D-Link DP 300U

Great Print Server

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Apr 9, 2004 | 6 out of 6 found this D-Link DP 300U review helpful

Pros: Two parallel ports and USB

Cons: Limited Printer Support, poor driver support.

I have an Epson 740 and an Okidata OL-810e that I have been swapping cables with on my small home network. In order for me to print from my wireless laptop, I would have to power on my PC and make sure I had the right cable connected to my LPT1 port.... But switching from Ink to Laser and vice versa was a trouble some task; I would have to manually swap the connection. Thus, making this a great place for a print server. I am a network analyst and have used many other ones from Netgear, HP and Intel, and I found this to be an attractive item because of its available ports and matching hardware to my current D-Link network (DI-614+ & DWL650+). Out of the box: I connected it and followed the rather basic and uninformative instructions. I started with my Win2000 PC and configured the Okidata OL-810e (not listed as a supported printer) and I wasn’t sure if I could use the Oki drivers or if I had to use HP4 drivers. After setting the port to use LPR, the printer worked great. No issues and I didn't lose any functionality. Inkjet: I did get the latest drivers from Epson, but found that the pre-canned drivers with both 2000 & XP work better when using this in LPR mode. BUT I did lose most of the Status monitoring that I used to have when I had it connected via LPT1. I cannot select the DPI's nor can I see my Ink Levels. To me, I guess for now, this is a workable trade off. How I rate this item? I got this product from New Egg and paid $69 shipped, much less than some of the aforementioned products. It works no better or worse than any of them also. Support: D-Link's support is greatly limited and I found that they aren't willing to take the time to answer questions (Email Support). I emailed with a simple question if later firmware would support new printers and what my limit was on connecting USB printers via a USB hub. I was told to return the product for a refund. No exactly a worthy answer. Would I buy this again for friend or client? Sure. Read more Less