Ok - I'm stumped and looking for the best way to do this.. maybe someone can give me an option I hadn't thought of.
I have 2 printers - a Brother HL-2040 (a B/W laser printer) and an HP PhotoSmart 7660 (a color inket). I also have 2 computers - my MacBook Pro (which is my primary computer) and a Dell running Vista which my wife uses. (BOOO!!!)
Anyway, I tend to take my mac with me most times so I don't want to have them hooked up through my computer, in case she needs to print and I'm not there.. I tried to hook them both up via USB to her PC and share them - but it just wasn't working. I kept getting a bunch of errors, I probably spent 3 hours trying to get it to work, reading forums, Apples support docs, etc - and just gave up. Part of the problem is that there are no Vista drivers for the PhotoSmart 7660 so even though it prints on the Dell its not really set up correctly. (its a few years old and HP neglected it when Vista came out).
I don't have an Airport Extreme, that might solve the problem cause I could use the USB port (or a hub), but I have a decent router (a Linksys N router) and I'd hate for that to go to waste since it was over $100...
Another option I'm considering is replacing the PhotoSmart 7660 with a wireless PhotoSmart printer - at least that one would be a standalone - and since I don't really need the B/W too often I can just keep that hooked up to the Dell all the time.
I saw a few Print Servers with 2 ports, but they cost as much as a new printer would, and none of them really looked all that Mac friendly.
Does anyone else have another option, maybe theres something I'm not thinking of?
I have 2 printers - a Brother HL-2040 (a B/W laser printer) and an HP PhotoSmart 7660 (a color inket). I also have 2 computers - my MacBook Pro (which is my primary computer) and a Dell running Vista which my wife uses. (BOOO!!!)
Anyway, I tend to take my mac with me most times so I don't want to have them hooked up through my computer, in case she needs to print and I'm not there.. I tried to hook them both up via USB to her PC and share them - but it just wasn't working. I kept getting a bunch of errors, I probably spent 3 hours trying to get it to work, reading forums, Apples support docs, etc - and just gave up. Part of the problem is that there are no Vista drivers for the PhotoSmart 7660 so even though it prints on the Dell its not really set up correctly. (its a few years old and HP neglected it when Vista came out).
I don't have an Airport Extreme, that might solve the problem cause I could use the USB port (or a hub), but I have a decent router (a Linksys N router) and I'd hate for that to go to waste since it was over $100...
Another option I'm considering is replacing the PhotoSmart 7660 with a wireless PhotoSmart printer - at least that one would be a standalone - and since I don't really need the B/W too often I can just keep that hooked up to the Dell all the time.
I saw a few Print Servers with 2 ports, but they cost as much as a new printer would, and none of them really looked all that Mac friendly.
Does anyone else have another option, maybe theres something I'm not thinking of?
