Belkin F5U002V1 USB Parallel Printer Adapter

I bought this because we still have a lot of life left in an HP LaserJet 6MP printer. We needed to hook it up to a Dell Inspiron laptop (that does not have a parallel port) and was running Windows XP, and this cable worked perfectly. I plugged it into the printer, plugged into the laptop, turned on the printer, went to the Control Panel, to Printers, and did "Add a Printer". The cable was bought used, and did not come with software installation CD, but I didn't need it. It also was not "plug and play," so the computer didn't immediately recognize it. However, using the method I described above, I was able to install it to a USB virtual port, and was finished with setup in five minutes.

This Belkin F5U002V1 USB Parallel printer adapter cable worked great to connect my old HP 6L laser printer to new computer running Windows 7 Ultimate. Plug and play installation for me. Connected parallel end to printer, then plugged usb end into new computer...powered on printer, and that was all I had to do. Windows 7 immediately recognized the printer, installed the correct printer driver, and was up and able to print pages within about 30 seconds! Yay!!! Would have given it 5 stars, except the cable I received is only 5ft long, not 6ft as described in item listing and cable itself is very lightweight. I've had this cable less than one day...but so far so good!

I have an old HP Laserjet 6MP which has served as a workhorse for years, but when I upgraded to the new iMac with OS 10.6, Appletalk with the Assanté converter no longer worked, thus the printer couldn't work. I continued to use the printer with a laptop, but kept searching for a solution to make it fully functional. The Belkin F5U002V1 USB Parallel Printer Adapter cable did the trick. I plugged it in to the iMac and the printer (didn't need to use the installation mini disk), opened the printer system preferences and clicked to add a printer and voilá - the HP Laserjet 6MP showed up in the list. It worked immediately. The only hitch is that occasionally it doesn't print but I found that if I unplug the USB end and then plug it back in, it works. So nice to have my old printer back!

I bought this from Amazon because it was Vista certified. After it failed to install I contacted Belkin. Their response is below. "Thank you for contacting Belkin Technical Support. We understand that F5U002 is not working with windows vista. F5U002 is not compatible with windows vista." People also need to be aware that having a parallel to USB cable does not guarantee that a printer is supported in Vista. Most older HP printers are not, so even with the cable an old HP printer won't work. Before purchasing a parallel to USB cable check the manufacturer's web site first for Vista drivers (if your intention is to connect to Vista). I gave this item 1 star so people would read this review before buying it. I really have no basis for rating it.

The item was fine except it did not work. My printer was too old to work with my new computer. I am having to return the item! Phyllis Ann Rose

I bought this to connect from a newer Dell laptop to an older HP4+ laser printer. The laptop is Windows XP. Initial installation was very simple. It came with an intallation CD. I just popped that in, connected to the printer and to the USB on the back of my laptop, and then turned on the printer. It was immediately found and installed. I have had the printer hooked up for several months and I print to it almost daily. I am very pleased with the product. I know there were cheaper versions when I searched, but I had more confidence in purchasing a Belkin product as I've had success with that brand in the past, and a sort of hit-n-miss with some others.

This item was purchased to replace a now obsolete Appletalk connection to a laser printer. It did work but exhibits some flaky behavior on occasion. At times when powering up the printer to establish contact with the computer, the printer diagnostic with claim that it is sending data, but it is not. Powering the printer off then on 1-2 times will establish a usable connection and printing proceeds.

Received my Belkin USB to parallel adapter cable yesterday. Belkin F5U002V1 USB Parallel Printer Adapter Connected it to my ancient HP 4L laser printer, and to a USB port on my Dell XPS720 computer. (The 4L was purchased about 20 years ago, and has worked flawlessly ever since.) To my utter amazement it came up running, with no help from me! I thought I had to install the printer, but on a hunch I opened a Word document, selected printer setup, and the 4L was already waiting there to be selected. I did, and the document printed perfectly! The computer has Windows Vista home premium installed, but the Belkin documentation never mentions Vista at all, so I used the instructions for Windows 98, which included placing the 3" CD in the drive (though I'm not sure if the CD was even read). Like Aficianado said in his excellent review, and later comment, I could find no part number with the V1 suffix anywhere but on the Amazon web site! Thanks to his review, I'll give this Belkin adapter Five Stars! Belkin F5U002V1 Parallel Printer Adapter

Works perfectly, I had bought a cheap one at first and had nothing but problems and could not make the HDE cable work. The Belkin was plug and play with Win7 and my old HP4000 laserjet! Lesson learned buy the bit more expensive version and save a headache.