Best usb parallel port adapter

The USB parallel port adapter is a connector that users, especially developers or technicians, need to interconnect current equipment with old peripherals, usually printers.

But we cannot forget about the old hard drives, those that worked through IDE, because we can also find adapters of this type if you want to recover and use your old HDD for some particular reason.

Index of contents

What is and how the parallel port works

We started to warm up the engines, explaining a little the operation of this port and the types that we found. This is essential to get an idea of ​​which USB parallel port adapter we have to buy.

The parallel port is a digital communication interface that allows connecting different types of peripherals. The connection and exchange of information between them is done by sending a series of bits at a time and in the form of packets. If we take this to a physical level, what we would have is a cable for each bit that is sent, thus forming the data bus.

There will be as many cables as there are bits at a time that you want to send, for example 7 to send an ASCII code. In any case, the connector will have a greater number of cables, since some are used for synchronization and other functions such as grounding.

Centronics port and other parallel ports

The DB25, LPT25 or Centronics port was one of the most used in the parallel connections of personal computers since 1970. It was introduced by IBM, among others, with 25 pins to interconnect mainly printers of the time.

This port underwent updates in the form of higher speed thanks to the EPP and ECP versions where it reached 2 MB / s, standardizing with the IEEE 1284 standard. Possibly the most sought parallel USB port adapter will be precisely this connector.

But there are other parallel ports of vital importance to us such as PATA, which we know by IDE to connect mechanical storage units, or SCSI, for rival PATA drives oriented to servers and RAID.

Serial port: operation and which interfaces use it

After having seen the details of the parallel port and the interfaces that a home PC have or had of this type, it is time to see the serial port.

We understand by serial port that digital communication interface in which the information bits are transmitted sequentially, bit by bit, on a conductor. This means that now a set of synchronized bits are sent in parallel, but they arrive as if they were from a row in question and the receiver must join them to form the word.

The serial port that we are interested in in this article will be fundamentally RS-232, an interface that was standardized in 1962 thanks to the EIA / TIA RS-232C standard. This connector is called DB-9 for having 9 contacts, or its extended version DB-25. Although for practical purposes it has the same useful drivers and pins.

This connector is widely used especially for network devices such as modems, switches or telephones to modify its firmware. But we also find it in industrial equipment with the same purpose, that of updating or fiddling with its firmware, that is why we see it in programmable boards or microcontrollers, assembly-line robots, etc.

In addition to RS-232 we find two more industrial-oriented interfaces such as RS-485 and RS-422.

USB: the quintessential serial port

The serial port is the most widely used today for personal computers, since ports such as USB, Firewire, PS / 2, SATA and PCIe work through a serial interface.

Among them, the most important will be the USB or Universal Serial Bus, which we intend to achieve with the adapter. It is a 4-conductor rectangular connector. One supplies voltage at 5V, two of them are in charge of data upload and download and the last one is the ground connection. In later versions to USB 2.0 we have more contacts to expand the bandwidth, although always offering backward compatibility for older interfaces and devices.

• USB 1.0 - The first version released in 1996, with no power supply or accepting extension cords. Its speed was only 1.5 Mbps (200 KB / s). It was the first port to support plug and play. USB 1.1: This version was more widespread, as it expanded its bandwidth to 12 Mbps (1.5 MB / s). USB 2.0: It has a theoretical speed of 480 Mbps (60 MB / s), with a power supply capacity of 5V. With it appeared the smallest connectors such as Micro USB and Mini USB. USB 3.0 (USB 3.1 Gen1 or USB 3.2 Gen1): Increases speed up to 5 Gbps (600 MB / s). USB 3.1 (USB 3.1 Gen2 or USB 3.2 Gen2): in it we reach up to 10 Gbps (1.2 GB / s). USB 3.2 (USB 3.2 Gen2x2): Increases speed up to 20 Gbps (2.4 GB / s).

Therefore, it will be important to know which USB version is the parallel port to USB adapter, since we could find incompatibilities in older equipment.

USB Parallel Port Adapter Utility

There are still devices running around with old parallel connectors or even serial connections like the DB-9, and virtually no current personal computer has these types of interfaces.

But there are many users, either because they are dedicated to it professionally or simply for entertainment and research that need to interact with these devices. Fortunately, we have a lot of these USB parallel port adapters on the market, of almost all types, including IDE.

We also find it interesting to add the RS-232 to USB serial port adapter, as it also fits in well with the purpose of this article.

Best models we can buy

Without further ado, the different types of best performance adapters we have found:

DB25 Centronics to USB adapter

CSL - 25 Pin LPT Parallel Port USB Adapter - Printer Cable Adapter Cable - Plug and Play - 0.9m Meters

• Model Name: CSL 25-Pin LPT Parallel USB Adapter | printer cable / adapter cable Connection: USB Type-A connector to 25-pin LPT parallel port | connect a parallel printer directly to the USB port USB: USB 1.1 and 2.0 compatible | cable length: 0.9m | Simple Plug and Play installation | does not require external power supply | no driver needed Employment: just enter into the USB port of the PC / laptop / netbook etc. and in the usual LPT connection System requirements: Microsoft Windows 95 / Windows 98 / Windows ME / Windows XP / Windows 2000 / Windows Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8 / Windows 8.1 or Linux

Buy on Amazon

It is not the cheapest, but it is a good quality connector with a length of 90 cm. It offers backward compatibility with USB 1.1, USB 2.0 and later versions. Also Plug and Play support and compatibility with current operating systems without problems.

