The Prolific PL2303 ones aren't too bad although driver support can be problematic, but the FTDI ones are rock solid even at high speeds. They do tend to be the most expensive though.
Prolific PL2303 and FTDI are certainly the most common ones, and there is a lot of support out there for them, and they tend to be pretty solid. Prolific PL2303 is our Gold Standard here. (My current job is getting quite intimate with these drivers lately.) Support for Proliific is best if you go to the Prolific web site and grab their driver set, instead of relying on whatever came with your dongle.
Interestingly, the older Prolific PL2303 units have had their Windows support dropped, and you have to get one of the newer Prolific chipset revisions in order to work with Windows 8 and later. Here's the relevant quote from the README.TXT that comes with the prolific driver:
NOTE:
- Windows 8 is NOT supported in HXA/XA chip versions (will show yellow mark Error Code 10).
- Windows 8 is supported only in following chip versions:
- PL2303HXD (HX Rev D)
- PL2303EA (HXD with ESD protection)
- PL2303RA (HXD with Built-in transceiver)
- PL2303SA (HXD SOP8 package)
- PL2303TA (PL2303HXA/XA replacement)
- PL2303TB (12 GPIO)
- Download PL2303 CheckChipVersion tool program to check chip version.
The mentioned CheckChipVersion tool is either included in the driver package, or available from the same place you download the driver package, I don't remember which.
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