Most PCs produced in the past year or so come equipped with USB ports. These are alternatives to serial or parallel ports. It's a standard that supports a port on the back of your PC, where you plug in peripherals like your mouse and keyboard. But the USB standard is faster, easier and better, says Martin Reynolds, vice president and research fellow at Dataquest in San Jose.
Prices are now virtually the same as a serial or parallel port.
One of USB's strengths is that it allows you to connect toahub. One end hooks into the USB port on the computer, and at the other end is the hub a box with six or eight USB plugs to which you attachperipherals. Some monitors or flatboards have hubs right on them. Rob Enderle, an analyst at Giga Information Group Inc. in Santa Clara, Calif., says you probably only want to plug in five per hub, or speed and performance might be compromised. Something like a video camera or a scanner should have its own port.