IEEE1284 CABLE vs. BI-DIRECTIONAL
Connie & John
I recently purchase an Epson 980 and am quite satisfied except for constant
'Communication Errors' and missing functionality on the print software (no
info on ink levels). Not long ago someone was nice enough to point out my 10
year old parallel cable was the culprit. Now there are IEEE1284 cables and
Bi-directional ones (half the cost). What are the differences between the
2??? Why does the 1284 cost twice as much? Would the 1284 be worth the extra
expense in my situation???
Regards,
John
Oz Sirion
cable should be fully wired and cause you no grief.
--
Whatever you wish for me,
May you have twice as much.
"Connie & John" <cdi...@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:8saz6.605921$JT5.16...@news20.bellglobal.com...
Andrew Rossmann
to the cited author.]
In article <8saz6.605921$JT5.16...@news20.bellglobal.com>,
cdi...@sympatico.ca says...
The 1284 cable uses twisted pair wiring for all of the data lines.
That allows for a cleaner signal over long runs. There are also
standards it must meet for shielding and other items. That assumes they
actually follow the standard in the first place. I wouldn't be surprised
if there are alot of fake ones out there. You really only need a 1284
cable for longer runs (over 10 ft/2m or more), or an electronically
noisy environement. It's also helpful/required for high-speed devices
like scanners, ZIP drives, etc.. on a parallel port.
A plain bidirectional cable will just pass on all of the signals.
There is no guarantee on shielding. For most uses, it's fine.
An unrated cable may not pass on some of the lines. For the old dot-
matrix and other non-bidirectional uses, most of those other lines were
unused, or could be ignored. With bidirectional communication, they are
often used for handshaking or even the communication itself.
Lastly, do NOT waste your money on gold plating!! Unless your mating
connectors are also gold plated, it will do nothing, and could actually
CAUSE corrosion due to the dissimilar metals.
Avoid buying cables at consumer electronics/office stores (Best Buy,
Circuit City, Office Depot, etc..) They are severely overpriced as they
are a big profit item. Search out KMart, WalMart, Target, etc.. You can
often find the exact same cable for a fraction of the price. You can
probably find cheaper on-line, but the cost is so low that the shipping
will kill any savings unless you are also ordering other items. More
than US$10 for a 6ft-10ft cable is too much. I've seen 6ft 'gold' 1284
cables for US$35+!!!!
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> Hi,
> I recently purchase an Epson 980 and am quite satisfied except for constant
> 'Communication Errors' and missing functionality on the print software (no
> info on ink levels). Not long ago someone was nice enough to point out my 10
> year old parallel cable was the culprit. Now there are IEEE1284 cables and
> Bi-directional ones (half the cost). What are the differences between the
> 2???
The 1284 cable has tighter electrical specs.
> Why does the 1284 cost twice as much?
Why does a Cadillac cost more than a Chevy?
> Would the 1284 be worth the extra expense in my situation???
At least 99% of the time the bi-di cable should perform
just as well as the IEEE-1284 cable. The 2 main exceptions
are: very long cables, and using it an electrically very noisy
environment where the better shielding of the more expensive
cable can make a difference.
Walt
low speeds, the wiring makes very little difference. However, at
high speeds, it can make a hug difference.
There is also quality control. The bi-directional cables have
no specs and therefore, no quality control. You might luck out
and get one that is good, or you may not. IEEE1284 cables meet
the IEEE spec for performance and signal quality.
If you need to save a few bucks, and therefore want to get the
cheap bi-directional cable, then get one as short as possible
to minimize the affects.