Wireless Printing Suggestion Please

Hi all.
I have about 6 hours in on my new MBP and things are going unbelievably easy. I've gotten almost everything I've needed to transfer from the PC complete now.
Here's how things are set up here.....
I have a desktop PC running XP hooked up to an HP LaserJet 1200.
The desktop is hooked up to a Linksys Wireless Router.
I have a laptop PC running Vista and I can pront wirelessly with it through the network.
I followed the instructions at the top of this forum for my Mac and it worked perfect and allows me to print wirelessly with it too.
The problem I have is that if my desktop PC is turned off, I can't print through the network.
What are my options to solve this?
Thanks!
- Dave

 

Assuming your printer is not a network printer (ie, does not have Ethernet or Wi-Fi), you'll need to buy a USB print server.

Edimax makes some great print servers that are compatible with Mac. Though a word of warning, if you have a multi-function printer (scan, fax, etc.), you'll need a USB multi-function print server as regular print servers won't support those functions.

You can get either wired or wireless print servers. The wireless ones cost a bit more, but they won't occupy an Ethernet port on your router.

There may be other manufacturers that support Mac, but Edimax is the one I currently use (I actually flashed a ZyXEL print server with the Edimax firmware due to ZyXEL's lack of Mac support and it having the same chipset as the Edimax print server). I've used mine on both Mac and Windows and haven't had any issues so far.

 

Or if you are also looking for a new router, get any router with a USB port on it. I use the Airport Extreme Base Station. I have a Seagate FreeAgent dock connected to the Airport Extreme Base Station via USB. That Seagate dock happens to have three powered USB ports. I hook up a printer via USB to the dock. The net result is that I can now print wirelessly and use my 640 GB Seagate portable hard drive in the dock to serve as a Time Machine backup. I also have two free USB ports so I can connect more devices. I recommend the Airport Extreme Base Station because the software is integrated into OS X already and works beautifully.