This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
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from Southern Pines, NC
It works with HP Laserjet 4
If it doesn't "fit" your printer, it is because you are trying to plug this cable into the old printer cable. Remove the old cable and plug this one directly into the back of the printer.
Setup: Detected USB device as soon as it was plugged in. Went to "add printer" in XP and manually added a local printer. Note: Windows will try to install it on LPT1 ("Recommended Printer Port"). you need to install it on a USB port (Windows says "Virtual printer port for USB") Finished install and printed test page fine. Total install time including opening package, removing twist ties on cable, unplugging old cable, plugging in new cable, windows setup was less than 5 minutes.
Only minus is price, but I had to have it right away to get business back up and running when old computer running as print server suddenly croaked.
What's great about it: Works
What's not so great: Price compared to comparable products
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
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from Connecticut
My HP LaserJet 4L continues to work year after year so I was very worried when my Gateway (Not so good an experience) died and I was faced with losing the parallel port. I saw this product online but with mixed results on whether the printer could be configured after it is used to connect a parallel printer to a USB port. My experience was flawless. Using Windows 7 Home Edition, the coputer connected immediately, was automatically recognized and worked before I had time to reroute the old cord. Great product.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
Additional information about Izzyaz could not be loaded.
from Iowa
I purchased this converter cable even though the other review said it does not work on HP laser printers. I used the cable to hook up a bullet proof HP Laserjet 4V to a new Windows Vista machine. The new computer didn't come with a parallel port, so I figured rather then adding a new port I would try one of these cables. I had my doubts with the other review saying it didn't work on HP Laserjets. Then I also looked at reviews on other web sites and they said it worked great, but took a little time to hook it up. For my set up it took literally 30 seconds. I shut down the computer, hooked up the chord, turned the computer and printer on and Windows Vista configured the printer with no problems at all. I use the print on a small home network, and all my other computers connect with no problems.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
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from Raleigh, NC
Even though the package says Works only with PC don't believe it. I hooked up HP 940c printer to my Mackbook Pro and it worked first time. No drivers to load (already installed in laptop).
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
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from Honolulu, HI
I've been using a Brother HL-1440 laser printer with my eMac without problems for years, but last night a bookcase fell against the back of the printer, damaging the jack where the USB cable from the eMac comes in. Rather than repairing the damaged jack, I wanted to connect the printer through its parallel jack. All the USB-to-parallel cables I found (including this one), however, say they are for "PC only" and I could not find any that even claimed to work with a Mac. I decided to give this one a try, and much to my delight, it couldn't have been easier to install and it works flawlessly. I just connected it, and it started working immediately (I didn't need to load any drivers or anything). My eMac is running Mac OS X (10.3.9).
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
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from St. George, UT
Used this cable for years with my WinXP machine and it worked great with the driver included on the CD (still available for download from Dynex as well). When setting up the new computer with Windows 8, it poses a problem.
I'd question a response from someone named Aaron on the Q&A page (answering an inquiry about Win7) that a cable needs no driver.
If so, then why does this cable come with a driver CD? And why does Windows 8 (just like XP did) auto-install the cable as an IEE-1284 Controller when I plug in just the cable?
This Aaron person further goes on to state that it ultimately depends on whether the actual device being connected is compatible. However, I know that HP has released a Win8 compatible driver for this printer (HP LJ 5M) and followed all steps to update it via Win8's update process in the printer properties.
I think an additional compatibility problem may be whether your USB port is backward compatible with USB 1.1, which is what this cable is. However, that being said, I believe it is obvious that a Win8 driver is also needed.
FWIW, I called Dynex support on the phone and was told that there is no Win8 driver available and that they may be releasing one shortly because they are getting a lot of requests from customers who have upgraded to Win8.
I've chosen "No" on the recommendation, partially based on the fact that even Dynex tech support told me I might do better if I try a newer cable from Rocketfish (also a Best Buy brand).
Computer Experience: high. Former Sys Admin and Network Engineer in several environments and as many as 14,000+ users before retiring.
What's great about it: Good way to connect older printer via USB if you have no parallel port
What's not so great: Difficult to get to use on newer hardware with Win8, may be driver issue or USB 1.1 backward compatibility
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
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from Johns Creek, GA
I have an old work horse of a printer - HP Laserjet 4V. It is working great thru parallel port. I wanted to connect it to another computer which does not have a parallel port. So I purchased this USB cable. But it was not compatible with my Windows 7 computer and this old printer.
Maybe I expect too much from this cable. But it was disappointing. I have used another brand of similar cable with HP LaserJet 6L. That worked fine. But this particular brand did not work with HP LaserJet 4V.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
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from Brooklyn, NY
This is my first Vista OS so I am still learning how to navigate around windows. Once I figured out how to download the drivers (from the hard drive itself), it took less than a minute from drivers installation to printing the test page. A prior review stated that this cable does work with HP printers. Well, it worked just fine for me. The information provided by a Best Buy employee to the unsatisfied prior reviewer (that it does NOT work with HP printers) is incorrect! I installed an HP DeskJet 870Cse.