Portable MIDI options

[Christopher_List at Sonymusic.Com]

Hello synth people -

I was more than happy to receive a Toshiba Techra laptop from work (12"
display, 120MHz Pentium - yum yum). Unfortunately, I have since discovered
that this particlular PC has a parallel port (PP) which can be set to
either "Standard Bi-Directional" or "ECP" (some sort of enhanced mode that
is also bi-directional). The problem with this is that my old 2PortSE PP
MIDI interface will only work on a mono-directional PP. The same goes for
several other PP MIDI interfaces that I looked into - namely the Opcode
MIDI Translator and the Altech Traveller. I'm very disappointed because I
don't know how I'll ever be happy with this PC if I can't use it for
sequencing :).

My questions are;
1. I don't even know what the difference is between "bi-directional" and
"mono-directional". Could someone give a technical description of why a PP
device like a MIDI interface would work with one and not the other.

2. Would it be possible to use one of those jumper-wire connected DB-25
boxes on my PP to make it look like a mono-directional port to attached
devices? - Would this not make a difference due to problems on the software
side?

3. Does anyone know of a PP adaptor that will work with a bi-directional
PP?

4. Does anyone know of a relatively inexpensive PCMCIA MIDI interface?
There are some PCMCIA sound cards with MIDI interfaces - but they are up in
the $500 range.

I ask here because I find these lists to be a more reliable source of
information than any tech support lines :).

- Thanks,
CList