Sharing a new printer with win98

My old hp DeskJet 812C ran out of ink for it's color cartridge last
week. In the store, I saw that a new cartridge cost around $45. The
store also had a display nearby for another color printer for only
$35. Given that there's 10 years of technology advancement between
them, I'm sure that cheap printer is just as capable as the old
DeskJet. However, it is unlikely that the new printer has win98
drivers.

If I hook up one of those cheap printers, will I be able to share it
with my two functional windows computers? One is running windows 98SE,
the other is running Vista 64 home premium.

I'm pretty sure the Win98 one only uses USB 1.1, but not 100% certain
on that. My DJ812C is connected to the parallel port of the win98
system which acts as a print server for Vista, but does have USB
capabilities that I've never used.

On 5/12/2010 11:33 AM, SlickRCBD wrote:
> My old hp DeskJet 812C ran out of ink for it's color cartridge last
> week. In the store, I saw that a new cartridge cost around $45. The
> store also had a display nearby for another color printer for only
> $35. Given that there's 10 years of technology advancement between
> them, I'm sure that cheap printer is just as capable as the old
> DeskJet. However, it is unlikely that the new printer has win98
> drivers.
>
> If I hook up one of those cheap printers, will I be able to share it
> with my two functional windows computers? One is running windows 98SE,
> the other is running Vista 64 home premium.
>
> I'm pretty sure the Win98 one only uses USB 1.1, but not 100% certain
> on that. My DJ812C is connected to the parallel port of the win98
> system which acts as a print server for Vista, but does have USB
> capabilities that I've never used.

I'll tell you the answer you may not want to hear, or maybe you'll be
surprised to hear.

Modern inkjet printers, ANY BRAND, are made to sell ink. That's why
they are so cheap, and also more cheaply made than the 812C. If the
812C is still steady and reliable, you may be better off simply spending
the $45.

Ask the people selling the printers how many pages can be printed from a
single ink cartridge. (If you get either a bullshit response or an "I
don't know" from the sales person, either find another sales person in
the store or shop elsewhere.) Then look at the cost of the replacement
cartridges, and calculate the cost per page. Now do the same for your
trusty 812C. (I'll bet that the replacement cartridge(s) for the $35
printer cost more than the original printer, and that you are getting a
starter set of cartridges with the new printer good for not too many
printed pages.

HP, Epson, Brother, Samsung, Lexmark and any other printer mfr I've not
mentioned have all figured out how to make money from printers. It is
the old Gilette strategy of giving away the razor and selling the
blades. (Gilette has since streamlined their business model by selling
cheap razors.)

There is a good reason why HP's printer division accounts for a large
percentage of company profits. With every printer sold comes a special
vacuum hose that sucks the money out of your billfold to supply you with
ink cartridges.

That said, I use an old B&W HP LaserJet for 99.99% of my printing and my
cost per page is barely more than I pay for paper... Ben Myers