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USB VS Serial — Parallax Forums

USB VS Serial

FurciferFurcifer Posts: 3
edited 2008-08-31 21:22 in Learn with BlocklyProp
OOOOOHHH Lords of intellect and knowledgesmile.gif······ Hi, I'm brand new to Parallax products and programming in general.· my only question for now.....when buying hardware (BOE, Oscilliscope, BOEBot, etc), is there any advantage of USB connection over Serial?
Furcifer

Comments

  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2008-08-30 15:40
    Since most computers sold now do not have serial ports, you can either build a USB to serial interface into a device or buy an external one. If you buy an external one, you can share it among several devices. Given how cheap and simple built-in adapters have become, it's also convenient to just build it into your device and the USB cable is much simpler and usually smaller and more convenient than a serial cable. Your choice.

    Oh yeah ... USB can provide some power to a device. Serial ports can't supply any significant amount of power.
  • FurciferFurcifer Posts: 3
    edited 2008-08-31 11:15
    Thanks Mike....USB it is!
  • allanlane5allanlane5 Posts: 3,815
    edited 2008-08-31 20:22
    The one big benefit of RS-232 (in other words, using a USB to serial adapter) is that the BS2 can act as a "master" RS-232 device, but cannot act like a "master" USB device.

    So, if you get the USB-BOE board, you're kind of locked in to connecting it to a PC.
  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2008-08-31 21:22
    On the other hand, it's very easy (one or two resistors) to hook a pair of Stamp I/O pins to most RS232 ports (see the manual chapters on SEROUT / SERIN). If you want "official" RS232 voltage levels, you would need an external MAX232 or equivalent since the Stamp's programming port interface circuitry doesn't always meet the standard.
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