1. Are there any brand-new laptops today, with a physical COM port?
The Field PGs from Siemens still have a 25 pin serial port (and a 9 pin adapter). They are large, heavy, and definitely not cheap, but they are also study and come with decent specs.
http://w3.siemens.com/mcms/industri.../rugged-laptop/field-pg-m5/pages/default.aspx