Best serial monitor?

I just write short Python programs using pySerial:

>>> import serial
>>> ser = serial.Serial(0)  # open first serial port
>>> print ser.portstr       # check which port was really used
>>> ser.write("hello")      # write a string
>>> ser.write(0xa4)         # write a byte
>>> ser.close()             # close port

You want something like PuTTY or TeraTerm for human-readable serial i/o, or a good programming environment that makes it easy to open/access serial ports. I'm not a Python expert but MrEvil has a good point. Also the jsdb Javascript shell has an easy-to-use COM port feature:

S = new Stream('com1://115200');
S.write(0xf4);

take a look at bray terminal at http://hw-server.com/software/termv19b.html

i think it's the best free terminal