Citizen Printer

what is difference between these two printers?

i have two printer first is tvs dot matrix ribbon cartridge ink printer and second is hp f370 A-I-O printer but i want to know two things which i dont understand? first is about interface what kind of interface my dot matrix printer have ( because a large white connector) i think it is parallel interface! correct me if i wrong! what kind of interface my hp deskjet have ( a usb cable connects it ) but tell me are usb and serial interface same? and why i need to install a driver for hp but not for dotmatrix ?

Public Comments

If you can’t find the right HP drivers manually I would recommend just getting a software program that can do it for you. There is a program I use which will find drivers for just about all hardware devices. The best part is it takes a snapshot of your system specifications and matches the right driver to go with it. Perform a free driver scan at: http://www.hp-drivers.org/
Usually a large white connector is a serial interface connection and will have a lot of little holes in it and look like this: http://www.ladyada.net/images/digg/mods/Parallel.jpg A parallel interface one is usually silver metal jacketed with a slot through the middle like this: http://www.cablesdirect.com/prodimages/CC409FM_LR.jpg USB and serial interfaces are not the same, they use different voltages and technology for communication, but they both do use a serial data stream. You can get USB to serial or parallel adapters that will allow you to use the USB on your computer. The dot-matrix printer probably has basic available drivers already built-in to the operating system software as they are rather old, the printers are pretty basic in their function and ability, and the communication protocols for them are pretty standard. The reason you need to install a driver for the HP is that it will have more options in the way of fonts, and other advanced capabilities unique to it that a dot matrix won't have along with more advanced printing language. Best of luck.