Parallel vs USB

[Aldingo]

Not clear have the parallel or serial interfaces in POS printers some benefits compared to USB
interface? There are still mass-produced a large number of POS printers models with parallel & serial
interfaces, or with option to select from serial, parallel or USB interface.

 

[Patok]

From: "Aldingo" <[email protected]>

| Not clear have the parallel or serial interfaces in POS printers some
benefits compared to
| USB interface? There are still mass-produced a large number of POS
printers models with
| parallel & serial interfaces, or with option to select from serial,
parallel or USB
| interface.


Serial printing is the worst. Parallel is an imporovement but has
distance limitations. USB printing is best.

If we are going to enumerate interfaces, I think that wireless
printing is best.

 

[Paul]

Not clear have the parallel or serial interfaces in POS printers some benefits compared to USB
interface? There are still mass-produced a large number of POS printers models with parallel & serial
interfaces, or with option to select from serial, parallel or USB interface.

USB is mandated for "legacy-free PC" design. It is an
intermediary or a replacement, for some of the slower
bus interfaces. For example, if you look at a netbook, USB
is one of the few hardware interfaces along the edge of the netbook.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy-free_PC

A serial port might work at 9600 baud. That's say, 1KB/sec or so
in round numbers.

A parallel port, transfers data at around 2MB/sec (not all modes
work at the same rate). That's enough to print a document as a
series of dots, rather than sending commands to the printer
to print whole characters from a wheel or type ball.

The USB2 port can work at around 30MB/sec, or about 15 times faster than
the parallel port. The USB port supports conversion devices as well,
such as RS232 serial port or parallel port (for printing only).

The interfaces you mention, cover a range of speeds, and the
above are just some example values.

Paul

 

[Tim Meddick]

The *only* reason that any printers are still made with both a parallel
port and USB - is not because of some argument over which is best or more
efficient (USB is vastly superior in most every way) no! - but they
sometimes still have an additional parallel port interface on some new
printers so that they can take advantage of a bigger market - that of the
many people, who don't feel the need to upgrade their entire computer
system every single year, but (at the other extreme), choose to still use a
system that was new 25 years ago and never heard of "USB"!!

In short, the only reason that any printers are still made with both a
parallel port and USB is for "legacy" compatibility reasons.

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

 

[David H. Lipman]

If we are going to enumerate interfaces, I think that wireless printing is best.

I have this neat MPI BlueTooth Printer Adapter that's a BlueTooth Print Server for a
Centronics interface.

 

[Aldingo]

I dont think that upgrade is true reason. The only purpose of POS printers is to print print receipts,
these small printers usually print with maximum print speed of 80-100 char/sec, it more than enough
for fast printing. Also, there is not exist POS printers with double or triple interface, it comes only with
one of them. Seems there is other reason, probably for compatibility with POS systems hardware,
which mostly use these interfaces.

Regards,
Aldingo

 

[John John MVP]

Not clear have the parallel or serial interfaces in POS printers some benefits compared to USB
interface? There are still mass-produced a large number of POS printers models with parallel& serial
interfaces, or with option to select from serial, parallel or USB interface.

Some of the older DOS based POS software cannot print to USB, there is
still a large install base of this older type of POS software so many
printer manufacturers still have printers for this group of users.

John

 

[Tecknomage]

USB is mandated for "legacy-free PC" design. It is an
intermediary or a replacement, for some of the slower
bus interfaces. For example, if you look at a netbook, USB
is one of the few hardware interfaces along the edge of the netbook.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy-free_PC

A serial port might work at 9600 baud. That's say, 1KB/sec or so
in round numbers.

A parallel port, transfers data at around 2MB/sec (not all modes
work at the same rate). That's enough to print a document as a
series of dots, rather than sending commands to the printer
to print whole characters from a wheel or type ball.

The USB2 port can work at around 30MB/sec, or about 15 times faster than
the parallel port. The USB port supports conversion devices as well,
such as RS232 serial port or parallel port (for printing only).

The interfaces you mention, cover a range of speeds, and the
above are just some example values.

Paul

When it comes to printing *speed* the real factor is your printer, NOT
the port used. Secondary factors are printer memory and the
print-spooler. The bigger the printer memory, more of any document
can be cached during printing. But the bottom-line is your printer's
print-speed, and that is what it is and you cannot make that faster.

