This inkjet fax machine promises speedy copying and message transmissions to discerning home offices and small businesses alike. With a 14.4Kbps modem, the Brother Fax 1840C is efficient enough for low-volume faxes in either colour or monochrome, and there is the convenience of printing on plain paper for lasting results. However, Brother may need to improve on the construction and cost-effectiveness of the 1840C fax printer.
Design
This multifunction fax unit weighs 5.7kg with a fairly compact frame that measures 11 inches tall, 20.7 inches deep, and 15.3 inches wide. At first glance, the Brother Fax-1840C looks plain, but lifting the flip-top cover reveals a busy control panel with dedicated buttons for the fax and copy functions. Users can easily programme the device on-board and use it as a telephone with the corded handset that comes with it. The Fax-1840C runs on 8MB of memory and a full-speed USB 2.0 as its main interface, with a maximum 6000x1200dpi print engine.
Advantages
The Brother Fax-1840C printer is praised for intuitive features in enlarging and adjusting the colour and contrast of documents before printing, transmitting, or copying them. Copy speeds are fast enough in monochrome, and it is possible to reduce the sizes of long documents to fit A4-sized media. The Brother 1840C has comprehensive fax and telephony features, too, and users can leave it unattended because of the 20-sheet automatic document feeder.
Disadvantages
Because the Brother Fax-1840C uses inkjet technology, the cartridges are expensive. Colour fax is not that useful unless the sender is using a similar fax machine. The Fax-1840C tends to clean its print heads each time it is switched on, causing it to waste ink. Paper jam is another problem with the Brother Fax-1840C inkjet printer. Other users complained about poor customer support.
