C2G 16899 USB To DB25 Parallel Printer Adapter Cable, Beige (6 Feet, 1.82 Meters)

Recently I made the switch from a PC to an iMac. The transition has not been as smooth as I was hoping. It's taken me awhile to get used to the iMac and while I really like it for the most part, I'm still finding my iMac freezes up and crashes almost as often as my PC ever did--mostly when I have like 4-5 programs open and the internet going simultaneously. Kind of disappointing. Still, I like the iMac overall. And there is one thing I love about the iMac. You can plug almost anything into it and in my experience the computer almost always recognizes it immediately. That's what happened with my old printer and this cable. When I made the switch to iMac I found out that my old workhorse HP LaserJet 4L wouldn't plug into my shiny new iMac because there was no parallel printer port on the iMac and there was no USB connection port on the printer. So my old printer sat dormant for 5 months while I exclusively used my inkjet printer and tried to decide if I should junk the Laserjet and buy something new. Then a friend told me there were cables out there that could make the connection. So I checked here on Amazon and sure enough there were several options. I read a few of the reviews and decided on this cable since another reviewer had gone through virtually the same situation I had and made it work with his iMac. When I got this connection cable I plugged it into the end of the printer cable (Note: this connection cable doesn't plug right into your printer, you have to plug it into the end of your printer cable which is fine with me because it adds extra length). Taking the advice of another reviewer I plugged the new USB end of this cable directly into the back of the iMac (as opposed to plugging it into the USB hub I have). And dramatically...nothing happened. No window popped up on the iMac telling me that a new printer was installed or found or anything. Bummer, I thought. The thing didn't work. I looked at the instructions that came with the cable and there are NO instructions for using this with a Mac. There are only Vista instructions. So now I'm thinking either this thing doesn't work with a Mac after all or I'm going to have to go out on the internet and find a driver, etc. But then, out of curiosity I opened up System Preferences panel on the iMac and looked at the printer cue. Amazingly, there sat my HP 4L. Wow, I thought, the iMac never told me anything but just quietly hooked up my 4L ready to go. Sure enough, I opened up a Word document and tried to print it out on the Laserjet and it worked like a charm. So I don't have to junk my old HP LaserJet 4L after all. For the $17 I paid for this cable it was totally worth it!

One of my computers was destroyed in an electrical mishap. After rebuilding a new system, I realized the my new motherboard had no parallel port. None of my computers except for the laptops had parallel ports, so I was stuck -- my rock-solid high-quality workhorse printer for the past 10+ years, an HP LaserJet 6MP, had no computer to connect to. Argh! I found this product - "Cables To Go 16899 6 Feet Usb To Db25 Ieee Parallel Printer Adapter". It mentioned "Windows drivers" so I wasn't too hopeful about it working under Linux (Kubuntu). But it was so cheap, I figured I'd give it a whirl. If it worked, I won the lottery. If not, I was only out (...). Well, it worked like a charm. I connected the USB connection to the back of the computer, and the Parallel connection to the printer. Loaded up the CUPS admin page and to my shock and amazement, CUPS listed an "HP LaserJet 6MP" as a local printer connected via a USB interface. Wow!!! I was able to print a test page immediately. No tinkering. No configuring. It just worked. Period. Linux rocks! I marked the printer as the "default" printer, and restarted Samba. My Windows XP laptops found the new printer share immediately, and were all able to print to the LaserJet share from the Linux box. My smb.conf still mentions "lp" (the old name of the printer; the new name is something like HP_LaserJet_6MP) in the printer commands: # Print lpq command = /usr/bin/lpq -Plp %s lprm command = /usr/bin/lprm -Plp %j queuepause command = /usr/sbin/lpc -Plp start printcap name = cups printing = cups so I don't quite understand how it works -- maybe KDE/CUPS override printing commands? Or maybe the "lpq command," "lprm command," etc are only for BSD lpd and are ignored for CUPS printing. I dunno. But everything works. I am quite pleased (and relieved that I don't have to buy a new printer).

I just got a new computer with Windows 7. For my business I use an ANCIENT dot matrix printer to print out checks. The new computer has no 24-pin plug, of course, so I needed a USB adapter. This one had good reviews...ordered it. It arrived in just a couple of days and I got to work hooking it up (needed to print checks!). At first I was worried because while the adapter was in transit I tried downloading the driver for my early 1980s Epson. Got an error message from Windows 7 saying it couldn't install the downloaded driver. Uh-oh. Cable arrived and I plugged it in. Windows immediately recognized my printer as a generic USB device. In the Devices and Drivers window, I clicked on add a printer. My model was not in the available Epson driver list that came up, so I chose the oldest, most basic generic dot-matrix driver listed for Epson. It installed and I tried to print. Didn't work. Uh-oh again. Fumbled around trying a few different things that didn't solve the problem. Finally, I right clicked on the Epson icon in the Devices and Printers window. Chose Printer Properties, went to the Ports tab, LPT1 was highlighted. Scrolled down and changed it to USB001 Virtual Printer Port. Saved and VOILA - was able to print my checks with no problems whatsoever. Works like a dream. Cable also looks sturdy and well put together. I'm extremely satisfied and grateful to have found a solution. Note: The directions that come with the cable direct you to change the printer port as I did above, but it took me a while to figure it out because the directions are written for earlier versions of Windows so the steps are a bit different to get to the right place. BTW, LOVE Windows 7, but keep in mind that while most older programs will run on it, you may have to buy newer versions of an occasional one - I had to buy a new version of Quickbooks Pro (a program I use, but only grudgingly because Intuit is truly a horrible company to deal with).

This Cables2Go Serial Printer Cable with USB from Amazon allows for connection to your old serial printer. The cable allows direct connection without requiring any additional driver installation. This cable will NOT support the new multi-device serial printers that print, fax, scan all-in-one printers. However, it allows for direct connection and printing, just follow the instructions for connection and setup, easy, and works instantly. If your printer is a parallel printer, purchase this same cable from Amazon but select the Parallel to USB cable.

En general el cable funciona muy bien. Sirve como adaptador para conectar una impresora con puerto lpt y convertirla a usb. Buen precio.

nice

Worked exactly as advertised. I have an old workhorse of a printer that I couldn’t connect to when I upgraded my computer. This adapter worked perfectly with Windows.

Not useful for my application.