Too many peripherals

[Neil]

Lately I have been acquiring more periperals (ie data collector, digitzing board, gps, etc) They all plug into a comm port, of which my HP computer has only 1. Switching cables is a pain. Would it be better (or easier) to install new comm ports into the computer or to use a switch box (like I do with the 3 printers off my one parallel port)? Both my usb ports are already being used by other equipment but the peripherals need to connect to comm ports anyway(9 pin connector). The driver for the digitizing board controls the comm port (until I disable it) which leads me to believe additional ports may be the way to go. Has anyone else gone through this and come up with the best way

[Richard Henline]

You should be able to a an IDE controller card to the system and gain at least two more serial ports. They should only cost about $15-20. Your only problem will be IRQ conflicts, hopefully in a PNP world you will not have to worry about it. I would seggest taking it to a coputer shop and have them install one for you