Tom,

I tend to agree with Erik on this if a product for general distribution is involved.

Some UARTS are more forgiving than others and the std 8051 UART is one of the least forgiving of all.

I do understand the timing issues however, especially when time is precious.

Luckily '51 variants have and are finally enhancing Timers and their divisors (i.e DS420 and others).

If your device is "captive" where you specify or provide the remote serial end (as well as support it's interconnection) you can play faster and looser.

This also applies to all of those folk's who "steer RS-232 power from the interface". What happens when both sides expect power from their remote end?

regards,
p