 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Canon Fax-B150 Ash Nallawalla ash@melbpc.org.au |
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My eight-year-old Oki facsimile (fax) machine died a few days before the Canon Fax-B150 device arrived for review. I had coped with using my PC and fax-modem but it was messy when I needed to use a scanner to send several sheets of paper (ones not created on my PC).
The Fax-B150 is a plain-paper, bubblejet fax machine that also doubles as a copier. It can hold 20 sheets of paper in the document feeder and 100 in the paper tray. It comes with a telephone handset and has a small footprint. If you have an answering machine, it can be plugged in so that non-fax calls can be answered by it. You can set it to receive only fax calls and in silent mode, where you don't hear the incoming rings. Its one-year warranty can be extended to three years for a fee. So, what makes it an attractive proposition?
Speed
When I bought a fax machine for my previous employer, I was concentrating on the plain-paper aspect and I completely forgot to check its top speed - it turned out to be 9600 bps. Many people don't realise that better fax machines can operate at 14,400 bps, whereas the majority work at 9600 bps. If you send lots of documents outside your local calling area, you will spend extra money on account of the slower speed at either end. Although you have no control over the remote end, you might as well use the fast speed and reap the benefits where both ends can work at 14,400 bps. The B-150 operates at 14,400 bps and slower speeds as required.
Ink
My previous plain-paper fax needed a large roll of something that resembled a carbon paper roll. It fed through at the same rate as the paper, and whether the received image was largely blank or jetblack, it chewed up this roll at the same rate. There was no warning that you were going to run out of this roll, so it wasn't a comfortable situation. If you have used a thermal paper fax, you will know that those pages fade and are seldom dark enough to begin with.
The Canon B-150 uses a bubble-jet print mechanism, which delivers a fine 360 x 360 dpi, 64-grey-shade image when used as a copier. Up to 99 copies of a document can be made.
Resolution
Not many people seem to know that a fax transmits by default at a low resolution of 200 x 100 dpi. You can choose the "fine" resolution to send at 200 x 200 dpi, which takes longer to send, but you are assured of a better image at the other end. As these resolutions are defined in fax standards, the 360 x 360 dpi resolution of the B-150 is not usable when sending or receiving a fax.
Dialling
You get 10 programmable, one-touch dialling numbers and 20 more coded speed-dialling numbers. Automatic redialling and on-hook dialling is available. The latter is handy when the number you want to dial is on the sheet that you are sending, such as a completed form.
Memory
The B-150 has several types of memory. You can store up to (dependimg on complexity of the image) 21 outgoing pages or up to 15 incoming pages.
"Outgoing memory" storage is handy when you want to transmit your fax long after you have gone home, when long-distance rates are low. You feed the pages and press the appropriate buttons to select delayed sending. You can also send the same document to 31 destinations by using this memory option. This is easier than you think - just press the programmed destination buttons one after the other, then feed the document, watch it being scanned page-by-page, and then it begins to dial those numbers in sequence. If a number is busy, it proceeds to the next, and then goes back to try the busy numbers later.
| "Incoming memory" is helpful when you have run out of paper.
When you load the paper, your stored pages begin to print. This memory is also useful to continue receiving
while printing the previous pages, as the sending party has a shorter waiting time. In use It took about 20 minutes to unpack the machine and program it with my identifying information, such as number and name. Storing the one-touch numbers was easy, as was using the device. I did not experience a paper jam, and when I needed to abort a transmission, retrieving the partially "swallowed" sheet was made easy by a hinged flap. It runs cool and the print quality is sharp. The B-150 carries a recommended price of $599, including tax, and you may get a better price at office supply outlets. This is an excellent price and you should consider it if you are in the market for a fast, plain-paper fax machine. |
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Reprinted from the June 1998 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
