Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 18:09:13 -0500 From: Scott W <wegster@mindcore.net> To: Doug Poland <doug@polands.org> Cc: questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Postscript printer, serial or parallel cable? Message-ID: <3FE62819.2070306@mindcore.net> In-Reply-To: <4875.172.16.1.35.1072043663.squirrel@email.polands.org> References: <4875.172.16.1.35.1072043663.squirrel@email.polands.org>
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Doug Poland wrote: >Hi, > >I recently got my hands on a free (woowho!) HP 4050 printer. I'm >going to hook it up to a FreeBSD 4.9-STABLE server. The printer has >two serial (one male/one female) connectors, a Centronix port, and >some odd looking port that looks like you plug a mouse into it. > >The handbook states that I can use serial or parallel cabling to a >postscript capable printer but there may be some advantage to a serial >cable as it is bi-directional. I've got several newer IEEE >something-or-another parallel cables lying around unused. They were >rather expensive and, IIRC, proported to be bi-directional. > >Question: Is a serial hookup preferable to parallel? As a future >possiblity, this modest FBSD box may become a dedicated print server >with a color laser and ink jet also hanging off it. I'll probably >install CUPS and "share" it with windows users via Samba. > >Thanks for your input > > > If I'm not totally mistaken (been a while since I've used a serial printer for anything), the parallel should be a fair amount quicker- the only thing I remember about the serials is it was easier/cheaper to find long serial cables, which was important when a server in the server room or on another floor was doing print server duties for a printer in a publicly accessible area.... Any reasonably modern parallel cable and parallel port is also bi-directional, so the only advantage I see with serial is if you're cabling it like above... Scott
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