Reviewing this Brother Personal Fax 190 is for me a pleasure as it is whenever there is a product which I believe deserves honorable mention. Originally bought sometime in 1996 Office Max for the amount of $200.00, this machine has proven to be one of those purchases for which I pat myself on the back. ; ^)

Setting up a SOHO and not having much to work with as start up cash was concerned, this writer has been of the opinion of always starting small and upgrading as the need presents itself. This was the mind set which I had when I looked around and found the little Brother Personal Fax 190. As far as this writer is concerned there are a lot more plus than there are minus.

APPEARANCE - is downright cute - feminine touch in design . Very light gray almost white in color, the fax almost could pass as a toy apparatus it is so small and light weight. Easy to read and access dial pad yet the size of dial numbers buttons are large enough for a man’s hand; super light hand phone receiver; contemporary colored buttons on the cover.

I would rate appearance as one of the most appealing factors. None of the those gray-black office equipment models for me.

FEATURES: not really needing too much in the way of office fax except to be able to send and receive a small volume of faxes very infrequently, I had no idea there were so many features available on this product.

So many, in fact, that this little fax is comparable to many of the bigger, more voluminous models classified and full office equipment. Thermal paper fax/copier prints more than clearly and adequate. It also has the One Touch Dial system which stores up to 5 phone/fax numbers enabling one to access them by simply touching one key. This is complemented by the Speed Dialing system. It also has speed dialing features of up to 25 phone numbers.

Another factor which this writer enjoys is the anti-curling feature which eliminates that curling which takes place on many rolls. In addition, the automatic feeder can feed up to 10 documents which, as I said, is more than enough for a starter up office.

There is also "polling" in which one is able to retrieve faxes from other machines; contrasting the resolution of pages.

The machine also has the ability to print up to seven different reports including the activity report, cover page, and transmission report. Another benefit is that the fax has been programmed "user-friendly" and the manual is itself a gem in simplicity.

EASE OF USE: as previously mentioned, this fax machine has been programmed and designed with the user in mind and in particular users who don’t have time to waste setting up the machine; receiving or sending faxes; or reading through a complicated manual.

DURABILITY: Going into it’s fifth year of almost daily use, this one was meant to last. Although it has been dropped once, this has not detered the fax from functioning in a full and efficient manner. Also, all settings are stored permanently and will be saved in case of power shortage.

TECH SUPPORT: outstanding is the best description. Using the Brother’s Fax Back System support, users can be assured of accessing tech info, product info and ordering with no difficulty - all through the fax menu given over the phone - 24/7. Should user prefer, there are an abundance of 800 numbers given but customer service does have about a five to seven minute delay in answering calls.

WEAK POINTS: LCD screen is a bit difficult to read unless in bright sunlight or underneath overhead lighting; also, thermal paper is a bit expensive going for about 2 rolls for $17.95 plus $5.00 shipping;

SINCE I BOUGHT THE FAX: prices have come down considerably to about $79.00.

Revision:
2005...still going strong...no faults....totally reliable. This is a very good one!


Recommended: Yes

Purchase Price (if leased, monthly payment): 200.00
Machine age (Months in use): 5 YEARS