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Buying Guide / Brother Buying Guide for Fax

Products & Solutions > Buying Guide > Fax

What is a Facsimile machine?
A facsimile machine is a telecommunications tool with which you can send and receive documents and graphics via a telephone line. All Brother facsimile machines can send documents quickly and clearly, and are packed with a lot of versatile features, including copier functions, and for certain models, the ability to print documents (with the installation of a printer driver).

Brother facsimile machines are divided into three categories:
1. Plain paper laser facsimile machine
2. Entry-level plain paper facsimile machine
3. Thermal paper facsimile machine

How to choose a facsimile machine?
Choice of a facsimile machine will depend on the kind of work a user is expected to do. First take the time to identify the following: how many users the facsimile machine will need to accommodate, the volume of the faxing and copying required , the speed at which the facsimile machine sends and receives documents , and how much is the total operating cost of the facsimile machine.

Summary

1. Printing Technology

2.Faxing capabilities

3.Copying capabilities

4.General Considerations

1. Printing Technology - Choosing between a plain paper laser fax machine, an entry-level plain paper fax machine and a thermal fax machine
a) A plain paper laser fax machine is recommended:

If you have a high volume receiving requirement (100 or more pages per week) or frequently produce multiple copies of the same document. Plain paper laser fax machines are still much faster than other printing technologies. The cost per page will also be less for laser toner than for other conventional printing methods.

For corporate or government business applications where archiving documents for a long time is paramount. Plain paper laser fax machines still produce sharper images that last longer, and they're less prone to banding and smearing.

The Brother laser fax machine models are: FAX-2820, FAX-8360P

b) An entry-level plain paper fax machine is recommended:

If you have a small initial budget.

If you have a low volume receiving requirement or rarely produce multiple copies of the same document. The cost per page will also be more reasonable for carbon ribbons than for other conventional printing methods such as ink jet technology.

For SOHO applications where archiving documents for a long time is paramount. Entry-level plain paper fax machines still produce photo quality images, but they're prone to banding and smearing.

For SOHO applications where archiving documents for a long time is paramount. Entry-level plain paper fax machines still produce photo quality images, but they're prone to banding and smearing.

The Brother entry-level plain paper fax machine models are: FAX-817 / FAX-827 / FAX-837MC / FAX-1020e / FAX-1030e

c) A thermal fax machine is recommended:

If you have a small initial budget.

If you have a low volume receiving requirement or rarely produce multiple copies of the same document. The cost per page will also be more reasonable for thermal fax machines than for other conventional printing methods such as laser or ink jet technologies.

For SOHO applications where the running cost is paramount and document archival is not required. Thermal fax machines can produce finer graphics and small characters.

The Brother thermal fax machine models are: FAX-235S / FAX-236S / FAX-335MCS

2. Faxing capabilities
a) Fax Modem Speed

Not all faxes have a high receiving speed. This means that when you send a fax at high speed it will only send data as fast as the other end can receive it.

The higher the fax modem speed, the less it costs to send faxes interstate and overseas.

Brother offers fax speed from

9,600bps: FAX-235S, FAX-236S, FAX-817, FAX-827

14,400bps: FAX-335MC, FAX-837MC, FAX-1020e, FAX-1030e, FAX-1840C, FAX-2820

33,600bps: FAX-8360P

b) Capacity of the Automatic Document Feeder

A higher capacity Automatic Document Feeder(ADF) will give you the ability to copy/fax documents unattended.

Brother offers ADF from 10 to 30 Sheets

c) Memory Presets (one touch/speed dials)

Storing frequently used numbers in the fax means you will not have to spend as much time typing in fax numbers. Brother offers presets of 54 to 232

d) Broadcasting

Allows for fax numbers to be pre-programmed into groups, and for the one document to be sent to multiple locations in one phone call.

All Brother fax machines (except FAX-236S) offer manual and group broadcasting

3. Copying Capabilities
a) Stand-alone copying capabilities

Stand-alone copying equates to convenience. All Brother models have stand-alone copying capabilities.

b) Reduction and enlargement capabilities (except FAX-236S)

Documents can be reduced to fit on an A4 or enlarged to 150 % or 200%.

The Brother fax machines that have 50%-150% are: : FAX-817 / FAX-827 / FAX-837MC / FAX-1020e / FAX-1030e

The Brother fax machines that have 50%-200% are: FAX-2820 / FAX-8360P

The Brother fax machines that have 25%-400% are: FAX-1840C

c) Multi-copying

Brother fax machines can print up to 99 copies of a document.

4. General
a) Consumables

i. Low running costs. Considerations include:
For Laser Faxes

The drum should be separate from the toner cartridge . This prevents the problem of throwing away a still-usable drum when the toner is exhausted.
- All Brother laser fax machines have the toner separate to the drum.

For Plain Paper Faxes

The cartridges should be separate from the carbon ribbon. This prevents the problem of throwing away a good cartridge if the carbon ribbon runs out.
- All Brother entry-level plain paper fax machines have separate carbon ribbon cartridges.

The cost and life of consumables.

Here the yield is the key factor; a higher price doesn't always mean higher capacity. It’s important when reading manufacturers’ estimates for consumable life that you check the percentage coverage of the page. Also, check if there is any toner-saving function – this can save money if you’re only printing draft copies.

b) Cost Per Page(CPP)

The cost per page is the overall operating cost to produce one page. The CPP includes the cost of the machine purchase, the toner/drum, the carbon ribbon, plain paper and thermal paper.

c) Paper handling

How many pages can the fax machine hold in its paper tray? If you print or receive large-sized or many documents simultaneously, look for a fax machine that can hold many sheets of paper. This reduces time spent refilling paper. Also, ensure that the machine can handle a range of paper sizes, and media.

A 50m-size roll can be fitted on the FAX-235S, FAX-236S and FAX-335MCS.

The capacity of Brother plain paper fax machine (using conventional 75gsm office paper) is up to 30 sheets for FAX-817 / FAX-827, FAX-837MC , up to 100 sheets for FAX-1840C, up to 200 sheets for FAX-1020e / FAX-1030e, up to 250 sheets for FAX-2820, and up to 500 sheets (with optional LT-400, Lower tray) for FAX-8360P

d) Ease of use and maintenance

Ease of use and maintenance is vital to small companies who do not employ system administrators or IT support personnel. The main issue here will be how easy it is to change the toner/drum, carbon ribbon and other consumables.

Brother offers dedicated support 24 hours, 7-days a week through the Brother website which offers online technical guidance on fax machine maintenance and troubleshooting. Additionally, we also have a help desk which can help you with your product related inquiries.

e) Printer driver’s compatibility

A free printer driver for FAX-2820 can be downloaded from the Brother website. It turns your fax machine into a Multi-Function Centre.

There is a printer driver for FAX-2820 that is compatible with both Windows®95/98/Me/NT/4.0ws/2000/XP and Mac OS 8.51-9.1 and OS X.

The driver and software can be accessed from this page (Download Software)