Review on Tripp Lite Keyspan High Speed USA 19HS: Maximize Your Connectivity with Lightning-fast USB Transfers by Bankroll Reed

Want a reliable means of connecting to industrial automation equipment that uses an RS-232 port without paying the Allen-Bradley surcharge for the 9300-USBS? Continue reading! I purchased this item solely for the purpose of retrofitting an Allen-Bradley MicroLogix 1400 to a machine that is still running a 1980's SLC 150. (Please. Don't ask.) I basically had to pull the program out of the venerable 150 and transcribe the instructions into RSLogix for the 1400. I won't bore you with the "joy" of painstakingly reverse-engineering a line of code and processing the line in a utility written for DOS, but I will tell you that the old PCIS software used the USA-19HS as a "real" RS-232 port, which worked fine at 19.2 kbaud in DOSBox, which in itself was a minor miracle considering the SLC 150 was long gone. I'm also happy to report that this adapter works just as well with the MicroLogix 1400 and auto-configures itself into RSLinx like a dream. The circuit board is housed in a semi-transparent, smoke-colored plastic, which I wish was a bit thicker. The tapered side of the adapter has a tight-fitting USB-B female connector that's more than enough to support the weight of the adapter itself, while the wider side houses the obligatory 9-pin RS-232 connector with pins securely attached, which I have not yet seen to unscrew in use. The clamshell package also includes a software installation disc which MUST be run before connecting the adapter to a Win7 laptop or PC and a good quality USB AB cable of reasonable length. You can use your own though as I managed to get this adapter out and it bounced and flew a few feet. xx I can't imagine it ever breaking in "normal" use, but in industrial use you definitely want to be more careful with it. After that, the case barely held together, but continued to function without any problems. On the bright side of this story, Tripp-Lite's customer service was extremely helpful and accommodating when I called them to explain what had happened. With no further questions, much less hassle, they told me they would simply ship a new device direct to my work place for free. Although they have warned me against making a warranty claim in the future, I am still very pleased that they are so supportive of their products for commercial/industrial users. If it wasn't for the Tripp Lite plastic used in the case, I would have easily given the USA-19HS five stars. Of course, the 9300-USBS is much more secure and maybe better suited for industrial use, but it also uses the FTDI non-latching COM chipset and has a much higher price. All said and done, I'd rather save my money and treat the $25 keyspan with kid gloves. Complaints aside, this is a handy tool that will always be in my laptop bag.