Problems connecting an old HP LaserJet 2100 to an XP Pro machine

On Tue, 11 Mar 2008 09:22:26 -0400, Ben Myers
wrote:

HP's PCL printers are generally upward compatible, i.e. a newer
printer's PCL is a superset of that of an older printer. Last week, because I
did not have Windows 98 software available for a client's really old computer, I
connected up a Laserjet 4050 to the parallel port and simply retained the old
LaserJet II driver. The client was satisfied with this workaround... Ben Myers

(I hope responding to an old post is okay):

The 4050 is 1200 dpi and supports PCL 6, PCL 5e and PS 2
The LJII is PCL 4 and 300 dpi.

PCL4 is a subset of PCL5, but PCL6 is a complete break.
PCL5 and PS2 support outline fonts and line graphics.

Win98 has drivers for several printers that support PCL5 and PS 2.
(Eg, LJ4 for PCL5, LJ4M for PS2)

These would be preferable as PCL4 was strictly bitmapped fonts and
graphics, and thus LJII PCL will always be 300 dpi.
Also, it won't manage the printer memory properly, and will send tiny
amounts of data at a time instead of using all the printer RAM.

If it was cranking out dBase reports in Courier, it probably makes
little difference, though.

** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **