Network print server help

I have a parallel laser printer, which I would like to connect to my network via
a print server. Because this is an old-ish printer, it has no power saving
option and I don't really want to leave it switched on all the time.

Is there a print server that will switch on power to the printer when it
receives a print job and switch the power off again once it has finished
printing ?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Vic

On Thu, 4 Dec 2003 01:15:59 -0000, "Vic" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>I have a parallel laser printer, which I would like to connect to my network via
>a print server. Because this is an old-ish printer, it has no power saving
>option and I don't really want to leave it switched on all the time.
>
>Is there a print server that will switch on power to the printer when it
>receives a print job and switch the power off again once it has finished
>printing ?
>
>Any advice would be appreciated.

Happy to be wrong, but I have never come across such a beast.

Main reason imo is that printers take differing times to "warm up".

You'll probably find it much cheaper to buy a new network printer
which does have a power saving option. For example I know the HP
laserjets have a network card option.

How about switching the printer on just before you think you want to
print your first doc of the day and switching off when you think
you've finished? Power draw on an idle printer is pretty low, though.

jay

"Jay" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> Main reason imo is that printers take differing times to "warm up".

I was hoping the print server would either buffer the data or not allow the
originating computer to send any more until the printer was warmed up and ready.

> You'll probably find it much cheaper to buy a new network printer
> which does have a power saving option. For example I know the HP
> laserjets have a network card option.

I have looked into this, and the cheapest HP laser with a network port is about
£400. Not a great amount, but more than the £20-30 I was hoping to pay for a s/h
print server on Ebay.

> How about switching the printer on just before you think you want to
> print your first doc of the day and switching off when you think
> you've finished? Power draw on an idle printer is pretty low, though.

Yes, have thought of that as well. My present laser printer is an HP LaserJet 4,
quite old but still going strong - a really good workhorse. Unfortunately, it
does not have any power saving at all, so the heaters in the fuser unit and the
fan stay on all the time, thus consuming quite a large amount of power, not to
mention the noise.

As you say, I will probably end up getting a new network laser printer in due
course. In the meantime, I will just have to keep getting up and going to the
other room to switch the thing on and off - we have computers in 3 rooms in the
house, two upstairs and one downstairs, so it's a bit of a bind.

Vic