Printing with my PB?

[CowboyTurbo]

Ok, this is going to sound retarded. But... how do I connect my HP laserjet printer to my PB? do I need to purchase some sort of special cable?

 

[katie ta achoo]

What kind of connectors are on the HP?

If it's a newer one, there should be a USB port.
A model of the printer would help.

 

[CowboyTurbo]

umm... Laserjet 4L or 4 something, anyway it's an old school one without a USB port~ it has that cable that you usually plug into PC's with a whole bunch of those pin thinghies... lol.

 

[varmit]

umm... Laserjet 4L or 4 something, anyway it's an old school one without a USB port~ it has that cable that you usually plug into PC's with a whole bunch of those pin thinghies... lol.

Its a Parallel port printer. You would need to buy a Parallel to USB converter, then you should be able to connect this printer to your Mac. Macs no longer have parallel ports, just like they don't have floppy disks. Its old technology, and PC companies are slow to change, while Apple isn't slow. I have printed to a like printer, a Laserjet 4 and 5 plus at work, the drivers should already be in OS X so it will be simple to setup. Plug it in, go to the Printers in the System Preferences, and set it up.

 

[mkrishnan]

I just looked at the two-year-old PC in this room (at my parents' house) and I was surprised that it still has a parallel port.

But then, I looked at Dell's site, and the couple of desktops I looked at there also don't have parallel ports... 🙁

To the OP: Does your LaserJet have an ethernet port by any chance?

 

[katie ta achoo]

Oh.. we have a 4L hooked up to the windows machine..
you need this!
and some drivers and probably gimp print.

Google around, but that is the cord you need. 😀

this may help, too

 

[OutThere]

Careful with the converter cables...Mac OS X can be finicky at recognizing them. Make sure you get one from somewhere you can return it to, and check for an Ethernet and Serial port...I've had better luck with USB->Serial adapters, and if you've got Ethernet you're golden.

 

[CowboyTurbo]

I just looked at the two-year-old PC in this room (at my parents' house) and I was surprised that it still has a parallel port.

But then, I looked at Dell's site, and the couple of desktops I looked at there also don't have parallel ports... 🙁

To the OP: Does your LaserJet have an ethernet port by any chance?

No... this printer is 10+ years old (still runs like a charm though). Looks like I'm gonna have to do some more shopping...

 

[ITASOR]

No... this printer is 10+ years old (still runs like a charm though). Looks like I'm gonna have to do some more shopping...

It only has a parallel port on the back? Usually they have more than one port, I'm surprised!