Printer Question

[n2ize]

I currently have 2 printers at home. Each printer is connected to a different computer which ties into a network. To print something from any computer in the house all you have to do is select the printer you want your job to go to and it will be routed to the appropriate printer 6that you select.

In an effort to reduce power consumption it would be nice to be able to just run the printer without having to run a computer along with it. Are there any printers on the market that can accomplish this ? Ideally I would like a printer that can simply be connected directly to the network without the aid of a computer. The printer in turn would show up on the network and print jobs can be sent to it directly without the need for a computer/print server.

Is there any such animal on the market that can acheive this ? If so what would I look for/ask for ?

[kd7gwd]

At work , we have a HP laserjet that is ethernet . Any computer turned on and attached to the network can print to it . A little pricier , but this unit prints hundreds of invoices a day , and admittedly a number of ham radio manuals too without a hiccup for months before you need to change the cartridge .

At home , due to the cost of ink for a 4 year old printer , I bought a whole new Lexmark with wifi for less than 80 bucks . Now this wifi printer is pretty neat . I just added the ssid and passphrase to the printer so it sees my wifi router . And so far no glitches using either my desktop or laptop wirelessly . And it goes into standy ( wifi lights go out and it idles ) until it receives a signal from the router .

[kj3n]

Go to your local CompUSA or Best Buy and look for print server boxes. Some have multiple ports.

[KD6NIG]

BUT...you might want to check with your manufacturer before you do so. Some printers are way reliant on having a computer hooked to them.

They don't behave well just plugged into a network.

Now, some of the more advanced printer into ethernet ones will work better, but some printers are kinda iffy on those.

I have one computer that I leave constantly on (with my weather station and webcams) and I hooked both my printers to that. The regular printer was fine, but the photo printer just didn't want to behave at all with the network device.

There are some newer printers coming out now with an ethernet port as an option. No interface required http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[k3wrv]

I've got an HP 3055 Laserjet MFD that is supposed to work over ethernet but have never tried it that way. I don't let anything that runs windows talk to anything else ever, for any reason.

But the book says it WILL work, but see the thread about Vista. They said the same thing - that it might work! http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[n2ize]

Quote[/b] (kj3n @ June 06 2007,11:40)]Go to your local CompUSA or Best Buy and look for print server boxes. Some have multiple ports.
Thanks... now, stop beating that dead horse... http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[kj3n]

Quote[/b] (n2ize @ June 06 2007,20:59)]Quote[/b] (kj3n @ June 06 2007,11:40)]Go to your local CompUSA or Best Buy and look for print server boxes. Some have multiple ports.
Thanks... now, stop beating that dead horse... http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
Sorry, but that's the unofficial mascot of QRZ. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[n6hcm]

sure. one of these will do the trick. (http://www.compusa.com/products/products.asp?N=200043) make sure to choose one that matches your printer's connection (USB or Parallel).

there are also printers with this networking capability built in--these can be had for well under $200 (especially if you shop around and check out the sunday sales at the office supply stores).

there are some printers that won't work well with a print server, but many (most) do. i have a cheapie hawking print server (cost me about $20) connected to a UPS label printer (which i never expected to work with this) and it works just fine.

all-in-one printers are, imho, more likely to have networking built-in. i'm using a HP Officejet 7580 (which i received from HP to evaluate) and i'm pretty happy with it. not only does it print, but it faxes and scans documents to any computer on your network.

[n2ize]

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone. This opens up a whole range of ideas. I'm sure I'll be able to pick a viable alternative from these suggestions. Perhaps a print server would be the best way to go.

[kf6rdn]

Good suggestions. Have had good luck with jet direct units in the past, I'm sure there are cheapers ones now.

[AC0H]

Quote[/b] (n2ize @ June 08 2007,18:39)]Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone. This opens up a whole range of ideas. I'm sure I'll be able to pick a viable alternative from these suggestions. Perhaps a print server would be the best way to go.
Absolutely the way to go.
If you've got HP printers, the HP jet direct cards work great. I've got two of them. One for my personal laser jet in my shack and another to the HP multi-function the wife has at her desk. Can print to either printer and don't need a computer one and a local printer shared.

[WA7KKP]

My HP 1600CM inkjet has a plug-in Ethernet card, but it is over 10 years old.

When new, it was almost $3,000. Printers then were networked, so one office didn't have to spend $3k per workstation for quality printing.

Now printers are less than $100 each, so cheap it is cheaper in some instances to buy a new printer than to replace the ink cartridges. Hence, there is no longer a fiduciary need to network a printer.

Thought I'd mention, I bought 5 1600CM's for $50. Got lots of spare parts . . .

Gary WA7KKP