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Another USB to network printer conversion
Authored by: gigabarth on Mar 17, '03 02:26:05PM

Hmmm, I'm wondering why, especially in the case of the hint poster, one wouldn't just turn on Printer Sharing from the Services tab in the Sharing System Preference. I have a network with a variety of laser and inkjet printers (some over ten years old) that are all shared across the network simply by making connections with one Mac and then sharing. Some of these connections are even done through GIMP-Print. The poster's printer, an Epson 777, is one of these printers. You don't need extra hardware to set this up if you've got a Mac on the network running Jaguar and already connected to a printer (like a Cube in the basement). And, if you don't have a Mac on the network, the new Airport Base Station has a USB port for a printer connection that can be shared network wide. Am I failing to see something here? Seems like a waste of money (and time) to me...

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iMac G4 800 17" - 512MB RAM - OS 10.2.3
PM 8500 G4 500 - 768MB RAM - OS 9.2.1



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Another USB to network printer conversion
Authored by: eyver on Mar 17, '03 03:48:05PM

If you are using USB printer sharing, the computer the printer is hooked up to must ALWAYS be on in order for the printer to be shared across the network. This is a pain for those who like to put their computers to sleep or shut them down when not in use. Using this USB to Ethernet converter as was described provides 24/7 access to one printer across the entire network, and with the ability to shut down or sleep the other computers when they are not in use.



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Another USB to network printer conversion
Authored by: chemdude on Mar 17, '03 08:16:15PM

As "eyver" said, this method keeps me from having to worry about whether or not the Cube is on and awake. As far as expense, $57 (Amazon, free shipping) is cheaper than a new Airport Extreme. Time? Geez, maybe 15 minutes.

The bottom line is that having multiple options available benefits everyone. What's best for your network may not be the best for me.



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Another USB to network printer conversion
Authored by: rkchang on Mar 17, '03 09:20:26PM

I use the same Hawking print server and absolutely love it! I actually find it incredibly useful to share my usb printer (HP PSC 2110x) between my Win2k desktop, which I use only on occasion, and my iBook (hooked together via a Linksys wireless router). Given that my Windows desktop is fairly slow, I find it incredibly annoying having to turn it on just to print out something, and I guess I'm just too lazy to move from my living room to my office to plug my iBook and printer together. As far as I've read, Airport Extreme does NOT allow print sharing with non-OS X machines (does this exclude Linux machines too?). Given most alternatives, this is VERY affordable (a little more than $50) and convenient (very short setup time) option.

Now, if I could just find a way to share the scanning capabilities of my HP PSC...

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\\\"I have seen the evils of procrastination, and I vow to change my ways tomorrow.\\\"



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