You can get Hyperterminal for free too. I've tried Putty, Teraterm but had better results with Coolterm. Hyperterminal though is the only program that I have been able to get to work on everything, the way settings are given don't translate as well to the other programs. If you are going to use a USB to Serial converter, get the Keyspan USA-19HS. As far as capabilities, you can do everything with Hyperterminal. The Dover TIV manual is written for use with Hyperterminal, we have no special interface.
