Pros: Serial Cards works on DELL OptiPlex PCIe. This Chipset does NOT idle out after some per period of time.

Serial devices had been configured for Truck Stop Weight Scale (Fairbanks 9406 series) with continuous Serial Communication with continuous data stream.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: I have experienced many troubles when Serial Cards contain the MOSCHIP chipset on the DELL OptiPlex 3020. I found the chipset used on this Serial Card (PLX/Oxford - OXPCIe952) to work much better on the DELL OptiPlex computers.

Serial devices had been configured for Truck Stop Weight Scale (Fairbanks 9406 series) with continuous Serial output / continuous data stream (as compared to Pull / Request for the Serial Card)

I have had the following issues when using the MOSCHIP chipset on a DELL OptiPlex:

- The Serial Card would Idle after a period of TIME, (5-15 minutes). Originally though the issue was related to the PCIe power saving specifications but I am sure the issues are attributed to the MOSCHIP as well. Typically I would have to CLOSE and then REOPEN the port for the serial Card to process the incoming data stream

- After a period of time (few days) the card would drop from the OS, (unavailable within Device Mgr). Attempts at removing the DRIVER, Rebooting, Reinstalling the Driver failed to find the MOSCHIP Serial Card. To get the card working again required physically reseating the Card in a different PCIe SLOT for the OS to recognize the Serial Card

Requirements for successful communication using this SERIAL Card containing the PLX/Oxford - OXPCIe952 chipset:

- 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 "this should not be necessary w/ PCIe"

CORRECTIVE ACTION: Purchase a Serial Card with PLX/OXFORD OXPCIe952 Chipset. For my DELL 3020, 7020, 9020 Optiplex machines) I have been using the STARTECH PEX1S1P952 (containing the PLX/Oxford - OXPCIe952 chipset) as this work for my needs.

My hope is others my find this helpful.

Pros: PCIe card
Parallel port + Serial port
Configurable supply voltage out on serial port
Parallel port works with old Xilinx WebPack ISE for applications such as FPGA device programming.

Cons: Serial port gets into unusable state, must reboot.
Port doesn't always set baud rate correctly.
Doesn't work with DataQ serial data acquisition software.
Must use 'legacy' drivers for both serial and parallel ports.
Advance Oxford 952 features unavailable.

Other Thoughts: The PEX 1S1P uses the Oxford 952 chip to provide both serial and parallel port functionality. The 952 chip is capable of so much more, but StarTech runs it in the crippled legacy mode so you don't get any of the advanced features. You get 16550 mode with 16 byte queue not 16950 with 128 byte queue. You use the legacy drivers from the web site not the oxford 952 drivers with Win7 x64 pro. I bought it for the parallel port, so for that it works, but the serial port is pretty much unusable for me since it doesn't work with the data acquisition software I wanted to use.

Pros: The Oxford Semi chip on this card has good linux drivers. It worked well out of the box with Ubuntu 12.10.

Cons: It is a little expensive for something that used to be standard, but what can you do?

Other Thoughts: I guess I would like it to have another serial port, but the chip doesn't support that. I preferred to have a better chip with good drivers than an additional serial port.

Pros: It's cheap. It works after you get the drivers to install.

Cons: Getting the driver to install under Windows 7 Pro 64 is a pain. The included CD contained a driver for the parallel port that loaded, but not the serial. When I downloaded the latest driver from the web site I tried loading the 64 bit Win7 driver, again a no go. Finally I got the "Legacy" driver to load.

Other Thoughts: Don't companies test this stuff before they send it to market?