USB-to-parallel converters: drivers (or not)?

[Ed C]

I have the Belkin F5U002 that installed on XP without any
effort, using the drivers that exist on XP for my HP693C
(old) printer. The only issue I have is that it only
prints on half the page, wasting a lot of paper. I am
going to post a question about it. I don't think it is
the fault of the cable.




>-----Original Message-----
>I want to attach my printer to my laptop computer
through a USB-to-parallel
>converter. I hope somebody can give me the lowdown on
how these gadgets
>interact with the computer.
>
>Some product descriptions say that they come with
Windows XP drivers. Others
>say they use a driver that comes with Windows XP. Yet
others say "plug and
>play," and I don't know whether that means that they
don't require drivers,
>or it is just another way of saying the driver comes
with Windows XP.
>
>If I buy a converter that needs a driver, I'm concerned
that support may be
>dropped in a future version of Windows, leaving me with
a paperweight and an
>unusable printer.
>
>
>.
>

[Jonathan Sachs]

"Ed C" > wrote in message
...
> I have the Belkin F5U002 that installed on XP without any
> effort, using the drivers that exist on XP for my HP693C
> (old) printer. The only issue I have is that it only
> prints on half the page, wasting a lot of paper. I am
> going to post a question about it. I don't think it is
> the fault of the cable.

If the printer didn't do that before, what suggests to you that it's NOT the
cable?

The Belkin web site's product description says that the F5U002 is compatible
only with PCL printers (in fact, only with certain releases of PCL), so
presumably it's doing something or other to the commands that pass through
it. If I had this experience, I would be very, very suspicious.