Sabrent SBT-UPPC USB to Parallel 6-Foot Printer Cable
by SABRENT
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for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sabrent SBT-UPPC USB to Parallel 6-Foot Printer Cable
Customer Review: Frustrating to use with Windows XP USB Ports
Summary: 3 Stars
This product is used with a Dell desktop computer running Windows XP and an HP LaserJet IIIP printer which never had a USB connection (and my Dell never had a parallel port connection).
Sometimes it works great but then sometimes it doesn't. The problem seems to be the random reassignment of the "virtual" USB port created in Windows XP when it detects this plug 'n play device. The result is that unless you've "guessed correctly" about which virtual USB port your printer output is going to, your computer-sent printer data will never reach the printer. Instead, the data sits in a black hole printer queue waiting for a printer to be connected to the proper virtual USB port.
Simply powering-off the PC or disconnecting the printer from the PC seems to scramble the USB port assignment for this device. We've been unable to resolve this recurring problem. We do know how to remedy the problem when it occurs but it is often a very aggravating process.
I've not tried other parallel to USB port converter/adapters so I do not know if this is a common problem with the concept or just a problem with this particular device.
I'd seriously recommend that you try a different brand of device if you are wanting to use a parallel port printer with your Windows PC.
P.S. This review was completely rewritten after the product FINALLY arrived via USPS. My initial review was to complain about Amazon's tendency to announce that products have shipped when in fact they haven't. The problem with delayed shipping by Amazon continues but isn't related to the performance of this product. Accordingly, I've re-written the review to include pertinent details about the actual product (which finally arrived after shipping 4 days AFTER Amazon said it did).
Customer Review: Decent fall back for older printers
Summary: 3 Stars
When you really need to connect an old printer to a really new computer you don't have many choices since most printers from 2000 and earlier didn't offer any sort of USB port (really old ones might offer an optional RS-232 DE9 interface but those are usually very rare optional parts) and most computers from the past few years don't offer the necessary DB25 Parallel port (although some might indicate that they should but lack the physical connector). In this situation you can either get a PCI or PCIe card with a Parallel port and controller on it or you can get a parallel to USB adapter like this one.
The PCI/PCIe card should be the most reliable choice since it doesn't require a connector to pretend to be a completely different sort but it can be hard to get one that works with your OS (driver support is spotty) and devices that require the port to operate in a specific mode (SPP, ECP, EEP) may not work properly as motherboards that don't have the necessary options in the BIOS and most OSs don't have an easy or reliable method of setting this. Before this I had tried a Startech PCI1PECP PCI card which wasn't supported by my Linux distribution, after I returned that I ordered this (any other PCI card I could find offered no more confidence of compatibility and were three or more times the price of this cable). It arrived this afternoon and after plugging it in and some testing it worked just fine running an eight page document to my Panasonic KX-P3123 dot matrix printer. The trick under Linux/Unix environments is that the device doesn't show up as a standard parallel port device, instead it appears as /dev/usb/lp0 (or lp1, etc if you have other USB printers)
Customer Review: Finally got it to work - Vista and DeskJet 500
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this cable (and another one) and couldn't get either one to work. There was no directions with either cable. There was a mini disc which didn't have anything useful and I ended up not using it at all.
I attached the USB end of the cable to my new Vista desktop first. Vista then automatically installed the driver for the cable. (Watch the lower right hand side of your screen to see the install happen). Then I attached the other end to my DeskJet 500 printer, went to Printers (under control panel) and clicked on Add a Printer. Choose 'Add a Local Printer'.
Then Vista asks for the port designation, which is where I went astray. Other reviews said to pick the USB port that you plugged the cable into. I spent much time trying to determine what that port's name was, eventually deciding it was Port_#0007.Hub_#0001. It took that port name but would not work - my computer thought it printed (i.e., the print queue emptied) but nothing printed.
Actually Vista was making it easy for me - I just didn't know it. When Vista "installs' the cable - which happens when it is plugged into the computer - vista creates a port called 'USB001 Virtual printer port for USB'. That's the one to select from the list (click the arrow to see the list) when the Add printer wizard asks for the Port. Once I did that - guess what? Both cables worked just fine.
The other cable was the Dekcell CPA 1028. I ended up using this cable as it is a foot longer, but both cables work.
Customer Review: Both HP and Dell said it wouldn't work....Boy were they wrong!
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a graphic design artist and have been using my HP Laserjet 5000 for the past, I don't know, 8 years or so. I have to process artwork in layer separated format in black & white and the 5000 has been one of the most dependable and accurate printers I've ever used. With that said, I wasn't willing to give up when I found out how hard it is to find a "good" solution to connect these new desktop computers (Dell XPS410 in my case) to old parallel port printers without having an ethernet networking system or a new plug and play parallel pci port in the desktop itself. Both HP and Dell said these cables are crap and that I'd be lucky to even get the computer to recognize the printer. Well, upon plugging it in (I had already downloaded our HP drivers), everything worked as expected...in fact, I noticed an increase in speed over the former parallel transfer used with my old Dell desktop. Just so you know, I have Windows XP (it seems this has great success with this particular usb-parallel adapter). Though it is probably only a short-term solution for our company (I plan on installing a paraller PCI port into one of our unused slots because I hear that is almost foolproof in the long run)...for those who have a home system and don't want to fork out the money for a new printer when your old one is still alive and kicking, try this product out. If it's listed on the package/website as compatible, it should work. And if it doesn't, well you dropped about[...] Why not give it a try? You won't be disappointed.Customer Review: A marriage made in digital heaven. . .
Summary: 5 Stars
. . .even if the in-laws didn't want it to happen.
When I bought a new iMac to replace an old Dell, I joined a growing family of computer owners. Our laser and inkjet printers are too young to toss out but our new computers don't have a parallel port for a printer. Parallel and serial ports are disappearing, even on Intel/Windows machines.
The computer biz's solution: Come on, buy a snazzy new USB printer for that snazzy new computer! Apple doesn't even list my HP LaserJet 6L among compatible printers for the iMac. Could they be in cahoots? Hmmm . . .
The LaserJet still prints out a razor-sharp manuscript. With a little maintenance now and then, I can get more value out of it than I would for the price of a new printer. Off I went in search of a solution, but at all the usual brick-n-mortars, a simple USB-to-parallel cable was half a C-note!
Back here on Amazon.com, I found this Sabrent cable. Though most of the reviews extoll its virtues on Windows machines, I figured I could gamble the cost.
I hit the jackpot. With the price of shipping, the cable is less than half the lowest price I found. Even better, the iMac already had (or found on the Internet) a driver for the cable, and then hunted up a public domain driver for the LaserJet that works like a charm.
So, a 21st century computer has found the perfect mate in a printer from the late 1990s. And they lived happily ever after.