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RSS FeedUSB vs. serial keyboards: Which is better?
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| USB | 76% | 76 votes | Total: 100 votes | |
| Serial | 24% | 24 votes |
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Add to FavoritesUSB or Serial? When it comes to typing performance, there is no significant difference. However the usb keyboard offers a few features that the serial keyboard just can't compete with.
The most important reason the USB keyboard is better than a serial keyboard is becuase serial ports are becoming extinct. Most, if not all newer computers have USB connections on them. This is not true for the serial port. Serial ports tend to be left out on computers. This is especially true for laptop comuters and even more so for ultra portable laptops. If you can't plug your keyboard into the computer, the keyboard is useless. Serial ports are becoming outdated and will soon be history.
USB keyboards are able to handle more buttons and complex features. The USB port is continually developing. It started as USB 1.0, 2.0 and now 3.0. If you compare the data transfer capacities, it becomes obvious that USB keyboards will rule over serial keyboards. The highest speed I've seen for serial ports was 56,000 bytes/sec. The USB 1.0 is 12,000,000 bytes/sec, 2.0 is 480,000,000 bytes/sec and 3.0 is 10x faster than USB 2.0! This is why USB keyboards can have features such as Liquid Color Display (LCD) keypads, a host of other features and of course there is more yet to come.
USB is more convenient to hook up. Have you ever seen a wireless keyboard use a reciever dongle that attaches to a serial port? I sure haven't. However I have seen keyboard/mice setups that have both the usb and serial plugs that go from the central reciever to the computer. But, if you use the USB connection on this setup, you don't need to plug in the serial connection. This tells me that the serial port is only there for people who have older systems which do no have USB ports, therefore making the setup "backwards" compatible. When you hook up a mouse and keyboard using serial connections, you have to put the keyboards serial port into the keyboards input and the mouse serial port into the mouse input. If you mix these up, both the mouse and keyboard will not function. This of course, is not true for the USB keyboard and mouse. You usually have numerous options on where you can plug in your USB keyboard. So long as the USB ports are available, you can plug your keyboard in the front back side or anywhere.
The only real advantage I see for serial keyboards against the USB keyboard is when you have an older system. When the older systems boots up, they tend to check if a mouse any keyboard is connected. If it cannot find a mouse or keyboard connection, it will display an error message. In this case the serial keyboard has the advantage because the system usually recognizes a keyboard connection when it is a serial connection, but not always for the USB connection. I have used both types on my old system, and on several occasion I had to restart the computer when I was reformatting using a USB keyboard.
In conclusion, the USB keyboard is the way of the future and serial keyboards are becoming history. If you ever plan on using your keyboard for a new computer or laptop, your most likely going to want a USB keyboard. This is because you probably won't find a input connection for your serial keyboard. Also, you'll find that USB keyboards are loaded with more features and easier to attach. The only good reason I would have a serial keyboard is to use as backup when reformatting an older system.
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Serial
Serial has certain advantages, especially when setting up a computer for the first time, some older computer systems and older operating systems don't recognize the usb ports before the keyboard and mouse scan is preformed by the BIOS, (I know not so prevalent in modern systems with modern BIOS's and newer operating systems.) But the bulk of the systems out there still running ARE older systems. Every where I do business, I see older slower systems, doing there best to continue as workable systems running Windows 2000 at the minimum.
Which can at times lead to complications in the setup process, when the system refuses to boot, because of the error generated when it doesn't find a mouse and keyboard present. I know that this argument only makes sense with much older systems, and those that still have serial keyboard and mouse ports, do you know about the original serial mouse ports, came on an add on card, used a DB-9 connector? Those were really fun to set up, because the same card generally was also the video card.
I always keep around a serial mouse and keyboard just for this instance. For the reason that when the USB bus hasn't had a chance to come up yet, or gets confused by the operating system...
It makes the setup more seamless, and once getting the system up and running, then I can introduce the new element of the USB bells and whistles.
Though true, predominantly I use USB keyboards and mice, because that's all my XP running laptop can use. And there are currently more wireless set ups for usb dongles to keyboards and mice. The old serial ones are rarer and harder to find anywhere except possibly the online auction web sites.
But, whenever the availability is there, I'll use the serial keyboard and mouse ports just to free up the USB for all the other *gee whiz bang* peripherals I can plug in. Can't get enough of the "hot swap" multipurpose feature. Can never have "enough" USB ports.
As a side note which I should roll into another article... Has anybody else noted that the overall speed of machines has gotten incredibly faster, yet... the software has become so "feature rich" that it soaks up all those speedy resources, and the net result is we haven't gained any speed whatsoever? I only note this because of the pre-USB system I once had to get Windows 98 installed upon, but first I had to install Windows 3.1 on it... (yes, I'm that old, my email user name predates the internet...) Well, even though Win 3.1 operating system didn't support USB, on an old 90 Mhz Pentium system, it flew...
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