HP J6061A-ABA Jet Direct 380x External Print Server (802.11b)

Average customer rating: 3.0

$200 print server?
Costly, more than a bit of a pain and maybe unnecessary
Finally - a solution for my multifunction machine
Wireless Printing Heaven

HP J6061A-ABA Jet Direct 380x External Print Server (802.11b)

Manufacturer: Hewlett Packard
Product Group: CE
Binding: Electronics
ASIN: B00006HXIW

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Product Description

The HP Jetdirect 380x 802.11b is an external wireless print server targeted at small and medium businesses. Users and network administrators benefit from ease of use and flexibility in managing their network printers, including increased remote operation and status communication. With this wireless print server, companies avoid the costs and time associated with traditional physical network connections. In addition, they are able to place wirelessly connected peripherals exactly where they are needed and move them without re-designing their network. HP also embedded this print server with secure 802.11b data transmission, giving users ease of mind. The print server features an embedded Web server for diagnostics and supplies ordering. In addition, the Web Jetadmin printer management software provides system administrators with a "one-view" approach to managing the diverse range of network components and services.

Customer Reviews:

$200 print server?.......2006-07-20

Other wireless print servers on the market can handle multiple printers over 802.11g while costing <$100. Obviously, HP must be confused ....

Already reading that JetDirect may not be necessary and difficult leads me to ask - what makes this worth $200? And ...802.11b?

HP Printer-component exclusive compatibility:
Strategically - great for HP
Usability - wtf?
Performance - ...read the reviews ...

Costly, more than a bit of a pain and maybe unnecessary.......2005-11-17

Let me say that I am an HP fan in general. My laptop is an HP Pavilion and I have owned at least 30 HP laser printers between my home and office and only buy HP printers now after bad experiences with several other makes.

I bought this product thinking that it was essentially required to make an HP multifunction machine work (in my case,an HP Laserjet 3030) in a networked environment.

Afer spending several hours trying unsuccessfully to get the HP 3030 device and Directjet working with my wireless network, I was pretty frustrated. I finally gave up and tried using a Netgear USB mini print server model PS121 for the job (a much less expensive print server, by the way, costing maybe $60). In 15 minutes, I had the Netgear print server tied into my Netgear switch and communicating with my network through my wireless router. And my HP 3030 was printing as desired. The connection difference between the HP and Netgear solutions are that the printer and print server are connected to my network by network cables and the HP product would have made the printer wirelessly connected, but I can print wirelessly and remotely on my network from my laptop through my Netgear wireless router.

The HP wireless print server tells you up front that you can't use the wireless connection for fax, scanning or copying, so the Netgear product turns out to be the functional equivalent of the HP print server at a much lower cost. To make the HP 3030 fax or scan or copy using my computer, I just have to plug my laptop directly into the HP 3030. As a standalone fax or copier, the HP 3030 works just fine with the Netgear print server (which was how it functioned while the HP wireless print server connection was not working).

Now I get to see how HP product returns work.

Finally - a solution for my multifunction machine.......2005-06-12

I've tried 3 other wireless pring servers to work with my HP Officejet G85xi, and none of them worked (even though they were theoretically compatible). This product installed within 15 minutes without a glitch. Now I can print from anywhere in the home with my numerous laptops/computers. Great product. Price is steep, but at least it works.

Wireless Printing Heaven.......2005-01-06

When setting out to get a new printer for my home office, I knew I'd get another HP and I knew that I didn't want a cable in the way. Yes, printing without the cables, expecially if you have more than one laptop in the house, is quite enjoyable.

The Jet Direct 380x does exactly what you'd expect and installs fairly easily. Everything except the high price is satisfying.

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Electronics