They can generally be made to work but the fact that it is using a parallel port to communicate means you will need to use one of the CNC software suites like Mach3 rather than repetier, printrun, etc. There are some people doing it but you'll find more people around that know the arduino toolchain. So, yes it can be done, but you are likely to need to learn a lot of configuration on your own to get it to work. With RAMPS, Sanguinololu, Gen7 etc. the software, firmware and stuff is already set up for 3D printers.
Sanguinololu, or Gen7 could probably be built for around $35 if you are carefull where you source components, and Pololu drivers would be another $40 or so. So total cost is around $75 if you build it yourself. You can get pre-built Sanguinololu boards with drivers for about $100 on ebay.
I'm selling beta boards of the Sanguish electronics. It is similar to Sanguinololu and Gen7 but uses TB6560 drivers to get the cost down. Beta boards are $40 plus shipping. PM me if you are interested.
Sanguinololu, or Gen7 could probably be built for around $35 if you are carefull where you source components, and Pololu drivers would be another $40 or so. So total cost is around $75 if you build it yourself. You can get pre-built Sanguinololu boards with drivers for about $100 on ebay.
I'm selling beta boards of the Sanguish electronics. It is similar to Sanguinololu and Gen7 but uses TB6560 drivers to get the cost down. Beta boards are $40 plus shipping. PM me if you are interested.