| 
© 2002 Hewlett-Packard Company
| |  There are three ways of connecting your printer to a computer: Of these, HP recommends using a USB cable (for the HP Designjet 10ps and 20ps printers) and an HP Jetdirect print server (for the HP Designjet 50ps printer), but see the details below.  | |  | | USB cable | | | | |

HP recommends that you use a USB cable to connect your HP Designjet 10ps or 20ps printer if this is at all possible, that is, if your computer and its operating system support it. It is the easiest connection to use, though there is a limit of 5 meters (16 feet) on the cable length. You must connect your printer to your computer system using the supplied HP Designjet 10ps or 20ps software. For Macintosh computers, you must have a blue G3, iMAC or G4 computer; you must use MacOS 9.1 or later. For computers running Windows systems, check to see if you have a USB port [picture]; you must be running Windows 98 (second edition), Windows ME, Windows 2000 or Windows XP. How do I connect using a USB cable? |

 | |  | | HP Jetdirect print server | | | | |

Use an HP Jetdirect print server with the HP Designjet 50ps printer. Use it also with the HP Designjet 10ps and 20ps printers if using a USB cable is not a suitable solution, for example, if the computer running the HP Designjet 10ps or 20ps software is more than 5 meters (16 feet) and up to 100 meters (328 feet) from your printer. Be aware that if the network is over-utilized, print quality may suffer. You must have a Network Interface Card installed and configured for your computer. You are recommended to use a 100BaseT network. You must have an HP Jetdirect Print Server installed in the printer. How do I connect using a Jetdirect print server? How do I install an HP Jetdirect print server? |

 | |  | | Parallel cable | | | | |

HP recommends that you use the parallel port only if neither of the other two solutions is viable. It is not available on Macintosh computers. A parallel port is easy to connect and set up, though it can be slow and allows only basic status information about the printer to be returned to the computer. Note that your PC must be in Extended Capabilites Port (ECP) mode, to allow faster communication. This is established while starting the computer, in the BIOS set-up. How do I connect using a Parallel cable? |

Web links on this page: [HP Home] [Designjet Online] [Support] [How to Buy] | |