The last time I bought a fax machine was about 6 or 7 years ago. The old girl served me well, but let's face it... compared to today's standards, she was a dinosaur. In fact I was so complacent with the outdated technology that I had no idea that there was such a thing as ink-jet fax machines!
I felt like Wilma Flinstone at Staples today as I "ooohed and ahhhed" over the all shiny silver buttons and full color LED screens. I think I annoyed the sales person just a bit, or maybe it was the fact that I had all 4 of my kids with me in the store? In all honesty he should have been thanking them, they were the ones that broke my fax machine in the first place :)P
I work from home, except when I'm meeting with clients or showing homes, so I'm surprised at myself for taking so long to catch on to the technology that may very well streamline the way I do business.
This new all-in-one machine faxes, copies, scans and prints. On my old HP printer I had to individually scan each sheet and save them as PDF's which if you were talking about a credit report or an 11 pages sales contract with disclosures... I could be at it for a while. And faxes?! Ugh, they looked like someone ran a crayon over an embossed surface. They hardly survived even one transfer.
This new MFC-5890cn "Color Multi-Function Center" from Brother has a 50 page automatic document feeder, high yield ink cartridges (a money saver!) and the ability to print up to 11"x17" signs...
Okay, maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself. It is still sitting in the box in the office and all. I have a rule, if the instructions are longer than one page... I make my husband Tony do it. I am however extremely excited at the prospect of saving time, and having the ability to scan and fax without all the drama, stuck pages, missing documents and trouble that my old ways had caused!
I'll let you know how I love it later next week.
How about you? What technology can you not afford to live without? What piece of office equipment makes your life easier?
Too funny Julie....thanks for sharing. I just bought an all in one for my mother who just bought her first laptop. I have to go over to her house and try to show her "everything". We will see how that turns out. I also have to do everything for my husband...no matter how many times I show him how to scan, copy or print....I think they are just conspiring to see who can annoy me the most. Good luck and I hope you love your new machine.
I splurged on a Brother 7820n that does it all, it is wonderful to have a piece of electronics that is so easy to use. Enjoy your new printer/fax/scanner.
If you're looking for a laser multi-function fax, I highly recommend the Canon MF 4150. Does everything including a nifty ADF (Automatic Document Feeder).
Julie,
I have owned several Brother MFC machines. They have always served me well. This last month however the Drum on my Laser gave out and to replace it costs the same price as a new machine.
So I went shopping for another Brother.
I came home with the HP L7590 , here is why.
4 large capicity ink jet cartrtidges ( about 2500 pages each ) for $35. each. I broke out my trusty calculator at the store and could not beat the price per page on any other machine in the store lasers included.
It is a color printer scanner fax etc. In addition it also has much better resolution than the Brother and it will print or scan duplex which the Brother does not do.
Cost was un-belevably cheap and less than $200. I think I seen them the other day for $180 at Staples.??
I also went on line to check out the facts. at www.shopping.cnet.com to do a side by side commparison. In fact I did it again this morning to compare your Machine with mine. I want to reasure myself that I got a good deal. I did.
Julie: I find the thing I use most, everyday, (besides email) is my Mongo Fax. I love that service. Print a cover sheet with email addresses, send it via the 888 fax number and you have a scanned document in your clients inbox. I love this service.
Tina: Thanks! My husband finds me equally annoying for sure. I have no patience for technology... I just expect it to work.
Crystal: Glad to hear that the Brothers are easy to use. I've always been an HP girl, but the ink cost in the past year has been killing me!
Judy: I had thought about a Cannon, I had one a few years ago and I really liked it a lot.
Herb: Thanks for the heads up. It's still in the box so it's something to consider!
Chris: I've thought about using a service like that. I might still look into it in the future.
I dont get it, what do people need fax machines for? Go paperless!
We've used Brother all-in-one machines for years, and for the most part we like them a lot. BTW- we order generic ink cartridges for them and they work just fine and save a LOT of money. We don't tell Brother, though, if we have a problem. They will blame anything on the ink, if you let them.
Julie, I have appliances I haven't used simply because I need a degree to understand the directions. My HP copier/scanner/fax is fine though, I hardly fax anything anymore, I use the email function on the copier at the office. I email the entire file to myself and if an agent needs a plat or document, I can email it to them at 11pm if need be.
Reading through the comments brings up a great question about the Multi Function Machines. I do not use mine for Faxes either.
Just try buying a Multi Function machine that does not include the Fax!
Hi Julie,
Isn't technology great! Not that long ago we could not have worked this efficiently from home!