Is there anything to be gained by connecting a printer to a USB port instead of a parallel port? Would there be any advantages in terms of speed of print or quality (due to a cleaner signal)?
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A USB port will allow data to be transferred faster. However, the benefit will be most noticeable with a laser printer, which needs to receive a whole page worth of data before it begins to print. With an inkjet printer the print mechanism is more likely to be the limiting factor. There will be no difference in print quality, as the data sent between the computer and the printer is digital, and is therefore either correct or not. However, while a parallel connection will be slower, unless you're constantly printing the speed may still be acceptable, and it uses hardware that even older PC's already possess.
If you don't have a USB port on your PC, one answer is a plug-in PCI-USB controller card, such as the one made by Belkin (www.belkin.co.uk). If you do choose this solution, installing it should simply be a matter of plugging it into a free PCI bus slot, booting up the computer and inserting the supplied driver disk when Windows asks for it.
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Introduction | General