On 14 May 2002 18:52:53 -0400, Lyvim Xaphir <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On Tue, 2002-05-14 at 10:29, Carroll Grigsby wrote:
>
> > LX:
> > Skimming through the article, I noticed that some of these boards have gone
> > to a USB-only configuration -- no serial or parallel ports. Given that
> > these boards are aimed at end-users and not OEM's, this does not sound like
> > a Really Good Idea to me. In my case, it would mean adding the cost of a new
> >
> > printer and a new modem to the overall project cost, and those are not
> > trivial costs. Besides, my present modem and printer work just fine, thank
> > you.
> > -- cmg
>
> Ahhh...Carroll, my friend. :) That is the beauty part. If indeed you do
> contemplate an upgrade, all you need do is get a usb serial/parallel
> adapter for a modest sum, and presto, your printer and modem are back in
> business. In addition, having done that you can do as I did and use
> IRQ's 7, 3, and 4 for things other than being tied to onerous dated and
> obsoleted onboard ports. Obsoleted in the sense that their functions
> are now duplicated on a less resource intensive external bus.
How is the CPU usage of USB compared to the 'legacy' ports (serial, parallel,
PS/2, etc.)? The legacy ports were designed for older systems, so they cannot
suck up too much juice. I hear that USB, on the other hand, is a real pig in
this regard (no surprise that Intel supports it). If that is the case, is it
really worth using USB peripherals on a PC when legacy types would suffice?
Here, I am referring to simple components that have little to gain from USB,
like keyboards and mice. I don't want my keyboard and mouse slowing down my
system :)
--
Sridhar Dhanapalan
"Never over-design. Never think "Hmm, maybe somebody would find this useful".
Start from what you know people _have_ to have, and try to make that set
smaller. When you can make it no smaller, you've reached one point. That's a
good point to start from - use that for some real implementation."
-- Linus Torvalds
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