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Note that this product works only with HP printers equipped with an HP MIO interface slot. However, almost every current model, some older 4-series LaserJets and a few DeskJets and DesignJets have this feature. If you need to serve a printer without an HP MIO slot, you'll have to turn to an external print server. Extended Systems, Intel Corp., HP and other vendors have external 10/100BASE-T print servers available or in the works.

If your printer has an MIO slot, JetDirect is a compelling upgrade. In contrast to external print servers, which merely serve as a bridge between the network and the printer, JetDirect integrates seamlessly into the printer. This lets you manage printer and network settings from one interface.

Armed with just a screwdriver, I installed JetDirect into an HP Color LaserJet 5M in about a minute. After 10 minutes at my Windows NT 4.0 Server, I had the JetAdmin software installed and the card and network details configured. Like other high-end print servers, the JetAdmin so ftware lets you take complete control of network installation-including setting up Novell NetWare print servers and queues without using NWAdmin or PCONSOLE.

If you have an unconnected HP printer, or if you're on the migration path to 100 Mbps Ethernet, run-do not walk-to be first in line for the JetDirect 10/100BASE-TX card when it ships this month.

First-Class Upgrade This card bristles with tons of connectivity options and virtually every network and protocol is supported-from NetWare's bindery and Novell Directory Service (NDS) modes through TCP/IP and HP's proprietary Logical Link Control/Data Link Control (LLC/DLC) JetDirect Port. In addition, the JetAdmin software is loaded with enough administrative tools to put a smile on the face of even the most jaded network manager. I particularly like the software's ability to manage multiple JetDirect cards on the network, as well as the features that let you control the settings on various printers.

I first installed the card as a print serve r on a NetWare 3.11 server. With direct support for both NetWare 3.x's bindery and 4.x's NDS and NetWare Direct Printer Services (NDPS) modes, I typed the appropriate queue parameters into Je tAdmin's straightforward interface and, voila, NetWare printing!

Connecting the printer to a Windows NT 4.0 server was even easier. With a choice of using HP's JetDirect Port or TCP/IP, I created a port and shared the printer in NT's Add Printer dialog. Both the TCP/IP and JetDirect ports were added to the network browser services and showed up as separate entities within my domain. While my test domain was built on static IP addresses, JetDirect also offers support for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) addressing.

If everything could be as simple as linking my Power Macintosh via EtherTalk, I'd probably get too much done! All I had to do was run the installation program, which searched out and identified the EtherTalk zone and found the printer. With a quick trip t o the Chooser, I was printing from my Mac.

Don't expect a huge performance improvement when you switch over to a 100-Mbps Ethernet network. In my tests, the card's autoswitching features worked seamlessly and handled both full- and half-duplex modes. And, yes, I saw some improvements in speed on text print jobs. But the real bottleneck for graphics-intensive print jobs is not network speed. Rather, graphics jobs slow as the client and server rasterize the image and create the spool file, and as the printer's engine images the page. In my tests, the greatest speed boosts occurred when I switched from a 486/DX2 66 to a Pentium 166-based Windows NT 4.0 Server.

All Aboard the I-Way HP's Web JetAdmin, which is available only from HP's Web site, adds a Common Gateway Interface (CGI)-based application. I tested it with both Microsoft's and Netscape Communications Corp.'s HTTP servers and, after specifying the relevant CGI directory, I had the Web equivalent of HP JetDirect. HP's approach-unlike Tektro nix, which first delivered HTTP-based print services-is server-based. In contrast, Tektronix embeds an HTTP server within each of its printers. Having worked with both, I'm torn between the two app roaches. Although HP's approach lets you manage every JetDirect connected printer on your network, it requires that you have a Windows NT-based Web server running and accessible. Tektronix's approach requires only that the target printer be turned on, and it lets you connect from any operating system that has a browser. (Also keep your eyes peeled for Java-based printer management, in development by IBM.)

JetDirect doesn't facilitate queue management. Forget high-end, multistage queues that let you sort jobs by priority or store jobs for later. JetDirect doesn't even let you work with jobs in the on-printer queue. For that, you have to turn to the HP Desktop Status program or to the print management software in your NOS.

Another missing feature-one that is found in other network printer solutions, such as th ose from Lexmark and Xerox Corp.-is consumable management. I don't relish running to the printer every week or so to check on the level of toner, developer and the like. Printer software that can deliver those statistics to your desktop-either from an application or via Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) generated mail-is far better.

David A. Harvey is a freelance reviewer and journalist based in New York. He can be reached at daharvey@mindspring.com.