imac and hewlett packard printer compatibility. (1 Viewer)

[Jacob_St]

My parents just bought an imac and the salesman said Hewlett Packard printers don't work on them. Is this true? They really like Hewlett Printers and would prefer to get one. The salesman also told them that they needed a special 60 dollar USB cable to hook a printer up to the imac. Is any of this true? I don't know anything about apple computers.

 

[Kelley_B]

THIS IS NOT TRUE! Pretty much EVERY HP printer works in OS X.1.3, which is what they should have installed if they got a new flat pannel iMac. Now any ol' USB cable will work. Also you will be shocked at how easy it is to install a printer in OS X! And heres the info right off of HP's website:

HP Deskjet and HP LaserJet printer drivers are built into Mac OS X. This gives you true 'plug and print' simplicity without installing any additional software. In addition, HP is providing Mac OS X native solutions for our photo printers, digital cameras, Designjets, and all-in-one products so you can take full advantage of the power, elegance and simplicity of Mac OS X.

Heres the link on HPs site for printing with HP printers in OS X HP OS X Support Site

 

[Jacob_St]

Thanks Kelly. I guess the guy was trying to rip them off! My parents were also wondering about sending and receiving email to their friends who have PC's. Do they need special software to do this or will the imac be able to do it right out of the box? Can they attach files and pictures to the emails they send and recieve? I know these sound like stupid questions but I've never been around a mac.

 

[Scott H]

Not only is that total bunk, but we use an HP printer that many sites claim is totally incompatible with USB Macs. We connect a portable HP DeskJet 340 to an iBook via a Belkin Parallel to USB cable and use third party MacJet drivers. We also use a newer Canon BJC-85 with the same computer.

My parents were also wondering about sending and receiving email to their friends who have PC's. Do they need special software to do this or will the imac be able to do it right out of the box? Can they attach files and pictures to the emails they send and recieve?

No, they do not need any special email programs. They may use what they wish, prob Netscape Messenger (part of Communicator) or MS Outlook Express. Email is essentially cross-platform. But there are some considerations. The fact is that Mac is more cross-platform than Windows, and they may encounter some files that are unique to Windows users, such as executables. Of course, EXE files are one reason that Windows users experience more damaging viruses. Also, it is recommended that documents be distributed as Word documents. Windows Word Perfect users should always save docs in MS Word formats for distribution to users on other platforms because of poor WP Windows programming (even if the Mac user has WP, it prob can't open the WP file saved in Windows). Conversely, just about anything a Mac user would send to a Windows or Unix user should be compatible.

Prob the only hangup they will have is many Windows users love to send 'cute' little executable files, and your parents may at first be frustrated that they can't open them. In the larger context however, most Mac users are glad they can't see them and just delete them.

As you are prob wondering, all common image formats, such as those that may be emailed, are totally cross-platform.

 

[Kelley_B]

One of the best things about owning a Mac is you won't have to take care of it for your parents. My mom and dad are always killing their PCs with virus and deleting all sorts of crap that they don't know what they are doing.

The Mac on the other hand has very few virus, I have never had a virus on my Macs. And if they run into problems with the system, they can boot off the OS CD and let the OS fix itself.

The Mac is truly a low maintenance machine.

 

[Ken Chan]

it is recommended that documents be distributed as Word documents

Rich Text Format (RTF) is a better, non-proprietary, virus/worm-free document standard.

//Ken

 

[Jacob_St]

You all are really helping me out here! Thanks again!

Since someone brought up viruses that reminds me of another question my parents have. They are looking for a good (and hopefully inexpensive) antivirus program. The guy at the store showed them a 350.00 software package. Is there something substantially cheaper? I can't find any antivirus stuff for the mac on Amazon. I tried to tell them they probably don't need any but my dad insists on buying one. He's seriously considering the 350.00 package and I'm hoping there's a cheaper alternative. He wants one that will constantly update via the web.

 

[Michael*K]

$350 for virus protection?!?! That's absurd! Both Norton Anti-Virus and McAfee's Virex are well under $100. Check this Link Removed. As someone mentioned previously, Macs are rarely hit with viruses. The only ones I've seen are macro viruses in MS Word that are easily identified by leaving the built-in virus warning turned on. If you get one, save it as an RTF file (as someone else mentioned previously) and it will eliminate the virus.
Oh yeah, if you're still on the fence about the printer, I'll put in my two cents for Epson printers which I feel provide better quality and value than the HP printers.

 

[Jacob_St]

Hi, it's me again. It turns out I misheard my dad on the antivirus price. They were going to charge him 150.00 and not 350.00 Either way, buying it on the web is still much cheaper. My parents are now angry at the person who told them all this incorrect information and sold them overpriced stuff for the Mac. They have decided to cancel their Mac order from that store and just buy it from Amazon instead. They also sent back all the cables and stuff they bought and will buy that stuff for much cheaper someplace else. My folks are pretty steamed but since everything was still unopened they got their money back. The Mac was on back order so there was no reason to open the items they already had purchased.

I know I sound like a broken record but thanks one last time for saving my parents quite a bit of pocket change.

I'm actually excited about them getting an imac. They look really cool and are very small. I think my parents may have made the right choice for their computing needs. I guess they'll find out after they get it.

