Can someone explain this to me?

[gremcint]

I mean seriously, is there any way to make this make any sort of sense at all.

Why do wireless printers come with a usb cable (yes I know you need it at first) but nonwireless (wired?) printers DON'T?


Seriously, I'm not even going to rant on this.

[Cats]

Eh? My computer is wired and has a USB cable. I haven't seen a wired printer in several years be WITHOUT one. That's what connects the printer to the actual computer for the commands to be sent.

I've never seen a wireless printer before (stand alone picture printers that function independant of a PC don't count), but I would assume it something similar to a 'cordless' (house) phone. There has to be some sort of power supply to the device, be it in real time (like any power cord), or to charge up a battery.

And if the "cable" is just a stub for the USB port, then that's the signal transmitter. PCs don't come with RF or BlueTooth cababilities installed at every frequency (or whatever it's called in this case) imaginable just for such wireless devices.


Of course, without seeing what you're directly refering to in the case of a wireless printer, I can only guess.

[BroomJockey]

nonwireless (wired?) printers DON'T?

They claim it's because USB cables are so ubiquitous that everyone usually has a spare one any ways, so not including one allows them to sell printers at lower price points.

It's really because USB cables are incredibly marked up, and stores make huge amounts of profit off them, so they don't want manufacturers to include them.

[gremcint]

Wireless printers connect to a wireless router, you can get them for about 60 bucks.

[HYHYBT]

Well, to be fair, printers do wear out a lot faster than USB cables, so if everything that can connect by USB comes with a cable you wind up with extras going to waste. Same problem with "regular" power cables, you know, the kind desktop computers, monitors, and such use. Now why the wireless printer includes one I don't know, except to prevent someone choosing the wireless printer because they don't have the cable from complaining that they need it.

[gunsage]

Actually, the last few printers I've had have NOT had the standard printer serial cable, but only the USB cable...and all of them wired printers. Soooo...guess I can't help ya there.

[gremcint]

Actually, the last few printers I've had have NOT had the standard printer serial cable, but only the USB cable...and all of them wired printers. Soooo...guess I can't help ya there.

Ok Printers used to come with a parallel cable not serial. Then they switched over to usb cables (which btw stands for universal serial bus, usb is a serial cable). Printers wouldn't come with USB cables even though you needed them and you'd have to buy them separatley. Wireless printers that connect to a router wirelessly need a usb cable at first to setup the printer but after that you can go without it.

From what people are saying wired printers are coming with a cable now I guess, but that didn't stop the guy at futureshop from trying to make me buy a cable. the last 2 printers I bought new from a store were wireless so I haven't bought a wired one in a while. What I said was true at one point though.

[crashhelmet]

There are/were some printers that worked off of serial cables. Most of your dot matrix and thermal printers for register systems are all serial. IIRC, Apple printers were serial back in the day. But anyway...

For as long as I can remember, "wired" printers never came packaged with a cable. Retail stores used this as an excuse to mark up the price of the cables incredibly. The store buys it for about $3 and sells it for $15-$20. Works the same for almost all accessories. It's no different than your stereo/home audio system not coming with speaker or component cables.

For wireless printers, it comes down to whether or not they're completely software driven or if they have their own control panels to do the configurations. Software driven will include cables to do the initial set up through your computer. Good luck trying to justify to a customer that they need to spend an extra $20 for a cable they'll never use again. So manufacturers include it for these.

CH

[otakuneko]

I don't think I've bought a printer yet that didn't come with a cable.

[EricKei]

Wireless printers connect to a wireless router, you can get them for about 60 bucks.

It may not apply to all models, but, on the (few) wireless printers I've installed, a USB connection is needed for a minute or so during the initial setup in order to establish communication between the computer and the printer. People could also just type in the MAC address if the installer software allows it (and the router and printer decide to talk nicely on the first try...)...So my guess is that they throw in a cheap USB do cut down on the number of people calling in to try and make printer support guys troubleshoot their wireless networks...Besides, I don't even wanna THINK about trying to input a complex wireless access key into a printer without the benefit of a numberpad or touchscreen equivalent ^_^ A printer that is not advertised as an Al-in-one/fax-capable unit is unlikely to have either.