TRIPP LITE Keyspan High-Speed USB to Serial Adapter, PC & Mac, USB-A to DB9 RS232 Male, 3 Foot / 0.91 Meter Cable, 3-Year Warranty (USA-19HS)

This Tripp Lite Keyspan USB to Serial Adapter has been a lifesaver for connecting older serial devices to my newer laptop. Setup was quick and easy – plug and play with no issues on both PC and Mac. The build quality is excellent, the 3-foot cable length is perfect, and the connection is stable and consistent. It’s been extremely reliable for data transfers, and I’ve had zero communication errors. Highly recommend this for anyone needing a dependable RS232 to USB solution. Worth every penny, especially with the 3-year warranty included!

KEYSPAN USA-19HS USB to Serial adapter: Summary: I had a device that came with a USB-Serial adapter from FTDI Chip that only worked intermittently, was poorly documented, and the vendor ignored my e-mail. The KEYSPAN USA-19HS worked flawlessly, is well documented, and comes with a powerful utility (which I did not need). Details: Recently I acquired a "Duplimate Mark IV bis" duplicate bridge card dealer. It uses a serial connection to the host Windows computer. I'm using an IBM Thinkpad T40 running Windows XP SP2. The computer has no serial ports, but the Duplimate came with an adapter, as well as a serial cable. That adapter has a captive USP cable, and a DB9-F connector for the serial device (unusually, with screws - no independent serial cable needed). The adapter was identified only by manufacturer, FTDI Chip. It came with a mini-CD, which I explored and used to print out the manual. I eventually deduced that the adapter was an HL-340, which I found stamped on the DB9 connector and as the name of a folder on the mini-CD, but not in the manual. I installed a driver in that folder, and got the dealer to work - kind of. It would actually deal a hand only about half the time, otherwise taking several seconds to report a communications error. By the time I had hit Ctrl-A to restart dealing for the fifth time on a deal, I was wondering what I would do if it refused to deal. FTDI Chip has a web site, and I downloaded a driver from there - no use. I did perform a successful reinstall without using the HL-340 folder directly, with no change in results. A detailed e-mail to FTDI chip produced no response. If you ever have a chance to buy something from FTDI Chip - DON'T! Two days ago, I ordered the KEYSPAN USA-19HS from Amazon for just under $32, with free shipping. It arrived today, and I put it through its paces. It comes with a full-size CD. First, I removed the old driver. When I installed the Keyspan software, which must be done with the adapter disconnected, the driver went right in. (I also took the time to register the product.) A Keyspan USB Serial Adapter folder appeared on my Programs menu, and it contains a powerful and potentially useful Keyspan Serial Assistant - as well as the manual in HTML and PDF. Don't read the manual on CD - it's slow - wait to read it on your computer. The manual is excellent, tho you may not need it. The adapter has a short detachable USB cable, which is probably fine for most applications; but if you need a longer one, you can substitute. Using the serial assistant or Start-Control Panel-System-Hardware-Ports confirmed that the newly connected serial port was COM3. The DB9-M connector has nuts for the screws on a typical serial cable, so it would not mate with the Duplimate, which also has nuts. No problem, I had the serial cable that came with the Duplimate. While using the extra cable is not as convenient, I judge this to be the correct implementation, because it will mate with captive or specialized serial cables. Because my WinDup software was already configured for COM3, I was able to fire it up and start dealing immediately. No more communications errors, no more waiting to hit Ctrl-A if the machine did not start dealing immediately. It always started dealing as soon as I inserted the next board.

No complaints--this adapter does what it says it'll do. As an experiment, I wanted to see if I could load software for an old Palm Pilot and sync in Windows 11. The sync cradle is RS232 (serial) so I needed an adapter. The Tripp Lite was completely plug 'n' play and was working in a few minutes. Only very minor complaint is I haven't yet found a way to adjust RS232 settings (such as baud rate) in Device Manager. I haven't done exhaustive research into that (it works great for my setup so I haven't needed to). I like that the adapter has an LED--indicates when it's connected, when it's transmitting data, etc. Nice.

