i have found a solution:

i have found a new laptop very powerful new which comes with a serial port on board and all the other goodies only it didn't come with a parallel (25pin printer port)

the solution is a pcmcia parallel port card, i bought one a little pricey but it worked just as described and i uploaded and communicated with the prominator just fine. its fully mapped and works and shows up just as a lpt1 port awesome solution for those who want a new laptop the one i am going to buy is is the dell d820 has like 4 usb, fire wire, pcmcia, serial fast cpu, lots o memory, and good vid card

heres the main features of the card its a guy who is local to my area who i found on eBay actually. i can see if we can get a group buy together.

there website is here: http://www.transdigital.net/

go to the info page to order one online, or about us for his phone number.
you want the 303 model and it was $95

* Add-on Standard Parallel Port for Notebook PCs to connect printers and other parallel devices ( JTAG chip programers, data acquisition, machine proces control, scientific measurement systems and software protection dongles).

* Windows XP/2000 auto-install (automatic installation with first insertion of the Card into PC Card slot) and few clicks - easy installation with Windows 9x, DOS and Linux.

* Installs as a fully featured bi-directional I/O mapped parallel port as LPT1, LPT2 or LPT3 ( Unlike competitors' parallel port card which only emulates the parallel port ).

* Fully compatible with IEEE-1284 Parallel Port Standard and with 2.1 (level 5 - highest level of compatibility) PCMCIA Standard , designed with extremely low standby power draw to save battery life.

* Selected by Siemens AG as a superior add-on parallel port card for Siemens/Fujitsu Notebooks.

* Preferable Type I Card to fit into all PC Card slots of Notebooks and Mini-Notebooks.

* 3 years limited warranty.

 

I just bought a loaded dell D820 in China about a month or 2 ago. It's pretty darn good (except the speakers sound a little "tinny").

Serial port and the little eraser style finger mouse were the reasons I chose it. Also, D820 has a big screen for analyzing lots of data or running several logging apps at once. D620 is same, but smaller screen.

The eraser style mouse is great for in car stuff. Also, as far as I know, it doesn't have the same shock detection as an IBM, so the hard drive always works when logging.

Large hard disk 120G, core 2 duo, got mine with XP still, 2 gigs of this and 2 of that... should keep it in service for at least 2 to 3 years.

I use a USB printer, so....

And the warranty: 1st year I could drop the thing in water, smash it with a hammer, drop it, run over it, and get a new one within 48 hours. Within 3 years, free repair on normal use failures, or something like that.

 

I have a Dell D820, and what a difference it makes. Was using a cheaper Dell Inspiron 1000, and had to use a USB-Serial adapter. It worked, but was kinda kludgy.

The serial port built in, USB connections, good battery life are all nice, but the best part is the screen is nice and wide, which makes studying the EBL logs alot easier.

Might have to try the add on card. That way I could take the eeprom programmer to the track.

 

Sagernotebook.com

I've had one since 98 and it still running great!
NP3300C Was top of the line then, Been round the world 4 times with it.
They still offer serial ports unlike many others.
Some good hardware from the people who make alienware.(shhh., it's a secret) They have full hardware units if you want instead of low power laptops. I've always looked at what they have before I go to Dell or other sites. Worth a look if your in the market for a new pooter.
Just thought I'd mention them.

 

Been using an IBM thinkpad for almost 2 years and it works flawlessly its an older model but it runs probably as good as newer laptops. Even the older IBMs were farther ahead of there time compared to any other laptop. Even connects instantly with scanning software.

 

That's good to hear...the Thinkpad is the ONLY laptop model we've ever had any trouble with.

 

I've used only a Thinkpad for many years. I finally bought a Compaq, but still haven't actually used it for tuning since the IBM is tried n true.

Downside to the IBM is it likes to "forget" that the serial port should be enabled after a power down. But even with that it's consistent, which I can work with.

 

Thanks to Porky ! I too am Prominator with lappy with no parallel p but do have the pcmcia slot. first two parallel cards did not work. Looks like yours will work. thanks again. I should have it in a couple three days. hard to tune with a desktop.

 

no problem

good to know the dell d820 is a good model

i have a 620 i bought like a year and a half ago for like 200 bucks the pointer pad thing goes wacko sometimes so it needs a new keyboard and the damn video card keeps crashing at random cant get a good driver.

but other than that i like it, i bought a new compaq for home use and never again

screw compaq/hp its very decent but the problem is between my sisters, mine and my gf's all 3 of us bought new ones they have gone through 2 batteries and 1 power adapter each.

tried declaring lemon but thats not flyin

eric

 

i have a new ACER. had to install XP however. The parallel card should work for me if it worked for you. i ordered it yesterday.

 

i'm trying to use good old inspiron 5000 from way back in 98-2000
at least i was able to get it up to 512 megs of ram to run xp, that 5 gig hard drive kills me tho
edit: picked up old acer for free with dvd rom and faster processor(1.4ghz vs 500 mhz dell) with bad hard drive and nonworking usb's. I will try to swap usb ports from one of mobos i have laying around or that old dell and see if i can get them to work