Fax Machines

Experts recommend buying a plain-paper fax machine. Older fax machines use rolls of special, thermal-transfer paper that is difficult to write on and tends to curl and fade over time. Although less-expensive modern fax machines still use thermal-printing technology, they do so on regular, plain paper. More expensive plain-paper models use inkjet or laser printing, the same as PC printers. Inkjet fax machines are faster and a bit more expensive than thermal printing, while laser fax machines are fastest and most expensive. However, laser fax machines aren't as expensive as they used to be. You can now find good laser fax machines for about $200.

The Brother IntelliFax 1940CN (*est. $150) takes the lead in the plain-paper, color, inkjet category. Its three-second transmission speed is great, and it doesn't skimp on features. There's a 480-page memory, a 20-page automatic document feeder, 100-sheet paper cassette and a built-in answering machine. The answering machine includes a Message Center with about 30 minutes of recording time. The Brother IntelliFax 1940CN fax machine also makes black-and-white and color copies and can broadcast faxes to 154 locations simultaneously. Telephone features include speed dialing, a speaker phone and Caller ID. The fax modem speed is 33.6 Kbps, currently the highest speed among inkjet fax machines.

The Hewlett-Packard 1050 Inkjet Fax (*est. $130) is an alternative to the Brother 1940CN. The 1050 transmits a page in up to three seconds. It has a 100-page memory, but only a 50-sheet paper capacity. The HP does make copies, but it can broadcast to only 20 locations, much fewer than the competing Brother 1940CN fax machine. Its digital telephone message system has a speakerphone, remote access for the answering machine, 30-minutes of memory backup and 15 minutes of incoming-message storage time (compared to 30 minutes for Brother). Although the HP 1050 costs a bit less, the HP Fax 1240 (*est. $170) is more feature-rich, with the ability to fax in color and hold up to 200 pages in memory. It has a 100-sheet input paper capacity and 20 sheet output. Despite these added features, four owners posting comments to Amazon.com give the HP Fax 1240 the lowest possible score, saying the machine makes a loud buzzing sound, displays incorrect error messages and constantly jams. The cheaper, black-and-white only HP 1050 receives vastly better ratings from about six owners.

If you want a fax machine for more occasional use, the Brother IntelliFax-1270e (*est. $90) is a good choice. This Brother fax is a plain-paper machine that uses older thermal-ribbon-transfer technology. Unlike the color Brother 1940CN, this less-expensive model faxes and prints in black and white only. The 1270e is a good machine for personal use or for home businesses. It has a 200-sheet paper capacity, 20-page automatic document feeder, 25-page memory and can broadcast to 112 locations at once. The 1270e also has a nine-second transmission time, much slower than the three-second transmission speed of the IntelliFax 1940CN above. Like its more expensive sibling, the Brother 1270e fax machine has a fax/phone switch, but the 1270e does not include an answering machine.

Panasonic models come in a variety of printing technologies and prices, but Brother offers a bit more for the money. For example, the Panasonic KX-FHD331 (*est. $80) is a thermal-transfer fax machine with a 9.6 kbps modem. The KX-FHD331 has the same paper capacity (50 sheets) and transmission time (15 sec. /page) as the Brother Fax-575 (*est. $60) , but the Brother can also broadcast faxes to 104 locations simultaneously. Like the Brother Fax-575, the KX-FHD331 does not have an internal answering machine, but it can be connected to an external answering machine. It also has an automatic fax/phone switch that allows the machine to distinguish between incoming fax and voice call signals. This model has good reviews overall on Amazon.com. Several owners report that the machine has trouble picking up one page at a time, resulting in paper-feed problems during multi-page faxing. But it gets vastly better ratings than the Panasonic KX-FHD331.

The Canon Laser L170 (*est. $250) is an economical choice for small offices. The Canon uses laser technology to send a page in three seconds. It has a 33.6 kbps modem, makes black and white copies, and is capable of broadcasting to up to 142 locations. This unit's memory stores 450 pages. It has a 50-page automatic document feeder. An owner posting to Amazon.com says it’s fast and quiet. The Canon is a fax/printer/phone with a built-in answering machine, and it can discern fax calls from voice calls. Despite the fast speed of the Canon, for most uses the Brother 1940CN is a better deal, and it can make color copies and faxes. The Canon only prints in black and white.

Oki is rated the top brand by HomeOfficeReports.com, though no particular model is recommended above others. The company makes seven fax machines, all of which use the more expensive laser printing technology. The models are really tailored for mid-sized to large companies. The cheapest model we found, the Okifax 4580 (*est. $370), has a 20-page ADF and 100-sheet paper capacity, along with three-second-per-page transmission speed. It can fax to 120 locations and make 50 black-and-white copies. The less expensive Canon L80, however, has similar specifications and costs half as much.

Important Features: Fax Machines

Here's what experts say to consider when buying a fax machine for home or office use. Our Comparison Chart tells you which of the models in ConsumerSearch Fast Answers meet these criteria.

• Printing Technology. Nearly all fax machines use plain office paper. Less expensive models generally use thermal printing technology, and printouts don't have the same longevity as inkjet faxes. Inkjet faxes can usually print, copy and fax in color. Laser fax machines are also available, though most are monochrome units. Laser fax machines usually print sharper text.

• Speed. Transmission speed ranges from about 15 seconds per page (for less expensive models like the Brother Fax-575) up to about 3 seconds per page (for the Brother 1940CN and Canon L170). If you only need to send the occasional fax, you can save money by going with a slower model.

• Memory. Fax machines store incoming and outgoing pages in memory. This lets the machine save an incoming fax in memory if it runs out of paper, and then print the fax when the paper tray is reloaded. You should shoot for at least 512KB of memory, although some newer models have 8 to 16MB (up to 480 pages).

• Other features. Besides speaker phones and digital answering machines, some fax machines include such features as caller ID, a distinctive ring that enables it to distinguish between a human or fax machine call, auto redial, fax forwarding, polling, and speed dialing. You'll have to decide if you need those features.

Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
All The Reviews Reviewed chart.

# of Picks

Model (with retailer links)

1 each

Canon PC-940 (discontinued), Canon FaxPhone L80 (discontinued), Canon FaxPhone B95 , Brother IntelliFax 2820 , Brother Fax-575 , Brother Fax-775 , Brother Fax-565 (discontinued), Brother IntelliFax 3800 (discontinued), Brother IntelliFax 1940CN, Sharp UX-P115 , HP 1010 (discontinued), HP Fax 920 (discontinued), HP Fax 1220 (discontinued), Panasonic KX-FL511 , Panasonic KX-FL521 (discontinued)(*est. $100)

We found reviews for many different fax machines, including several discontinued models. Overall, we found the best reviews for Brother fax machines, which we've included in Fast Answers. Panasonic and Sharp fax machines get very mixed reviews. We found the coverage for Brother to be much more consistent.

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