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I've been shopping for a new computer for 3 years now (I'm the indecisive type), and I've always wanted one of those all-in-one mobos, with at least good audio, LAN, RAID, and maybe a little extra stuff. Not graphics, though, I can buy my own AGP card.
Until about a week ago, I would have gone with the Soyo K7V-Dragon Plus, which seemed like a great board. Unfortunately, it runs on the KT266A, which is getting older every minute. And there's apparently no sign of an update.
So, I switched my choice to the Abit AT7. It seems like a great board, exactly what I want, and the bragging rights can't be beat. However, I'm worried about the so-called "legacy-free" features.
I was planning on getting one of those 2x20char LCD boards for one of my drive bays, but the only ones I've seen plug into serial or parallel ports. And, I have a TI Graphlink (hooks a calculator to the computer).
This poses an additional problem, as I really need the Graphlink for school. Right now, it's plugged into a 486DX2 I use only for playing solitaire, but that computer will be out if I get a new one. My current P2-350 was completely screwed up by Verizon DSL (i'm back to my cable modem now!), so it now only has a COM5 port.
Anyway, the point of my little anecdote is this: are there any cheap Serial I/O PCI cards available, and do they work better than/as good as an onboard slot?
I've been shopping for a new computer for 3 years now (I'm the indecisive type), and I've always wanted one of those all-in-one mobos, with at least good audio, LAN, RAID, and maybe a little extra stuff. Not graphics, though, I can buy my own AGP card.
Until about a week ago, I would have gone with the Soyo K7V-Dragon Plus, which seemed like a great board. Unfortunately, it runs on the KT266A, which is getting older every minute. And there's apparently no sign of an update.
So, I switched my choice to the Abit AT7. It seems like a great board, exactly what I want, and the bragging rights can't be beat. However, I'm worried about the so-called "legacy-free" features.
I was planning on getting one of those 2x20char LCD boards for one of my drive bays, but the only ones I've seen plug into serial or parallel ports. And, I have a TI Graphlink (hooks a calculator to the computer).
This poses an additional problem, as I really need the Graphlink for school. Right now, it's plugged into a 486DX2 I use only for playing solitaire, but that computer will be out if I get a new one. My current P2-350 was completely screwed up by Verizon DSL (i'm back to my cable modem now!), so it now only has a COM5 port.
Anyway, the point of my little anecdote is this: are there any cheap Serial I/O PCI cards available, and do they work better than/as good as an onboard slot?
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