[time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it exist ?

[Mark Spencer]

> 
> Message: 3
> Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2013 11:42:42 -0800
> From: "Rick Karlquist" <richard at karlquist.com>
> To: "Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement"
>     <time-nuts at febo.com>
> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] OT - USB to LPT Adapter - Does it
> exist?
> Message-ID:
>     <5649c7226c28740bc3c75703ea5a91d4.squirrel at webmail.sonic.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1
> 
> Mark Spencer wrote:
> > Joe:
> >
> > I've been down this road and ended up buying two "lease
> return" HP
> > desktops for a nominal price that included on board
> parallel ports to deal
> > with some amateur radio gear required a real parallel
> port.
> >
> > As others have mentioned there are fairly recent IBM /
> Lenovo laptops that
> > also featured parallel ports (or at least their docking
> stations did.)
> >
> > Regards
> > Mark Spencer
> 
> I have an HP laptop with docking station and the docking
> station
> provides serial and parallel ports.  The question
> is:  are these
> "real" ports (just like built ins) or do they behave as USB
> dongle
> versions?  One could easily imagine that the docking
> station did
> nothing more sophisticated that emulating a USB dongle, but
> then again,
> it does access the docking connector so there is some hope
> it connects
> directly to the bus.
> 
> Rick Karlquist N6RK
> 

In my experience with my older Toshiba Portege Laptop the parallel port provided by the OEM dongle is equivalent to the parallel port provided by a typical PC.  

At work (I work in corporate IT) we lend out older laptops from time to time to individuals who want a machine with a real parallel or serial port for a specific task. I recall us providing IBM / Lenovo laptops and docking stations for this task and don't recall ever having a un happy customer.  

Your mileage may vary (:

Regards
Mark Spencer