Installing the HP DeskJet 5150 Color Printer

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I have a PC running XP Home SP1. My printer for the past 5 years has
been a HP DeskJet 712C, which connects via a parallel port. I plan to get a
faster USB printer in a few weeks and am considering the HP DeskJet 5150
Color Printer.

Got a couple of questions about the 5150:

1) During installation, does the HP instruction manual suggest you use the
drivers from their CD-ROM, or do they recommend allowing XP to use it's own
drivers? I would assume the former since they include a CD-ROM. Just
curious, because when I installed the old 712C printer, XP installed the
drivers on it's own, without any need for a disc.

2) My computer has USB ports at the 2.0 speed. Will the 5150 printer take
advantage of that capability?
 
Got a couple of questions about the 5150:

1) During installation, does the HP instruction manual suggest you use the
drivers from their CD-ROM, or do they recommend allowing XP to use it's own
drivers? I would assume the former since they include a CD-ROM. Just
curious, because when I installed the old 712C printer, XP installed the
drivers on it's own, without any need for a disc.
Click to expand...

For best results use the drivers supplied on the CD or download the latest
drivers from HP at:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?product=304431&lang=en&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&os=228

The version on the web is 9.4.2.0.
2) My computer has USB ports at the 2.0 speed. Will the 5150 printer take
advantage of that capability?
Click to expand...

I believe the 5150 is USB 2.0 Full Speed, which is 12Mb/sand is really the same
as USB 1.1. In any case the data transmission rate should not be the
bottleneck in printing. USB 2.0 was a rather strange spec, where what was
called USB 2.0 Full Speed is the same speed as USB 1.1 and the real high speed
is USB 2.0 High Speed. See http://www.usb.org/info/usb_nomenclature for a
diversion into the USB naming convention.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP
 
A USB 1.1 port will be faster than any printer, so I would not be concerned
about the USB speed!

As for the drivers, the one that is with XP is very basic, and will not have
all the features that come with the manufacture printer software. I would
suggest using the software that comes with the printer, as long as it is
rated for XP. If you want the most recent, go to the HP site, and download
the complete software package for your printer. They may also have a lot of
free optional utilities as well.

--

Jerry G.
=====


I have a PC running XP Home SP1. My printer for the past 5 years has
been a HP DeskJet 712C, which connects via a parallel port. I plan to get a
faster USB printer in a few weeks and am considering the HP DeskJet 5150
Color Printer.

Got a couple of questions about the 5150:

1) During installation, does the HP instruction manual suggest you use the
drivers from their CD-ROM, or do they recommend allowing XP to use it's own
drivers? I would assume the former since they include a CD-ROM. Just
curious, because when I installed the old 712C printer, XP installed the
drivers on it's own, without any need for a disc.

2) My computer has USB ports at the 2.0 speed. Will the 5150 printer take
advantage of that capability?
 
Thanks for the responses. I just previewed the HP 5150 at my local
Office Depot. In addition to malfunctioning when I printed a test page, the
design seems rather flimsy and cheap. I may rethink my choice.
 
Did more printer previewing today and noticed the HP 3650 Inkjet
printer. It's smaller than the HP 5150, which I like, and the construction
seems to be more solid.
 
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