Sunday, April 1, 2007

Multifunction print server


This weekend, we reorganized the closet in our office.  I took this as an opportunity to move out Deskjet 812C to our kids iMac.  I am going to setup the free (after rebate) printer that we got with the Mac Book Pro.  I am going to try to use the Linksys PSUS4 again with this printer.


One problem with this solution is that we will not be able to access all of the functions of the printer.  While the printer is connected to the print server, we will not be able to use the scanner.  We will have to disconnect the USB cable from the print server, and connect it to our computers.





There are a few print servers that claim that they support multifunction printers.


Both of these printers claim that they support multifunction printers.  Unfortunately, they only export the scanner functionality on Windows PCs.  These print servers are really just proxies for the scanning feature, the print server just proxies the scanning commands.


What I would love to see is a printer server that really implements the scanning functionality.  When something is scanned, the server could either copy the image to network mount, or could email it to a specified email address.

1 comment:

  1. I read your article, came up in a search result... Like the site, good stuff. Just had to comment on the two print servers you mentioned. Clunky and a need for maintenance, constantly. We used them for a few years along with our clients, nothing good to say about them so I'll stop. Check out Remote Print Manager by Brooks Software. We've been very pleased with the software, printing to all types of printers, copiers and scanners.
    Again, good stuff. Have a great day.
    Frank

    ReplyDelete

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