April 1997
Multifunction Fax Machines
For SOHO apps, new Multifunction Fax Machines are emerging. The classic machine is the $1,000 Brother MFC-6550mc. It can do seven things -- 14,400 fax send and receive; 600 dpi printing from your PC; photo copying with reduction and enlargement from 50% to 200%; 600 dpi Twain compliant scanning (scan stuff into your PC); PC fax (use it is send faxes directly from your PC without the need for a separate fax/modem); digital answering machine for incoming voice messages and it's a phone to dial and receive calls on. It will also call your pager when you get a message and store documents for callers to retrieve. A lot of stuff in one machine.
There are several really nice things about this machine, which I now proudly have in my home office. First, it's easy to install. You can install it as a standalone fax machine / copier, with no connection to your PC. You can install just the printing software (one disk) and just use it as a printer. Or you can install all the software for fax sending (including binary file transfer), scanning and image management -- nine disks. With all that software installed, you can control every feature of the fax machine from your PC. This means you can easily use complex fax features -- like delaying fax broadcasts until after 11:00 PM, setting up groups to broadcast faxes to.
Second, the quality of the printing from my PC and on incoming faxes is truly superb. Third, the paper path is direct. It doesn't turn a corner. I haven't had a single jam. Fourth, the machine's command and control panel -- the buttons and the screen on front -- is remarkably easy to use. Someone has put major thought into the machine's LCD messages. They're clear.
Two tips: Buy yourself several extra toner cartridges (TN-5000PF). They're about $30 a piece. You only get a "starter" cartridge with a new machine. Buy yourself a longer printer cable. It comes with a six foot one, which wasn't long enough for me. I bought a ten foot one.
