Re:Nice to see a competitive open environment (Score 1)

Those serial to USB adapters seem to only be good if you want to run a serial mouse.

Overstatement, I think. I use one often to sync my Palm Vx with my desktop via the cradle (9-pin serial).

If you need to do any thing else serial, like the CNC machine, or connect up a console cable... good freakin luck.

I've also used them to connect to the console of a Cisco router, no problem.

I'm not familiar with CNC machines, though. Are you sure the problem is the USB to serial adapters in general, or could it be that you got a cheap one?