 

[Pamela]

Just wondering, are they using an HP printer they already own, or are they buying a new one? Older HP printers do need an adapter, as OS X isn't compatible with serial printers. OS X Drivers for older moldels can be downloaded from the HP page. Otherwise, the sales guy is wrong, wrong, wrong! I use Norton's Antivirus. I have had some viruses on my Mac in the past, but they've always been harmless. Just little annoyances.
Glad it worked out for your parents. I hope they enjoy their new imac!

 

[Michael*K]

Congrats. You'll love the iMac. Oh yeah, if your parents just want the best price, I can tell you a place (hint: see my post above) that offers free shipping on the iMac and anything else you'd order at the same time.

 

[Scott H]

You need to direct them, and yourself, to DealMac.com for finding great deals for all this stuff.
You can currently pickup Norton AntiVirus 7.0 (most recent version), including a years subscription to monthly virus updates, for around $15. It is my preferred such program.
Here it is for $15, OEM packaged:
http://www.megamacs.com/v1/?action=view&pid=1165741
Note that AV 7.0 is not OS X compatible yet.
To be honest with you, a virus program is certainly a good idea for their Mac, but not a requirement.
Please share with us what retailer is providing your parents with this information and pricing. And I recommend that they do no more business with them. Their ordering from Amazon sounds like a much smarter move. I have no idea what virus software they are referring to at those prices, but with a little careful shopping ~$20 will get you what the pros use. There are also freeware and shareware virus programs available for download. It bugs me to hear of questionable sales tactics regarding Macs because it just propogates the erroneous myth that Macs are more expensive to own.

 

[Glenn]

Hi Jacob,
>>It turns out I misheard my dad on the antivirus price. They were going to charge him 150.00 and not 350.00 Either way, buying it on the web is still much cheaper.
Paying anything over $50 for an antivirus program is a ripoff. Check out this link for the Norton SystemWorks for Mac, which includes Norton Utilities and Norton AntiVirus plus some good backup software. All for a LOW price.
http://eshop.macsales.com/Catalog_It...m=SYM072600421
This version is not the newest version of SystemWorks but it can be upgraded for less than $100. I am using SystemWorks 1.0 and Norton Utilities gets a thumbs up from me. I suggest that over an antivirus program but with the StstemWorks packge you get both.
Glenn

 

[Pamela]

Beware. Norton's System Works doesn't work well with OS X, especially that version. I crashed my system on OS X several times, leaving me to reformat the hard drive. After doing some research, I found out this is pretty common. The newer version, while supposedly OS X compatible, still only boots up in OS 9. For disc repair on OS X, I highly recommend Drive X, by MicroMat, the makers of TechTools. It has saved my system more than once.

 

[Mike Sogge]

I've not had a problem w/ Norton AntiVirus 8 and Utilities 7 so far.

 

[Jacob_St]

Just wondering, are they using an HP printer they already own, or are they buying a new one?

No they were wanting to buy a brand new HP but the sales guy said that would be a big mistake because of compatibility issues.

Sorry for the long response time. I havn't checked this thread for several days.

 

[Thomas Newton]

They are looking for a good (and hopefully inexpensive) antivirus program. The guy at the store showed them a 350.00 software package. Is there something substantially cheaper?

I would hope so! I have never seen an anti-virus (only) program for a Mac that cost more than $100 for a single-user installation.
Norton AV goes for $70 new. McAfee goes for $50 (?) new. Disinfectant is free, although it doesn't handle all Mac viruses (macro viruses in particular). Even SystemWorks, which is more than just an AV program, is $130. (This is for a current version, at retail.)
Tell your parents to pass up the $350 AV program and just buy one from Mac(Connection,Warehouse,Mall,etc.), if they really need one. Then download a copy of Disinfectant to see the cute About menu.

 

[Jacob_St]

My parents are now thinking of backing out of buying the computer off the net. They are afraid the software will be difficult to load and if they buy it from Comp USA an employee will come out and set up the computer for free. Is the software and the OS easy to load on the imac? Does OS already come preloaded out of the box or do you have to load that, along with the other software you get? I really don't want them to buy it from Comp USA.

 

[Pamela]

All of the software comes pre-loaded. The beauty of the Mac is that it's plug and play. There's nothing really to set-up. There is also a very handy and easy to understand tutorial that will walk them through everything, including configuring the internet.

 

[Joseph S]

Does OS already come preloaded out of the box or do you have to load that, along with the other software you get?

It all comes preloaded and you get a restore CD as well. I'm not quite sure if they still do one partion for new machines, but I usually just boot off the 9 CD, re-format and repartition the drives with drive setup. Reinstall 9 on one partition. Reboot into 9, pop in the OS X CD and select install. The system installs aren't more than 15minutes either. The additional software should be provided for re-installation. In OS X most installations are either drag-n-drop or come with an installer program. In 9 most are installer programs.

Of course you don't need the different OSes on different partions and you can just take it out of the box and be well on your way in just the few minutes it takes to enter ISP info and register the machine.

The great thing is if you screw up or your HD dies some day, you can boot of the CDs into the real OS and figure out the problem.

(That function is preventable if you password protect the firmware and lock the machine if you're worried about security. I'm guessing your parents don't have hackers camped out in the next room, though.)