USB Palm's and Win NT

[sdkfz]

Several co workers have purchased new palm devices and are now trying to sync up to their work PC's. Since we are all NT and the palm's are usb you can see how they are having problems. I have tried to help by going through the various products FAQ's etc. and through new egg etc.

Bottom line: is there a way to convert the cabling with an adapter so a usb cradle can talk to a Win NT machine? Keep in mind that IT would not allow us to mess around with the PC's innards so it has to be a adapter.converter solution.

Thank you

[Statica]

As you mightve realized NT does not support USB devices. Depending on the palm model you might find serial hotsync cables or cradles for your unit that will make use of the serial adapter.
Something along the lines of this cable or this cradle (I've used the M130 as an example, search for the equivalent for models that you own. As another option you could probably look for USB - serial adapters something like http://www.usbgear.com/usa/USB_rs232.html and see if it works. Or if you've got IR on your computers, its a cinch to hotsync with it.

HTH.

[Iman74]

I have the same problem with the user's here at my site. We are strictly NT and still users consistently get palms with USB cradles. Believe it or not even some of these sales people from Staples and CompUSA tell the user a USB connector will work on NT.

Anyway, after telling the user how wrong that is, I tell them to go on Palms website or go back to the store and make arrangements to get serial cradles; they never have problems doing so.

[cobra]

I posted about NT and USB a couple years ago.
NT does not oficially support USB but it VERY possible.
At my old orkplace, we had ALL NT 4.0 We found some usb cards and had usb working fine. It was for some print spooler/special project thingy.
Anyway, I would do as statica said, cause the extra cost and headache of special usb cards would be crazy.

[sdkfz]

Yeah I know NT and USB is a non issue. unfortunatley the co workers are either not told or do not know enough to ask

I may have been a little over general with the "palm" as one is a toshiba and the other a sony.

Statica, I looked at the cable, the problem is the usb needs to be female not male, so the cradle male usb plugs into the adapter, then the adapter's serial into pc. I have seen many of the male usb to serial, it just finding the females (sounds like a personal probelm)

(one solution is to upgrade to 2000, this is a possible option for one (managerial level) but not the other)

Cobra- just to make things even more complicated one PC is a laptop so adding a card ain't gonne happen- fortunatley this is th emanagerial level person so there is hope w/2000

Thanks for the help

[Iman74]

Do you think Palm would offer a swap or a discount if you are willing to turn in the USB cradles for the serials?

[sdkfz]

by a bizarre coincidence, I went into circuit city at lunch looking for adobe writer (which they do not carry) and only the way out saw Belkin makes specific cords for some pda's (the sony is SOL as it will not work with NT but the compaq user can buy a y cord with the single side being pda, and the double side being usb and serial.

Case closed, 29.99 for one and too bad so sad for the other (he got the pda casue best buy no longer fixes the things under the extended warratny they jsut replace them and his model was no longer availbale so in one way he made out as he made a significant trade up for free.

Thank you all