In article <Zen-1D8Q65-0007gY-GE@heisenberg.zen.co.uk>,
 <zen25058@zen.co.uk> wrote:
>Hello
>
>Having bought a laptop and wanting to get online, I went out and bought a=
> modem with a serial connection (US Robotics), because, according to what=
> I could find on the lists, they work. Rather unfortunately though, the l=
>aptop (all laptops?) has no serial port. I had thought I could use the "p=
>rinter port", forgetting that it is actually a parallel port. Hmm.=20
>
>So, have I made a big mistake, or can this modem be used somehow? (Maybe =
>I just need a better cable that works two-way?)
>
>When I did the " cu -p modem " check as per the User Guide I got a "Conne=
>cted" (using tty01) but didn't get on very well with the syntax of the ot=
>her commands (all those tildas, etc.)
>
>When I try to connect with "pppd call <isp-chat>" I get an "alarm" and "s=
>cript failed" message in the "tail -f /var/log/messages" output.
>

Assuming you have USB, you can use a USB to serial adapter like the one in:

http://sewelldirect.com/USBtoSerial.asp?kid=-69466679&match_type=search&keyword_test=usb%20serial

but I am not sure if it will work...

But, if you are going to pay that much you can search for "pcmcia modem"
on ebay and buy a few modems...

christos