Unfortunately, Win98SE is no longer an option unless a legal version
is available cheap via e-bay (i tossed all my older disks).

That was pretty silly. I still have disks for almost everything going
back to DOS2.10 and I always record registration license codes in case I
ever need to reinstall something old on a VM for testing.

In practice an end of life Dell or HP compact PC with an XP license
included from whoever the US equivalent of these guys is:

http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/product_detail/13077/Optiplex-GX620-SFF-Intel-P4-2-8Ghz-1GB-80GB-XP-Pro/


You may need to pay more for the RS232 card than you do for the PC!
Click to expand...
Tell me!
Thanks.
 
mroberds@att.net wrote:
Robert Baer<robertbaer@localnet.com> wrote:
Any suggestions along this line?

I'm assuming you don't want a laptop.

A used/refurbished "slimtop" PC might do what you want for $100-$120.
Some will still have one hardware serial port. Most all of them have
either one PCI or PCI Express slot, to which you can easily add a 1 or
2 port serial card for $20 or so. If you think you need the card, don't
buy it until you have the computer in hand; sometimes vendors are
confused about which expansion slots the PC actually has.

See my previous post to a possibly similar query at any of the
following:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!original/sci.electronics.design/USHjcHl4xA8/-bvQRztSLfEJ
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!original/sci.electronics.design/USHjcHl4xA8/-bvQRztSLfEJ
http://is.gd/OXH9AT

It should support Windows, ideally Win2K, but Win7 (or XP SP2) if
push comes to shove.

I understand having old apps that can't deal with a new OS, but I would
suggest that you at least choose an OS whose vendor end-of-life date is
still in the future. Even if just by a few months. :) Assuming you're
not going to be connected to the Internet, and that you have 2 GB or
less of memory, and maybe a slower processor, XP is IMHO a better choice
than Win7.

Matt Roberds
Click to expand...
Am going to noodle around with empty HD and see if Win3.11 will do..;
too bad i tossed my Win95 and my Win98SE disks.
 
hamilton wrote:
On 1/29/2014 8:22 PM, Robert Baer wrote:

Any suggestions along this line?
It should support Windows, ideally Win2K, but Win7 (or XP SP2) if
push comes to shove.
Unfortunately, Win98SE is no longer an option unless a legal version
is available cheap via e-bay (i tossed all my older disks).

Anything new would need to support W7 or W8.

Please define "NOT expensive" ?

Do you want one, two, 25, 137 ?

I would guess that having to support Win?? means you have some legacy
software that does not have any replacement.

Via has lots of small solutions.

http://www.viaembedded.com/en/products/boards/?adsfrom=EN-dec&adsdesc=vab-820


Good luck

hamilton
Click to expand...
Rather nice; most have real RS-232 which i need.
No pricing which makes comparison nasty.
Thanks.
 
Daniel Pitts wrote:
On 1/29/14 7:22 PM, Robert Baer wrote:

Any suggestions along this line?
It should support Windows, ideally Win2K, but Win7 (or XP SP2) if
push comes to shove.
Unfortunately, Win98SE is no longer an option unless a legal version
is available cheap via e-bay (i tossed all my older disks).
It's too bad Windows is a requirement. You could get a Raspberry Pi for
pretty cheap, but it runs BSD AFAIK. Then, just get a USB to RS-232
dongle. Done.

Anyway, I don't know if its still any good, but years ago I used to use
"http://www.pricewatch.com/" to find good deals.

In the "PC - Barebones" section, there is a Pentium 4 for $75 (+$20
shipping)

In the "PC - No OS" section there is an Intel Core 2 Duo also for $75.

I don't know about you, but that's "cheap" to me.

You might be able to build one cheaper, depending on how you value your
time, by buying the parts and assembling it yourself.
Click to expand...
USB to RS-232 will NOT work; the software is Win95 age (roughly and
tied into the port addresses.
 
DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno wrote:
On Thu, 30 Jan 2014 07:38:59 +0000, Martin Brown
|||newspam|||@nezumi.demon.co.uk> Gave us:

On 30/01/2014 03:22, Robert Baer wrote:

Any suggestions along this line?

Scrapyard?

snip

Run Linux.

While you are at it... use a 3 watt PC for this.

It is an ARM platform, so added benefit of no WindBloats security
nightmare OSes.

What do you need the port for?

http://imx.solid-run.com/product/cubox-i4-pro/

My set-up uses about 50 Watts (sans peripherals)


PC - $150.00
BlueTooth Touch Panel Keyboard - $9.00
21" Touch Screen Display - $306.00 (It is *ALSO* an Android PC)

Total - $465.00

Power:

PC - 2.5 to 5 Watts
BlueTooth Touch Panel Keyboard - 3 to 6 Watts
21" Touch Screen LED Display - 40 Watts

Total - 47 to 50 Watts

$10 per watt. Not bad.
Click to expand...
Absolutely NOT an option; the program is Windows based and addresses
the RS-232 port.
 
haiticare2011@gmail.com wrote:
On Wednesday, January 29, 2014 10:22:06 PM UTC-5, Robert Baer wrote:
Any suggestions along this line?

It should support Windows, ideally Win2K, but Win7 (or XP SP2) if

push comes to shove.

Unfortunately, Win98SE is no longer an option unless a legal version

is available cheap via e-bay (i tossed all my older disks).

I bought an XP machine plus monitor and kbd, mouse for $90 from a guy who reconditions them. It had an RS232 port. It is a good machine. He also sold me several SATA 500 gb drives for $30.
Old technology VERY cheep.
jb
Check craigslist. YMMV.
Click to expand...
I avoid Craigs list like the plague..once i advertised a mattress;
got ZERO relevant responses and hundreds/week of "you can make money
using our system" BS - and even tho they tapered off some after 3
months, the BS continued for around TWO YEARS.
 