I purchased this cable for work to configure routers and other devices via serial port. Works well in conjunction with the Cisco blue serial cable. The cable assembly is of good quality and consists of two parts, the USB to serial adapter, and a standard USB A to B cable. This design is quite nice as you can unplug the adapter from the cable for compact storage/transport without having to bend the cable at the adapter to cable interface. In addition, you can replace the USB cable with a longer one if necessary. This two part design is probably why this cable costs a bit more than some of the other cables. The cable also has a non-obtrusive green LED which blinks when it is idle, and is solid when there is communication. I've used this cable on both Linux and Windows XP (it also comes for drivers for Mac OS X 10.2.8 or greater and MacOS 8.6-9.x). This adapter is plug-and-play support for Linux (Fedora Core 6) without needing to install any drivers! This is a major plus in my book. Once you plug it in, the serial port is available as /dev/ttyUSB0 (type 'dmesg' after you plug it in to see what device file it is associated with). I also got it working relatively easily with Windows XP by first installing the driver from CD, then plugging the device into the USB port. After installing the driver, Windows XP menus became a bit erratic (transparent when I clicked on the menu and I was unable to see the menu items), so I did a reboot and it worked fine after that. I don't know if this is related to the driver installation but it is the first time I ever saw this behavior. In Hyperterminal, The adapter showed up as COM5. You can figure out the COM port to use by launching the device manager (right click on "My Computer" ->Properties ->Hardware tab -> Device Manager). Go down to Ports (COM & LPT), and Keyspan USB Serial Port should have the com port in parenthesis (COM5 in my case). This adapter was well worth the price and it shipped for free on Amazon.

(Please see my update at the end of this review before considering the purchase of this adapter) I've been using the Keyspan USA-19HS for years. The first one was purchased after reading recommendations from several control system experts, and I haven't been disappointed. Rockwell Automation sells their own version of a USB serial port adapter (PN 9300-USBS), but it's about $130. Don't bother. The Keyspan is inexpensive and has proven to be 100% compatible with everything I've needed to connect to via a serial cable. I've used it with laptops and desktops running Windows 98SE, Windows XP and Windows 7. I've used it on SLC 5/xx series processors, ControlLogix 5000 processors, Siemens/TI 505 series processors, Keyence laser measurement equipment, modems, serial printers, barcode scanners, Reliance and Rockwell/Allen-Bradley drives, and just about everything else. Never a problem. It works with straight serial cables, null modem cables, and every type of serial adapter I've thrown at it. The Keyspan USA-19HS is the cheapest piece of control system communication hardware that I own, and it's probably the most-used. It has never let me down. Since I first started using the Keyspan adapter, I've bought over a dozen more for service techs, co-workers and even a couple of bosses. The Keyspan is extremely configurable, fast, reliable, durable and easy to use. The Keyspan adapter comes with a driver CD and a USB cable and takes just a few minutes to set up. I keep one in my laptop bag at all times. UPDATE 4/5/12: it appears that Tripp-Lite has made a few changes since they took over the Keyspan line. Among the changes was a decision to use a cheaper USB socket. From the outside, it looks almost the same. The only notable difference is a lack of molded numbers (1, 2, 3 and 4) on the end of the plastic tab in the middle of the port. Unfortunately, the cheaper USB socket doesn't retain the cable connector as well as the older ones did. The weaker spring conductors allow the cable to be pulled most of the way out of the socket, resulting in a lost connection and possibly a BSOD (blue screen of death). I took a couple of the older Keyspan adapters (no Tripp-Lite logo on the housing) and a couple of the newer Keyspan adapters (with the Tripp-Lite logo on the housing), opened the housings and compared them. The differences I saw between old and new were minor: notably a different PCB manufacturer's logo and a couple of chips that had changed brands. And the USB type B port. The old has a partial back shell (you can see the white plastic on the back of the port), while the new has a full back shell (can't see the plastic in back). The few cents that Tripp-Lite saved by using a cheaper socket isn't worth it. Whereas the old Keyspans would easily support the weight of the adapter + a 10 ft. coiled-up serial cable, the new Keyspans cannot. The new ones can't support the weight and allow the USB cable to pull partway out of the port. I tested 3 of the new Keyspan adapters and they all performed the same: almost no load-bearing capability at all. Since the adapters still work fine except for the USB port, I simply desoldered the cheap-o port from each of the new adapters and replaced it with an FCI port (FCI PN 61729-1011BLF -- 54 cents each). No more problems. Most users probably won't be able replace the port, so a quick (if not awkward and/or ugly) fix is to either glue the USB cable into the port or use tape or a heavy rubber band to retain the cable. Tripp-Lite, shame on you for ruining a perfectly good adapter to save a few pennies. I have reduced the adapter's 5 star rating to 2 stars based on the poor quality of the new USB port. Like the old Baskin-Robbins saying goes, "There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that man's lawful prey." UPDATE 10/11/12: A coworker bought a half dozen new Keyspan USA-19HS adapters today, so I wasted no time in testing them out to see if the USB port problem was fixed. I tested all 6 of the adapters and was happy to see that none suffered from loose USB ports. The ports don't have any numbers (1, 2, 3 and 4) molded on the end of the plastic tab in the middle of the port, so I'm guessing they're not anything special, but they seem to hold onto the USB cable quite well. I only hope Tripp-Lite has learned a lesson about trusting others to adhere to high quality standards based on faith alone. I have updated the adapter's rating from 2 stars to 4 stars based on seeing and testing this batch of adapters.

