Looking for a reliable USB RS232 converter

hellö …

i’m looking for a proven reliable USB <> RS 232 converter, be it a cable or a small box-like device … i don’t care, all i want is that it’s gotta work fail proof with RS232 devices like programmers and interfaces. just one port shall suffice, more than would be too much and probably too expensive.

something based on FTDI chips would be nice as they’ve proven to be OK so far, especially on my Intel Mac because that’s where it’s going to be connected running WinXP.

any pointers, recommendations?
thank you, patrick.

there are plenty of little cheap cables out there which do their job quite well. most of them use the FTDI chip, and sport no noticable difference.

the more reliable solution is a equally cheap internal PCI card (sold usually with 4 RS232 ports) which avoids all hassles with changing RS232 port ids and device enumerations.

thx sbsn! i can’t use pci cards, i’m on a lappy (you know ;). i’ve now ordered a not so cheap cable sporting a FTDI FT232BM which features a configurable virtual COM-Port driver (VCP).

http://www.so-mm.de/images/produkte/obd/usb-konverter.jpg

this cable will still need a level converter such as a MAX232 to convert from TTL 5V to RS232 12V levels to communicate with less flexible devices.

so far the prolific chip sets proved to be a waste of time. more news when they’re available …