CB-CN36 to USB adapter

Sabrent IEEE 1284 USB to Parallel Printer Cable Adapter (CB-CN36)

• Connect a printer to the computer without any necessary drivers. Fully plug and play compatible. Automatically negotiates hardware recognition for faster printer setup. Compatible with most printers. Easy, fast and convenient way to connect the printer. printer.

8.95 EUR Buy on Amazon

For those who have a device with the IEEE 1284 36-pin version, this 80 cm adapter is also available with the same benefits as the previous one.

PATA to SATA adapter

Cikuso Pata IDE to SATA Converter Adapter for 3.5 inch Hard Drive DVD

• Fit for 3.5 / 2.5 inch SATA hard drive All SATA type devices, such as CD-ROM / CD-RW / DVD-RAM / HDD fit PATA IDE to SATA adapter converter Convert PATA / IDE port into Serial ATAS connector Just connect and Plays, no drive needed

3, 04 EUR Buy on Amazon

As we already announced, we can also find adapters of the IDE or PATA type to the Serial ATA data interface to reuse the old hard drives that we have in our house or current hard drives in an old computer. It is a simple PCB with ports on both sides and a length equal to a 3.5 inch unit.

Expansion card with parallel DB25 port and serial RS-232

ADWITS PCIe to Parallel and Serial Combo Card Adapter with WCH382 Controller, PCI Express 1x to 1 LPT / DB25 Port and RS232 / DB9 2-Port Expansion Card, Black

• Adds 1 LPT / DB25 parallel port and 2 RS232 / DB9 serial ports to your desktop via PCI Express 1x slot, PCIe x4 x8 x16 slot fully compliant with PCI Express specification, Revision 1.0a Support for D1, D2, and D3 hot and D3 cold. Compatible UART: 16C450 / 550 / Extended 550 Supports 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9-bit serial format. Bidirectional speeds from 50bps to 16Mbps / port. Support plug and play Support hardware / software flow control. 256-byte deep FIFO

13.32 EUR Buy on Amazon

And how about this useful expansion card ? This includes both the DB25 parallel port and two 9-pin serial RS-232 ports so you don't even need an adapter.

RS-232 to USB adapter for those looking for something more

Sabrent USB 2.0 to Serial (9-Pin) DB-9 RS-232 Converter Cable, Prolific Chipset, Hexnuts, 2.5 ft. (CB-DB9P)

• Compatible with mobile phones, PDAs, digital cameras, modems and more Supports RS-232 serial interface (9-pin serial standard) Supports shake hands - Automatic Mode USB full speed communication and powered buses Easy installation

8, 99 EUR Buy on Amazon

We add for the most curious a RS-232 DB9 to USB serial port adapter, with a length of 80 cm and compatibility with all types of USB Type-A.

We should not confuse this adapter with a VGA for monitors.

CSL - USB 2.0 to Serial RS232 COM Port Adapter Black Type: CSL - USB 2.0 to RS232 serial adapter (COM port); Model: CSL adapter / RS232 converter (COM port) to USB A 8.99 EUR StarTech.com DB9 to DB25 Serial Converter Adapter - 9 pin to 25 pin Serial Female to Female Converter - Cable adapter (DB-9, DB-25, DB9 Female, DB25 Female, Beige, 2 cm, 8.2 cm) 7 5.02 EUR DSD TECH USB to RS485 RS422 converter with FTDI FT232 chip Compatible with Windows 10, 8, 7, XP and Mac OS X LED for RX TX and power.; Works with Windows 10, 7 (32/64 bit) Vista 2008, XP, 2003, Mac Etc. 15, 99 EUR

The truth of this converter is that there are many interesting versions, such as the first, where the cable is reduced to zero to have a direct adapter.

In the second case we have the DB9 to DB25 converter for those who have the serial port in an extended version. We should not confuse it with the LTP parallel port of the same number of pins.

Or the last one, in the form of a keychain with and an industrial-grade connector for microcontrollers and programmable boards that have an RS-485 or RS422 interface

Conclusions and interesting articles

As soon as we explore the Internet, we can find a large number of adapters for parallel port to USB or serial to USB, although we must distinguish the best and worst quality, especially based on the opinions of consumers.

We believe that with this small list of adapters you will be able to find everything you need to use those devices whose interface can no longer be found on a current PC. We leave you these extra articles in case you want to continue learning curiosities:

If you need any other adapter or you know some besides these, you can leave them below in the comments. With which device do you plan to use this adapter and for what?