Panasonic KX-FB421 Flatbed Plain-Paper Fax

Feature packed stand-alone fax copier. No computer connection therefore no software compatibility hassles. This handsome looking machine is not a substitute for a heavy duty copier but permits flat bed copying of irregular or bulky objects (something that you can't do with feed-through fax/copiers) while still handling multiple pages via the document feeder.

The quality of the copies is not quite perfect (there are small breaks barely detectable in straight lines) but more than acceptable for light duty copying and faxing. The included film roll is only good for 30 copies, there's a large warning on the outside of the box to buy the full sized (400 copies) film roll right away. The fax function works as advertized but is a bit slow. There is a crackling sound (like bacon frying) when a document is printed that takes some getting used to.

There are many other machines that have more features and that give better quality printout but for an inexpensive fax/copier for light duty...Read more

I bought this early this year but took it back after a couple of weeks. The print quality wasn't what I was used to on my previous fax machine. I couldn't be sure of the smaller type on the documents received (maybe anything 10-point or less). Furthermore, the film cartridges were hard to install--it was really a learning curve. If you are copying something small like a business card, the machine can't tell that it doesn't need to use a whole sheet of film, and it advances the film cartridge a whole sheet. So you waste that much film. I would never want another machine that uses film. If the film isn't in exactly right, it wrinkles and you see that in the printout. I'm surprised they still use this technology.