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Laptops
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MitelInMyBlood
Technical User
Insist!!!! on getting a laptop with a built-in LEGACY 9-pin serial port, such as that available on some DELL laptops.
The problem with some of the USB and PCMCIA serial port emulators is they use a non standard interrupt that some programs cannot directly address.
The problem with some of the USB and PCMCIA serial port emulators is they use a non standard interrupt that some programs cannot directly address.
JustinKredible
Programmer
X2 for built in 9 pin serial port! I like a laptop that has a cd/dvd writer too. Helps when customers request document files or other items.
I have a Toshiba Tecra A9 and I like it.
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You can't fix stupid...
But you sure can profit from it!
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I have a Toshiba Tecra A9 and I like it.
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You can't fix stupid...
But you sure can profit from it!
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- Thread starter
- #4
If you insist on being your own vendor try Dell D610 laptop and get XP PRO. You will also need straight through DB9, and standard and crossover ethernet cables. You will be able to work on all Mitel platforms. Keep in mind that Mitel software is only available to cerified Mitel technicians. You WILL get stung if you try to use software from non-certified sources.
NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED!
NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED!
MitelInMyBlood
Technical User
I'll cast another vote for XP Pro and the Dell D610 or D620. (We use D620s). The built-in legacy 9-pin serial port is absolutely, positively a 'must-have' in any service department-orientated laptop. And by "Legacy" lets be clear that I mean the serial port operates as either Com1/IRQ4 or COM2/IRQ3. We've seen instances where the USB serial port adapters sometimes work, but more often they don't, or behave erratically and are unreliable, and the tech is screwed. Your best-trained tech is no better than the tools they're given to work with. Don't hobble them with schlock equipment.
TheMitelGuy
IS-IT--Management
Nothing beats a Lenovo Laptop. That is the only laptops that our sales, admin and TECHNICAL people are allowed to get. We all have T62s or x61 Tablets.
We use the USB to Serial DB9 with no issues. All of our machines have Vista too (we are a Microsoft shop in addition to Mitel) and we don't have any issues - I'm serious.
We use the USB to Serial DB9 with no issues. All of our machines have Vista too (we are a Microsoft shop in addition to Mitel) and we don't have any issues - I'm serious.
MitelInMyBlood
Technical User
You live a charmed life MitelGuy. USB adapters are OK if the software supports the I/O address & interrupt that the adapter comes up with. We don't have time to dink with the BIOS or learn our way around a new O/S that some are already calling an orphan and a resource pig. We're a big MS shop too (25,000 seat lic for XP) but I.T. Desktop Support has drawn a line in the sand against VISTA, refusing to roll it out in a corporate environment and citing a number of reasons that apparently has gotten Sr. Exec buy-in. MS themselves admit Vista is not what they had intended it to be.
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