I have just bought a port replicator for my laptop which conveniently gives me 2 extra USB ports, and a parallel and serial port
what a dream it is for astronomy.. serial port to the synscan, usb to webcam, parallel to the webcam for lx mod and still got 3 USB ports to play with for DSLR/GPUSB etc..
Have tested and parallel works with the LX modded 900NC and serial works fine with the synscan v3 controller..
The replicator, rather than converting usb->serial/usb->parallel, it connects to the laptops motherboard via an opening in the base of the laptop, thus being somewhat like a PCI serial/parallel/usb card all in one...
Perhaps a good way to beat the blues.. (provided you can find a replicator for your specific laptop.)
Alex.