yeah i did think of that, but i thought that the serial to usb chips were less functionable than others. in what way im not quite sure. it seems like they are made to do one thing and that only. for instance it says that it can transfer data at full usb 2.0 rate, which is 480MB/s, but surely isnt that then limited by the USART speed??? at 115200 baud??

anyway, for now, i do think that the serial to USB chips are a good idea, so i already know that FTDI do them, but does anyone else know of any other company that does the same sort of thing?? (assuming its available to the UK)

thanks,

phil