[pjbuddy]

help!!
i'm confused about the best way to connect my old hp 4mp printer to my new imac. usb to serial? asante box? local talk to ethernet?
any ideas appreciated

[drewman]

The best way in my opinion would be to get a used HP JetDirect EXPlus print server. They go on eBay for about $50-$60.

It's ethernet to the box which has some buffer memory and then the parallel port of the printer hooks to the box.

I recommend the older EXPlus because it supports AppleTalk while the new low end HP print server does not.

Hawking Technologies also makes an inexpensive Print Server they say supports AppleTalk (www.hawkingtech.com) over 10/100 BaseT network, but I haven't used that. I use an EXPlus every day over my AirPort network. Printing wirelessly from my iBook to my HP890 is great!

drewman

[Walter J. Ferstl]

If you happen to have an older Mac with RJ-45 ethernet at hand, you could connect it to the iMac using a crossover cable and connect the HP printer to the older Mac by LocalTalk cabling. On this Mac you also install LaserWriter Bridge (current version 2.1, available at Apple for download). LaserWriter Bridge is unsupported software, but for me it works fine.

Regards,

Walter.

[This message has been edited by Walter J. Ferstl (edited 04-08-2001).]