Pros: 2 Serial Ports w/ Parallel port for Single PCIe 1x

Cons: Does not work with Dell OptiPlex 3020. No reduction in Eggs as I attribute the issue more to DELL and a learning experience for myself. This card will installed and operated as you would expect., but only for a period of time and then the communication would stop / idle.

Other Thoughts: For Dell Optiplex 3020 Systems use the STARTECH PEX1S1P952 (contains the PLX/Oxford - OXPCIe952 chipset) as this work for my needs.

Purchased this Serial devices for some Truck Stop Weight Scale (Fairbanks 9406 series) with continuous Serial Communication.

Requirements for successful communication:
- Disable all Power Saving Settings in BIOS
- Disable all onboard CommPorts in BIOS
- Disable all Windows Power Options Features, Specifically:
-- PCIe Link State Power Management - OFF
-- USB selective suspending Setting - DISABLE

Pros: Nice card with two serial ports and a parallel port - great for modems, legacy hardware, and hobbyist projects.
Can supply 0, 5, or 12V on pin 9 of the serial ports (each can be set separately.
One serial port and the parallel port are on ribbon cables and can go into a cutout or a low-profile case.

Cons: Bad drivers - regularly caused bluescreens on Windows 8 64-bit.

Other Thoughts: Installed in a Dell XPS 8500. As soon as I installed the drivers, it would bluescreen with PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA (StnSport.sys) with the 2.0.1 and 2.0.2 drivers (then gets into a reboot-bluescreen loop), and would drop off after a short while with the 1.0 drivers on the CD. Startech said it may be incompatible with my chipset and recommended switching to the PEX1S1P952 instead.

Pros: Easy to setup, all config options are available within device manager.

Cons: I have more than 10 of these in my lab, and they are all seem to work at first, yet many fail after time. The com ports just stop responding and require a reboot of the OS to get them working again.

Pros: Plugged it into a Win7 64bit machine, turned it on and it installed itself. No config or drivers needed. Hooked up the devices, set the device configurations and we were off and running.

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: A pleasant surprise.

Pros: It can be made to work, that's good. Mine was on Win7 64 bits, and serial and parallel are working (now). Card has a power connector, but is only for providing power to a RS-232 device. If no such need, then no connection at the power connector is necessary.

Cons: But its a mess. Drivers on CD failed, at least in my Win7 64. Tech support was helpful and said to download newer drivers. Installing them at Device Manager worked OK, and Device Manager was happy. Serial worked, but parallel did not work.

The parallel ribbon cable to connector on second panel is clearly marked red on the edge, for pin 1. The card connector is not marked. The socket is not keyed. The manual makes no mention of its orientation. The front of the manual on the web site had a color picture, which clearly showed the cable red edge towards the rear panel,, so that the cable dressed cleanly over the top of the card. This is opposite direction to the installed serial cable, and seemed suspect, but I asked tech support, and he said, sure, like the picture. So I tried it. Parallel does not work.

A closer exam thinks maybe the tiny pins on the soldered rear side has one square pad, and the rest are round. Assuming that is marking pin 1, I turned the ribbon connector around, so the red cable edge is on it, toward the power connector, toward the front of the computer. This dressed the cable awkwardly down, instead up to go over the top the card... but it works!

Card seems fine now, everything is working, and I assume it will be fine. I want to rate it a disgruntled 2, but will give it a 4. I guess the card is not to blame for the documentation. But it certainly seems crummy installation documentation.

FWIW, a SIIG Firewire card ordered same time installed itself unassisted (via Win7), and worked great first time. A real pleasure.

Pros: Excellent solution to communicate with older equipment.
Can use any PCI Express slot.
Great for the modern chipset boards that don't have any older serial port connection support.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: I've had these communicate with serial port equipment that the add-ons that come with newer main boards would not.
They've been used on both Win7 and XP.