Old Tablet Blues

[Tomato]

Five or so years ago I went ahead and purchased a Wacom UD 12x12 Tablet off of ebay. However, it came with a set of cords designed for a Macitosh computer, while I use a PC with a Windows OS. When I went on the Wacom website a set of replacement cords was $100+ dollars, and my budget was/is rather limited. So when my dad offered to have a friend put something together for something around $20, I went ahead and snatched it up. The cord worked, I was able to get some good work with it, and generally happiness abounded.

Zoom ahead to now. I currently am using a laptop for my artistic advances, and unfortunately the cord I purchased is designed for a 9-pin serial port (as is the port on the tablet itself), which my laptop does not have. I have tried using a few usb converter cables with little success, but they're throwaways from my dad's government job, so there's no way for me to tell if the idea is flawed or if it's just a bad set of cables.

So before I try the official Wacom help desk and submit myself to possibly shelling out an insane amount of money for something that there might an easy solution to, or following my father's plan of buying a rediculous hardware setup I neithor have the space for or need just to get the correct port for the old cord, I thought I'd see if any of the more Tablet-savvy FR members had any advice for me.

It's a nice tablet, and I'd hate to let it collect dust when I could be getting some good use out of it.

[Epimethee]

I'd think an ADB to USB adapter wouldn't cost all that much. Wacom is not the only company to have made one; Belkin and Griffin are two. Since it's a rare item, a brand-new one might be way overpriced (say, $40-50), but you should be able to get a used one for much cheaper. You might try EBay or Mac repair shops.