In my line of work I use serial on a near daily basis. Currently, I have 3 different USB>Serial cables; an IO Gear GUC232A, a Cables to Go (Prolific PL2302 chipset) and a older Radio Shack cable ...

You get what you pay for. [Jkx] wanted to see how a USB to RS232 cable could be sold for just $1.70 and found out that it’s not actually RS232 compliant. The cable communicated as TTL levels,… ...