The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

Ok, will do my best to describe what I am trying to achieve here and 
hope it all makes sense to you guys. I have many talents but getting 
my head round midi is apparently not one of them.

I have an old laptop, a ThinkPad 760EL, well actually I have two of 
them. One is running Win98 the other 2000 pro. No usb. I want to use 
this laptop to run AN1x edit to send patches etc to my AN1x. 
Apparently I can buy a serial midi interface connecting to the 9 pin 
serial port. This will cost me around 80 pounds sterling. I have 
however looked at another solution. The Yamaha TG100 sound module has 
a "To Host" 8pin mini din socket, which connects, to the 9 pin serial 
port on the laptop. This has midi in, out and thru connections. I can 
pick one of these up for around 50 pounds or less. So this is the 
cheaper option and I also get a GM sound module. My question is this. 
If I connect the sound module to the laptop, then my AN1x to the midi 
ports on the sound module, will I still be able to send/receive 
patches on the AN1x? Obviously the computer is no longer directly 
connected to the midi in of the AN1x but is going through the sound 
module. Does this mean the sound module will receive the signal and 
not the AN1x?

All this means is that I have to connect the midi in and out from the 
sound module to the in and out of the AN1x. If I want to use the An1x 
as the master controller on my set-up, does this mean I have to then 
connect the midi thru on the AN1x to the next instrument in my set-
up. If so then what is the best way to do this. Do I need a midi thru 
box? I have a Korg N364, an Alesis Data disk and a Boss Dr77o all to 
hook up to the system.

Sorry for so many questions. This is doing my head in.

Thanks for your time.

Alan