Still using Centronics cables?

Are you still using Centronics cables?

  • Yep, still using. (pls explain)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No, not anymore

    Votes: 11 91.7%
  • Never used them.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • What are you talking about? ;)

    Votes: 1 8.3%

  • Total voters
    12

navychop

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As I go thru the box of old cables at work, and one I have at home, still run behind the desk/filing cabinets (for a much missed HP-5), I began to wonder: Is ANYONE still using the old Centronics parallel cable interface? And were they ever used for anything other than printers?

Heck, I've found old Centronics switch boxes. Don't even remember what I used them for (although the use is obvious).
 
I'm the IT department for a smallish chemical mfg plant, we still have several old HP printers with that type of connection to Windows XP machines. When something dies we replace it, but if it still works, no need to mess with it!

The only other use i've seen for that interface was some scanners back in the Old Days. They were ridiculously expensive and orphaned by the manufacturer, only 16-bit (Win 9x/Me] drivers were ever released; migrating to XP made it an instant paperweight.
 
I'm the IT department for a smallish chemical mfg plant, we still have several old HP printers with that type of connection to Windows XP machines. When something dies we replace it, but if it still works, no need to mess with it!

The only other use i've seen for that interface was some scanners back in the Old Days. They were ridiculously expensive and orphaned by the manufacturer, only 16-bit (Win 9x/Me] drivers were ever released; migrating to XP made it an instant paperweight.

Sounds like you and I do the same job. I'm also the IT dept for a chemical mfg plant.


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HP had a couple of data acquisition boxes that used Centronics back in the late 70s/early 80s. We supported Centronics as a general I/O interface and sold a card that had extended features back then. It was all obsoleted by 1987 though.
 
We still use an ancient serial protocol analyzer which connects to our PC with a Centronics cable to the parallel port (don't see many of those around anymore either).
 
Yeah, I remember the SCSI / Centronix connections. We had an external SCSI "Bernoulli" drive for back-up / file transfer that used that connection. A whopping big 150MB, IIRC!

I still have an old dot matrix printer in my collection that has a Centronix socket on it. The cable was parallel port to Centronix ?? I won't say I'm still "using it"...but maybe someday I'll resurrect it for giggles and grins...assuming I can still find a usable ink cartridge. (I still have a box of fan-fold printer paper somewhere...!)

Here at work we have a number of test systems that were developed decades ago. There are still some test instruments connected to their peripherals via Centronix, but I believe most of the connections are HPIB...
 
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Ah, HPIB. That one still lives. I developed a couple of I/O cards for that bus, as well as instrument firmware to use it. I also wrote some of the text in the various IEEE-488 standards.

HP and NI both still sell cards, and a lot of instruments include HPIB connectors, although it is rapidly being replaced by ethernet and USB.
 
When real parallel printers were replaced by USB toys, I gave up.
Little plastic printers that'd maybe run six months 'till they developed paper feed problems!

But what about the other dead interface you can no longer get?
Serial ! Again, replaced (badly) by USB.

Dont even get me started about USB keyboards & mice!


Luckily, I still have a couple of P1 laptops with the old ports.
 
One other thing that parallel ports were commonly used for (other than printers and scanners), was security (copy-protection) dongles.
 
Hmmm. News to me. I only remember the serial dongles. But of course, my rememberer ain't so good anymore. ;)
 
I only remember the 36-pin Centronics being used for printers and scanners. The 25-pin Centronics was used for a lot more stuff, like modems, software dongles, and game controllers. I had a SCSI Scanner that used a 50-pin Centronics and the cable was big enough to choke a horse. I'm pretty sure I still have the scanner and cable in a box somewhere along with a bunch of other legacy cables.

As far as printers, I won't touch anything except laser printers with networking capability. If I want to print color photos I'll walk to the local UPS Store and pay 35 cents for them. I do have a Canon USB scanner, but I want that to be lightweight.
 
I only remember the 36-pin Centronics being used for printers and scanners. The 25-pin Centronics was used for a lot more stuff, like modems, software dongles, and game controllers. I had a SCSI Scanner that used a 50-pin Centronics and the cable was big enough to choke a horse. I'm pretty sure I still have the scanner and cable in a box somewhere along with a bunch of other legacy cables.

As far as printers, I won't touch anything except laser printers with networking capability. If I want to print color photos I'll walk to the local UPS Store and pay 35 cents for them. I do have a Canon USB scanner, but I want that to be lightweight.

I think you're confusing the "25-pin" centronics with a DB-25 connector.

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Yesterday I threw away all the old Centronics cables and switches, and serial cables. Hope the auction goes well tomorrow.
 
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