I bought a cheap USB-serial cable from eBay and used some free PL2303 drivers that I downloaded. Despite the fact that drivers installed okay and detected the hardware, I only got garbage data from it. So I took a chance and bought this USB-serial cable, since there were so many Mac users extolling its virtues. They are all correct: this cable works great! And it has some of the best Mac support I've seen from a hardware vendor. The cable ships with a CD that has Windows and Mac (OS 9 *and* OS X) drivers and documentation on it. The documentation is great -- it fully describes the installation process, which is very simple actually but there maybe some issues here and there. It also covers using the cable with various popular devices, like a Palm Pilot and Virtual PC. There's even a small application that gets installed that gives you some status info and lets you install the drivers. One caveat is that that you can only install one set of drivers for an OS. So if you install the OS X drivers, you can't also install the OS 9 drivers and use it in Classic mode. You also can't install the Windows drivers if you're running Virtual PC, but there are instructions on how to get around that. The documentation even says that Keyspan doesn't officially support Virtual PC, but they include instructions provided by end-users anyway. I wish every vendor provided that kind of documentation. I know this cable is much more expensive that the cheap-o ones you find elsewhere, but if you're a Mac user, don't waste your time with any other USB-serial cable.

Installed the configuration software, plugged it in, and it worked immediately. I am using it with WinXP Service Pack 2, and it communicates great with a complex serial interface to an unusual piece of electronics I have, so its very compatible with "real" serial ports, unlike some other adapters I have tried that seem to only work with modems or PDA docks. The adapter as shipped is actually a small 1"x1.5"x3" box connected to your computer with a 3' USB cable that can be unplugged from it. It has a green LED on top to tell you when it is properly configured as well as when a program has opened that serial port and when it is passing data. Very functional and easy to use; the configuration software even includes tests to make sure the device is recognized and is properly communicating with your computer. The configuration software also ensures that the same COM port is assigned to the device, no matter which USB port on your computer you plug it into each time, unlike previous adapters I've had which created a different COM port each time you plugged the device into a different USB port (very annoying); the driver also has an option to behave like those other drivers, but most people will probably want to always have it act like the same COM port, the default.

Effortless connection for my old Serial/Parallel port vinyl plotter. I have a 2000 model year Vinyl Express 32" vinyl cutter that that had only a serial port connection. With this adapter, I was able to upgrade my machine to USB connection on a Windows 10 laptop. It was very simple once I updated my old Win 2000 software, the Vinyl Express software and then added this port converter so they could talk. I didn't need anything more, even the CD was included with a driver that worked perfectly. Don't give up on old serial port equipment if it still works well. This is a reliable and inexpensive solution. The connector takes a standard USB cable connection just like your printer has. A 3' cable is included but since the adapter is independent of the cable, not molded together into one piece, you can use any standard USB cable to achieve the length you need. Highly Recommend!

Prodotto di qualità superiore alla media. Disponibile anche un piccolo software per gestire la periferica e testare la comuncazione. Arrivato in tempi brevissimi!

Keyspan USB to serial adapter is just the best in the market. It works immediately 100% compatible with windows. I got also one I used with my mac for years. Strongly recommended!

Algo caro pero funciona perfectamente.

Professionnel de l'informatique, j'ai installé cet adaptateur USB-série chez un client garagiste, en remplacement d'un adaptateur d'une autre marque, pourtant neuf mais qui provoquait des erreurs de communication avec un boîtier de diagnostics automobile GM Tech2. Avec celui-là, aucun souci de communication entre le pc et le boîtier Tech2. C'est d'ailleurs ce modèle qui est préconisé par General Motors.

I got this to upgrade the software on my Celestron Nexstar SE8 Telescope and Starsense finder and it did the trick perfectly. The item supplied by Celestron didn't work and their own website even suggests getting this item. So..... the big question for Celestron is why not include an adaptor that actually works. Hey ho - well worth the expense for a quality item.