Parallel Cable Adapter

[ohmbru2]

I'm going to purchase a new computer soon. I intend to keep my laser printer which uses a parallel cable. The new PC will not have a port for this so I need to get a cable adapter to USB. I've found these online but the reviews indicate that customers are not always sold the correct one (or the customer chose unwisely).

How can I make sure I purchase the correct cable adapter for my printer?

 

[vacunita]

USB adapters tend to be very finicky in my experience. USB to Serial, Parallel, even to PS2 don't always work as expected.

If I where you I'd look for a parallel port add-on card.

http://www.nextag.com/pci-parallel-port-card/shop-html

Its pretty common to have extra PCI ports to plug the cards into. And these cards offer the best support, as you don;t have to worry about USB conversion which may or may not use all the Pins in the Parallel cable.

Specially problematic when Printers or other devices use a certain pair of pins to transfer something for a specific function of the device.




----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[xwb]

My USB to centronix connector seems to be OK - it as been in for 2 years. I guess it is just the luck of the draw.

It is OK as long as you have a source of toner for your laser printer. Once that dries up, it is probably worth considering another printer.

 

[Noway2]

Another option would be one of the (old) HP JetDirect boxes that allow a parallel port printer to be connected to ethernet.

 

[gbaughma]

Noway2: Yeah... I use one of those for my LaserJet 2550 at home.

They're great.... ethernet in, parallel out... and the printer becomes a network printer.



Just my 2¢

"What the captain doesn't realize is that we've secretly replaced his Dilithium Crystals with new Folger's Crystals."

--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[edfair]

Or a print server. You can get network versions and USB versions.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[Sympology]

Second (third?) Jetdirect, paid almost next to nothing and still running my ancient HP LJ5 on it.

Robert Wilensky:
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.

 

[Sympology]

Little pricey options but something like this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edimax-PS-1...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1260979314&sr=8-1

Robert Wilensky:
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.

 

[kjv1611]

ohmbru2,

I don't know where you live, but where I live (SC, USA), we have events called "yard sales" or "garage sales" where folks sell stuff out of their homes they no longer need or want. If you waited long enough, you may could find an old parallel print server or cable/adapter or PCI card that'd work for you.

Also, you could check Good Will and other thrift stores in your area. There's also Craigslist. Actually, you could try Craiglist or Iwanna online, or even your local paper for classifieds, maybe even something like freecycle to pick something up that'll work. That is, if money is more important than time, which I'd imagine it would be if you're using an older printer, still

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[kjv1611]

Oh, here's anther thought. You could do this until you decide to dump the old printer, or end up finding an adapter/card/print server on the cheap:

1. Keep your old computer, but just set it up as a file/print server, since it has the parallel port in it.
2. Connect to the printer over your network from your new PC to the old one.

That'd be something that wouldn't cost a thing, other than your time, and the electricity to run the extra PC.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me