Not sure why the average hobbyist would go the USB route anyway for XTS. Obviously, a reliable third-party cable can be had for $30 or so and a IOGEAR USB/Serial adapter is around $20. Considering the R17 USB debacle (since fixed, I know) USB doesn't make much sense to me.
I always used the serial cables and adapters with the 3000s, and figured I wouldn't have an issue with the 5000s. The issue I ran into (with 2 different IOgear adapters), was that every now and then it would take 20+ minutes to write the radio and would also usually end up in FAIL 01/82. The next time would program fast and fine, but it wasn't worth the hassle. My laptop doesn't have a built in serial port, so I was using a dock. One time going from my couch to dock, I got a static shock and the cable ended up getting killed. I found a USB cable for ~$125 so I picked it up. I don't have to worry about static or not writing properly with adapters, and it writes in seconds.
I ended up getting a 26-pin USB XTL cable because the USB GCAI doesn't work with the O3 head, and I would have run into similar issues with the serial GCAI cable. I get why serial cables are good, and I do have a serial GCAI cable for when I am working on my XTL at my desk, but for quick updates, I'll just use the back port with the USB cable.
