Since the prolific usb to serial cable is no longer supported on windows 8, what cable do I need to buy? I'm trying the work around that uses a virtual machine running XP, but I'd rather have it run from win8. Is it the PL2303TA? That cable has a 9 pin output, so would I just strip the wires back and only use a certain 4? Thanks for any help!

Or would this cable also work? PL2303HX Rev D

I would buy FTDI over prolific ... especially for use with a windows box. Here's a couple, there's more if you want to look around.

FTDI Basic Breakout - 5V

FTDI FT232RL USB to TTL Serial cable 5V Converter Adapter for Arduino/CTS RTS

Thanks, went ahead and ordered that cable. So what's better about them than prolific?

The CP2102 based USB-Serial adapters work on Windows 8 as well. Here are some on eBay

I use both FTDI and CP adapters with Windows 8 without issue. As for the advantage, other than the fact they work with current OS's, they also will work with Arduino mini's and similar devices.

Rick

I like the FTDI chip because they support their products on new OS releases, windows allows up to 250k baud, the chip has a 3.3v output pin, and RX/TX activity pins to connect to LEDs. The cable you ordered doesn't have the activity LED pins available so you'll need to get the Sparkfun breakout board if you care about them. I haven't bought either of these items but have used the chip via a SSOP28 to DIP28 adapter plugged into my breadboard.

In case anyone is interested, here's the cable I purchased. It's working well, a bit harder to connect to the microcontroller due to the header on it, but nothing to complain about. Thanks guys!

This thread is a dated

Does anyone know if a CP2102 based USB-serial adapter will work with windows 10?

If not what chip set should I be looking for? There seams to be a lot of different opinions on the web.

Does anyone know of a good supplier, preferably in North America, with reasonable cost and shipping?

In case anyone else comes across this, Darryl and I have had conversations on my forums as well. You can see that conversation here http://www.rs-micro.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=33.

Feel free to add to it if you like,

Rick