I have one parallel InkJet printer and one USB laser printer (256mb
RAM). My laser printer is 3x faster (even in duplex) that my InkJet.



Printer ports only become a factor when using a shared printer in an
office environment. In this case you use a print-server and LAN, with
the printer connected to the server via whatever port the printer has,
the printer is shared, and everyone uses the network for printing.
This way the server print-spooler is used which relieves the user's
desktop.


Ports used for printing have more to do with your PC system. I've
noticed that the latest desktop systems do not have a parallel port
nor a COM (serial) port, just USB. Then the problem can become
running out of USB ports to use.

My home rig desktop has 4 rear USB ports, 2 front panel USB ports, one
each parallel and COM port. 3 of 4 rear USB ports are in use.





SIDE ISSUE:
I noticed that someone mentioned WiFi printers, this type of printing
requires online connection. I always tell my clients that if security
is a big concern, do NOT be online *unless you need to*. Malware via
the Internet cannot get on your system if you are NOT online. This
advice is especially for home users.

At home, I go online ONLY if I need the Internet, otherwise I am
off-line (I disable my network connection) which is 95% of the time I
use my home rig. The result, along with running a really good
antivirus utility, is that I've not had ANY malware on my rig for
decades.


In fact the safest practice is to turn your system off when you are
not using it. The next safest practice is to logoff.




--
=========== Tecknomage ===========
Computer Systems Specialist
ComputerHelpForum.org Staff Member
IT Technician
San Diego, CA

 

[David H. Lipman]

When it comes to printing *speed* the real factor is your printer, NOT
the port used. Secondary factors are printer memory and the
print-spooler. The bigger the printer memory, more of any document
can be cached during printing. But the bottom-line is your printer's
print-speed, and that is what it is and you cannot make that faster.

I have one parallel InkJet printer and one USB laser printer (256mb
RAM). My laser printer is 3x faster (even in duplex) that my InkJet.



Printer ports only become a factor when using a shared printer in an
office environment. In this case you use a print-server and LAN, with
the printer connected to the server via whatever port the printer has,
the printer is shared, and everyone uses the network for printing.
This way the server print-spooler is used which relieves the user's
desktop.


Ports used for printing have more to do with your PC system. I've
noticed that the latest desktop systems do not have a parallel port
nor a COM (serial) port, just USB. Then the problem can become
running out of USB ports to use.

My home rig desktop has 4 rear USB ports, 2 front panel USB ports, one
each parallel and COM port. 3 of 4 rear USB ports are in use.





SIDE ISSUE:
I noticed that someone mentioned WiFi printers, this type of printing
requires online connection. I always tell my clients that if security
is a big concern, do NOT be online *unless you need to*. Malware via
the Internet cannot get on your system if you are NOT online. This
advice is especially for home users.

At home, I go online ONLY if I need the Internet, otherwise I am
off-line (I disable my network connection) which is 95% of the time I
use my home rig. The result, along with running a really good
antivirus utility, is that I've not had ANY malware on my rig for
decades.


In fact the safest practice is to turn your system off when you are
not using it. The next safest practice is to logoff.

No one mentioned WiFi. What was mentioned was "wireless" and there are multiple
technologioes that include WiFi. I mentioned a BlueTooth solution.

WiFi does NOT require being on the Internet. One can have a WiFi access point in LAN only
environment which is without any WAN connection. However if the LAN is connected to the
WAN via a Router one can institute an additional Firewall or a WiFi NAT Router with a full
Firewall and block the IP address and/or MAC address of the node(s) in question from
accessing the Internet.

The malware aspect...
If the computer is behind a NAT Router or a NAT Router with a full Firewall
implementation, a computer on the LAN can be kept "up" with no problems and logging off
only helps if you are in an environment with COMSEC concerns. I have kept my computers
"up" (which have always been behind a NAT Router) for weeks without shutting them down and
still logged on with no malicious activity on the LAN nodes. Whether a user on a computer
is logged on or logged off, and there is a threat via network protocols, the threat
remains the same. The concept of logging off is purely a COMSEC approach for other users
being blocked from using the logged on account.