Tips on Buying Cheap Fax Machines

 Well for obvious reasons, you want to save as much money as you can.  Apart from that fax machines can get pretty expensive.  Sure those nice fax machines have a lot of nice features, and can do multiple things at once, but who really needs that?  Realistically for home and personal use a cheap fax machine is your best bet. 

If you run a small business you may consider a higher quality fax machine, but there's no reason you can't still get it for cheap.  Stay on the cheap end of the better fax machines.  Fax machines change a lot in just a few years, and get a lot better and more advanced.  After a few years, your fax machine will be outdated, so it's best to go cheap. 

 Print Style - Fax machines can print in inkjet, laser, and thermal printing styles.  Thermal printing machines generally print low quality, but are great for your own personal use.  Inkject fax machines can produce a good picture, the equivalent of many home printers.  Laser printing is very high quality, but also very expensive.  Laser ink cartridges can cost $100 bucks each for some fax machines.  If you're planning to buy a cheap fax machine, it's best to stick with thermal or inkjet printing. 

Fax Memory - The memory in your fax machine is crucial if you aren't always around to monitor your fax machine.  The memory will store faxes if you run out of paper and can send faxes faster by converting them to memory and then sending them.  It's a good idea to buy a fax machine with a small memory cache, and these can usually be bought pretty cheap.   

Printer Functionality - In a cheap fax machine, you often have the often to combine printers and fax machines. You can theoretically purchase a printer/fax machine combo that can do everything in one. This might save you money and it's a great idea for personal use. If you're planning to use the fax machine for a small business, it's better to get a fax machine and printer separate.

Wired Vs Wireless - A wired fax machine is a great way to go for your own personal office. Wired fax machines can transmit data quickly and get the job done fast. If you have multiple computers using the fax machine, it's probably a good idea to get a wireless fax machine. Wireless will allow more users to connect, and multiple users to connect at one time. Cheap fax machines can often have wireless capability.

Printing Speed and Quality - Fax machines don't all print at the same speed or qaulity. When buying a fax machine you should consider the pages per minute capacity of the fax machine, and the printing resolution.

Brother makes a great cheap fax machine.  These little things cost under $40 and can get you through your basic home faxing needs. 

If you need something a little better, you can pick up an HP fax machine that can do a lot more for about $140.