Long time lurker and learner, first time posting. First, thanks to all on this board for sharing your knowledge with folks like me; you gave me the courage to switch, and in the switching and reading here, I've gained much more confidence and knowledge about my computers, etc. Thanks again.
Like the title says, I have a new to me, now two year old, 15" PB 1.67 HR that I'd like to use with my Brother all in one (MFC 4550 plus) that currently has only a parallel port. It is connected to a Dell (Win 95, PentII, 233gh, 64mb) pc and works well.
My first thought was to get an adapter cable, parallel to usb, and just plug the two together; my internet research seems to indicate this may not work, but maybe worth a try.
Another possibility is that for like $30 I can get a serial port card from Brother that sits on top of the original card in the printer, and then look for a usb to serial cable. The adapter card is described by Brother as for use with Apple and IBM computers with serial ports, although the original software it came with is not mac compatible.??
My research indicated that maybe the best way to go is to create a network (would be a first for me) and share the printer, although at present the Dell doesn't have a network card (I don't think). There is networking software on it, I think for internet access and for expansion.
The easiest and cheapest route is what I'd like to do, although being able to use the scanning and faxing capabilities would be ideal. Thanks for any help.
Like the title says, I have a new to me, now two year old, 15" PB 1.67 HR that I'd like to use with my Brother all in one (MFC 4550 plus) that currently has only a parallel port. It is connected to a Dell (Win 95, PentII, 233gh, 64mb) pc and works well.
My first thought was to get an adapter cable, parallel to usb, and just plug the two together; my internet research seems to indicate this may not work, but maybe worth a try.
Another possibility is that for like $30 I can get a serial port card from Brother that sits on top of the original card in the printer, and then look for a usb to serial cable. The adapter card is described by Brother as for use with Apple and IBM computers with serial ports, although the original software it came with is not mac compatible.??
My research indicated that maybe the best way to go is to create a network (would be a first for me) and share the printer, although at present the Dell doesn't have a network card (I don't think). There is networking software on it, I think for internet access and for expansion.
The easiest and cheapest route is what I'd like to do, although being able to use the scanning and faxing capabilities would be ideal. Thanks for any help.