Hey Charles. Thanks, but I don't think it is that simple. I have a 'no name' serial to USB cable that works with other devices, but not with the PIC/MAX232 setup. One of my collaborators reported that there was no readable communication using a radio shack cable and a compaq presario, but she got it to work with the same cable and a newer vista computer. So I don't think all cables and computers are created equal when it comes to serial to usb. I'll post what I learn when I get cables in the mail.