OK, here's a chance for you to talk about alarm stuff.
I have been looking for a new laptop, and almost bought one, until I realized that none of the ones I've seen have a serial port. Since I use my laptop program and download alarm controls through an external modem, the serial port would come in handy. I know there are serial port adapters, and I might settle for that arrangement if it works with my external Hayes and Practical Peripheral modems. OTOH, I have seen laptops on the internet with a serial port, but the selection is slim.
What are you guys doing? js