Siemens Step5 and A/b with Win XP

I do all the programming for my company, primarily Step5 statement list, A/B, and Modicon. We have an immediate problem of upgrading computers.
We have been using a reliable Toshiba laptop with the Step5 (version 7.02) and A/B RSLogix software. These are our most expensive software programs.
We need to buy two new laptops right away, and we can't get a straight answer out of Siemens on how we are supposed to handle the connections to our PLC's without a serial port. Most new laptops come with XP, and Siemens has told me that version 7.2x of Step5 is XP compatible, but they do not supply a cable, nor do they support or recommend any third party cables for a USB to serial conversion. As most tech types already know, it's almost impossible to find a laptop with XP and a serial port. They just don't come equipped that way anymore, the USB is standard fare.
Both Toshiba and Dell told us that nobody uses Serial interfaces anymore, I guess nobody but me ;-)
I am also told that there is some current carrying requirements for some applications that a USB to Serial adaptor cannot supply, and therefore will not work. ( 734-1 cable ) We find it odd that Siemens cannot supply a solid solution to this problem, short of buying a PG Terminal, which we prefer not to do.
Like a lot of companies, when money becomes available for upgrading, you better spend it, or you will lose it. So we have to find a solid solution to this problem, if anyone can help. BTW, Rockwell has already told us this is a non-issue with XP and a USB->Serial adaptor, so that and Modicon I'm not really concerned about.
Can anyone help us out here?

Thanks,
Robert

Panasonic CF-50 Toughbook. I've been using Panasonic Toughbooks for years and they are really reliable units. They come with a serial port and a 3.5 floppy drive. They also have a 3 year warranty included in the purchase price. The OS on my laptop is XP Pro. but you can still get 2000 Pro if you want. I'm running Siemens Step5 v7.23 without problems. I purchased the standard serial cable from Siemens. I had discussed this problem with my Siemens distributor who is a very capable S5 programmer and he highly recommended using a laptop with a serial port rather than a USB/serial adapter. Toshiba does sell a model with a serial port, Tecra S1 I think... but it doesn't have a built in floppy drive. Siemens does have USB cables available for their other models of PLC's like the S7's.

check out http://www.s5w.business.t-online.de/ then accessories, they have various usb -> siemens

beerchug

F

If weight is not a big problem I recomend you HP nx9005. 3 kg but it has onboard serial port, flopy and DVD/CDR. But you can buy laptop without serial port and with my experiance you should use PCMCIA serial port adapter instead of USB to Serial port convertor. It works better than the convertor.

My company standard is Dell Latitude, and my C610 model has a built-in RS-232 port.

You can buy their current D600 model today that has an RS-232 serial port.

Dell's "consumer grade" Inspiron notebook PCs have USB only. Someday soon Dell will go "legacy-free" but it's not yet.

After having destroyed a few HP Omnibooks and forbidding myself from buying Toshiba after that unpleasantness with the CNC machines and the nuclear submarines, I'm glad we use Dell.

Hi RACSW,

You're not alone in the world of S5 and afcourse the problems that surrounds S5 and laptop upgrades.

Last week I found out that it's possible to get an USB RS232 convertor. The only thing is that a normal USB RS232 misses an important thing. The conventional contvertor that you use for communication between an RS 232 and S5 PLC requirs an extra powersupply insite the RS232 connection.

Currently I'm waiting for a reply from our supplier for such a usb RS232 convertor. I believe a company in Germany is manufacturing them. I didn't get a hold of the company name.........yet.

I haven't seen it working yet, but by the sounds of it it should work.

You guys are great..

To Shawn, Ken, Asian, et all...

My heartfelt thanks to you guys and for sharing your successes with this problem.
We don't want to go the PG route, as we must buy two of "something" right away. (We insist on redundancy) I'm not sure of the price of the PG, even though it comes with the Siemens Step5, but I hear it's prohibitively expensive.
I'll check out availability of your suggestions.

My thanks again,
Robert

I have a Compaq Evo 610c and a HP nx9005 both are very good and have seral ports, the Nx9005 is good value at GB£ 789. The nx9005 has the advantage of a built-in floppy drive, it makes life easier for activation and transferring PLC programs etc.