The USB printer adapters are crap. They will only allow you to run a printer. The only thing I have found, because I too have a laptop without a parallel port, is a pcmcia parallel port. They are almost impossible to find locally. I've tried all of the consumer stores. They are availabe online for $60-$120. If it has a compatability list, its a good idea to check it. The two models I've looked at are the cbp=220
http://www.koutech.com/proddetail.asp?linenumber=213. and the Quatech spp-100. I hope this helps.
Mike...