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First post, by eL_PuSHeR

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I need to connect two different printers to a new ACER laptop.

Blimey! the two printers (one Canon BJC-2000 and HP PSC 500) are PARALLEL only. The laptop doesn't have any good olde parallel port. Just USB (and maybe something else) ports.

Am I out of luck? Do you know if there is some sort of adapter available?
I asked at a computers store and they told me that there wasn't any adaptor like that? I do not trust them, so I am asking for your knowledge.

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Reply 1 of 9, by Great Hierophant

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If you have a spare PCMCIA port available, there are adapters for serial and parallel ports available. Bit expensive though. There are USB-Parallel cables, but I couldn't swear on their reliability.

Reply 2 of 9, by 5u3

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If you've got no money, but plenty of old parts lying around, here is the ultimate solution:

Ingredients:
- 1 CPU with mainboard (386sx or newer)
- A few RAM modules (8 MB is enough)
- 1 Ethernet card
- 2 I/O cards with LPT
- 1 Floppy disk drive
- 1 3.5" floppy disk (1.44MB)
- 1 Power supply unit

Only needed for setup:
- 1 monitor and keyboard
- 1 hour of free time

Assemble the rig, then take a look at http://pigtail.net/LRP/printsrv/ and compile the system disk. Connect the network and the printers, insert disk, configure the ports and network (menu-driven).

Voilá, instant printserver 😁

A few years ago, I built one of them at work for a HP LaserJet 4050 and a Canon photo printer. The printers put out several hundred pages a day and have to be maintained every now and then, but the print server has never been touched since the day I set it up.

Reply 3 of 9, by HunterZ

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I'm pretty damned sure that there are USB-parallel adapters specifically for printers. You can also get adapters that let you connect parallel printers directly to a LAN hub/switch/router. Both solutions are likely to be a bit spendy.

I'd recommend getting either an older computer or newer printers...

Reply 4 of 9, by collector

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HunterZ is right, there are USB to parallel adapters. I have used them with varying success. They can be found relatively inexpensively. I have seen them for less than $20 US.

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Reply 5 of 9, by DosFreak

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I'm suprised that the laptop doesn't have a dock. Usually those have parallell ports. Of course there would only be one but isn't there a parallel box that can switch between devices?

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Reply 6 of 9, by eL_PuSHeR

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Thank you very much for your replies. I think I will probably take the easier (cheaper) route, that is, either get a parallel-usb adaptor cable or convincing the owner to get an USB printer.

Intel i7 5960X
Gigabye GA-X99-Gaming 5
8 GB DDR4 (2100)
8 GB GeForce GTX 1070 G1 Gaming (Gigabyte)

Reply 7 of 9, by Zup

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Have you tried a port-replicator? Maybe your laptop can get connected that way?

------------------

¿Has probado un replicador de puertos? Muchos portátiles ofrecen como opcion un trasto que se conecta a un puerto especial en la parte trasera y te "extiende" los puertos (de la misma manera que una docking station). Yo conozco algún portátil que no tiene salida serie, pero sí la tiene en el replicador (y no es una conversión USB).

Reply 8 of 9, by collector

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As cheap as new printers can be anymore, that might make the most sense. Also, it might start getting harder to find ink cartridges for the old printers.

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