V1r, we did discuss this in January of this year in the following thread:
http://www.pprune.org/cgibin/ultimat...&f=35&t=000651
At that time I made a strong case for Evo7's solution of an Ethernet link using PCMCIA in the laptop. I also suggested that this might be the moment to buy that (portable) CD-RW that you needed an excuse to buy! I had just done this for a client and he was well pleased.
I'm still an advocate of Coax for "real" Networks, but for a low cost single purpose job like yours, an RJ45 (Cat 5) cross-over cable between the two Network Interface Cards would suffice.
But I've also tested the Belkin USB Direct Connect (F5U104 @ £49.95 + VAT) with success. It installs like a network adapter in both machines and uses two USB cables to connect the two.
So if you've got USB in both machines that is an option.
Laplink thro' null parallel cables is very slow but may be the only option if the PCs and/or Operating Systems are primitive.