Akron OH, July 20--Quatech Inc., a leading manufacturer of data communication and data acquisition products for PC-based systems, today introduced Windows NT 4.0 support for its entire line of RS-232 and RS-422/485 serial USB Adapters. The company is also expanding their offerings by adding units that provide eight or sixteen legacy serial ports via a single USB port. With this announcement, Quatech's serial USB line not only becomes one of the most complete in the industry, but the company also becomes one of only a few suppliers to offer NT support for USB serial adapters.

Part of the FreedomUSB^TM Series, the adapters allow legacy serial devices such as scanners, bar-code readers, printers, touch-screens, modems, card-readers, etc. to be used in new systems via the USB port just as they were used in previous systems employing older bus standards.

The new adapters accommodate a wide variety of system requirements. The ESU-100 provides eight RS-232 serial ports, the HSU-100 provides sixteen RS-232 serial ports, and the ESU-200/300 and HSU-200/300 respectively provide eight and sixteen ports, each configurable as RS-422 or RS-485. RS-422/485 adapters are configurable for full-duplex or half-duplex operation.

All Quatech serial USB adapters enumerate themselves as standard COM ports, and can transfer data at speeds up to 460.8 kbps-a significant improvement over the 115.2 kbps maximum for a standard serial port. The adapters are equipped with 16550 UARTs containing 16-byte FIFOs. These FIFOs, along with the FIFOs in the USB microcontroller, help relieve the CPU of excessive interrupts by buffering received and transmitted data, making Quatech USB adapters ideal choices for heavy multitasking environments.

Quatech serial USB adapters offer several attractive features that make them particularly convenient and easy to use. The adapters provide multiple ports via a single box with easily accessible connections. All the adapters are bus powered, so no external power supply is needed-an unusual feature in adapters providing such a large number of ports. In addition to the new Windows NT support, support is also provided under Windows 98/Me/2000.

Quatech's FreedomUSB Series of USB serial and parallel adapters, card readers, extenders, and hubs was created around the principle that taking advantage of new technology should not require users to abandon their investment in legacy devices and the applications written for them. The FreedomUSB line provides users the freedom to implement the system they want with the resources they have and the code they have created. Users have the freedom to use USB enabled devices with non-USB devices, to transfer data between USB compliant and non USB compliant computers, and to expand a computer's built-in USB ports to accommodate large numbers of USB and legacy serial devices.

Pricing Information for Quatech's new USB serial Adapters:

ESU-100-8 port RS-232 to USB adapter–$399
ESU-200/300-8 port RS-422/485 to USB adapter–$429
HSU-100-16 port RS-232 to USB adapter–$799
HSU-200/300-16 port RS-422/485 to USB adapter–$829.

All Quatech serial USB adapters shipped after July 23, 2001 will be available with the NT drivers. Current customers can request the NT drivers by completing the online request form or by calling Quatech's technical support department at 330-655-9000. For more information about the NT drivers, Quatech's FreedomUSB Series, or any other Quatech product, please call 1-800-553-1170 and talk with a sales engineer about your application, email sales@quatech.com, or visit Quatech's website at www.quatech.com.

About Quatech: Quatech, Inc. is an ISO 9001 registered manufacturer of data communication and data acquisition products for Windows, Linux, Solaris and OS/2 based systems. Its customer base includes Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and major universities, as well as many small companies and individual users. Its products are used in a wide variety of vertical markets including banking, retail, airports, medical, security and hospitality. Amongst the leading applications in these markets are Point of Sale terminals, Kiosks, automotive testing, industrial control and process monitoring. Founded in 1983, and headquartered in Akron, OH, the company has a worldwide presence, selling its products through a network of United States sales representatives and international distributors. Website: www.quatech.com.
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