Robert Baer <robertbaer@localnet.com> wrote:
haiticare2011@gmail.com wrote:
On Wednesday, January 29, 2014 10:22:06 PM UTC-5, Robert Baer wrote:
Any suggestions along this line?

It should support Windows, ideally Win2K, but Win7 (or XP SP2) if

push comes to shove.

Unfortunately, Win98SE is no longer an option unless a legal version

is available cheap via e-bay (i tossed all my older disks).

I bought an XP machine plus monitor and kbd, mouse for $90 from a guy
who reconditions them. It had an RS232 port. It is a good machine. He
also sold me several SATA 500 gb drives for $30.
Old technology VERY cheep.
jb
Check craigslist. YMMV.
I avoid Craigs list like the plague..once i advertised a mattress; got
ZERO relevant responses and hundreds/week of "you can make money using
our system" BS - and even tho they tapered off some after 3 months, the
BS continued for around TWO YEARS.
Click to expand...

Hard to sell mattresses, unless it's thrown in with a bed or other
furniture.

Greg
 
On Thursday, January 30, 2014 9:19:01 PM UTC-5, DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno wrote:
On Thu, 30 Jan 2014 07:38:59 +0000, Martin Brown

|||newspam|||@nezumi.demon.co.uk> Gave us:



On 30/01/2014 03:22, Robert Baer wrote:



Any suggestions along this line?



Scrapyard?



snip



Run Linux.



While you are at it... use a 3 watt PC for this.



It is an ARM platform, so added benefit of no WindBloats security

nightmare OSes.



What do you need the port for?



http://imx.solid-run.com/product/cubox-i4-pro/



My set-up uses about 50 Watts (sans peripherals)





PC - $150.00

BlueTooth Touch Panel Keyboard - $9.00

21" Touch Screen Display - $306.00 (It is *ALSO* an Android PC)



Total - $465.00



Power:



PC - 2.5 to 5 Watts

BlueTooth Touch Panel Keyboard - 3 to 6 Watts

21" Touch Screen LED Display - 40 Watts



Total - 47 to 50 Watts



$10 per watt. Not bad.
Click to expand...

Any standard Linux distribution(Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian ...)
running on a standard x86 box would work just fine. Win2K
is prehistoric and the latest Windows versions are just
bloatware with useless fluff.
 
Maynard A. Philbrook Jr. wrote:
In article<yzjGu.243953$wB.206796@fx28.iad>, robertbaer@localnet.com
says...

Any suggestions along this line?
It should support Windows, ideally Win2K, but Win7 (or XP SP2) if
push comes to shove.
Unfortunately, Win98SE is no longer an option unless a legal version
is available cheap via e-bay (i tossed all my older disks).

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/fanless-pc

That's a good deal btw..

Jamie

Looks nice, but how in the hell does one ask the seller a question?
Click to expand...
 
On Thu, 30 Jan 2014 07:38:59 +0000, Martin Brown
<|||newspam|||@nezumi.demon.co.uk> Gave us:

On 30/01/2014 03:22, Robert Baer wrote:

Any suggestions along this line?

Scrapyard?
Click to expand...

snip

Run Linux.

While you are at it... use a 3 watt PC for this.

It is an ARM platform, so added benefit of no WindBloats security
nightmare OSes.

What do you need the port for?

http://imx.solid-run.com/product/cubox-i4-pro/

My set-up uses about 50 Watts (sans peripherals)


PC - $150.00
BlueTooth Touch Panel Keyboard - $9.00
21" Touch Screen Display - $306.00 (It is *ALSO* an Android PC)

Total - $465.00

Power:

PC - 2.5 to 5 Watts
BlueTooth Touch Panel Keyboard - 3 to 6 Watts
21" Touch Screen LED Display - 40 Watts

Total - 47 to 50 Watts

$10 per watt. Not bad.
 
In article <yzjGu.243953$wB.206796@fx28.iad>, robertbaer@localnet.com
says...
Any suggestions along this line?
It should support Windows, ideally Win2K, but Win7 (or XP SP2) if
push comes to shove.
Unfortunately, Win98SE is no longer an option unless a legal version
is available cheap via e-bay (i tossed all my older disks).
Click to expand...

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/fanless-pc

That's a good deal btw..

Jamie
 
In article <yzjGu.243953$wB.206796@fx28.iad>, robertbaer@localnet.com
says...
Any suggestions along this line?
It should support Windows, ideally Win2K, but Win7 (or XP SP2) if
push comes to shove.
Unfortunately, Win98SE is no longer an option unless a legal version
is available cheap via e-bay (i tossed all my older disks).
Click to expand...

You can get fanless brick computers with serial port support that
will handle the new OS'es..

I still have a pile of used ubnits here with WXP pro in them, they have
4 RS232, 2/3 USB, EtherNet, Parellel port, vidoe, sound etc..

They come with SSD or HD in them... Oh, the ones I have also
have CF and some other size.

I also have thin clients that have serial ports on them..


Jamie
 
On 1/29/2014 7:22 PM, Robert Baer wrote:
Any suggestions along this line?
It should support Windows, ideally Win2K, but Win7 (or XP SP2) if
push comes to shove.
Unfortunately, Win98SE is no longer an option unless a legal version
is available cheap via e-bay (i tossed all my older disks).
Click to expand...

Might be helpful to know why you need the rs-232 port.
All usb/rs-232 dongles are not created equal. I can't make any
recommendations, because all mine are noname dongles.
But they do behave differently if you're bit-banging the control lines.
And there are utilities to open the ports on XP and newer to make
old SW run.
If you need accurate timing bit-banging the port, you may be outa luck.
 
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