Customer Reviews

Panasonic KX-FL511 High Speed, Up to 12 ppm, Laser Fax/Copier Machine

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

(This is mostly my review of the KX-FL501, with relevant changes)

It performs quite well, when it's working. The quick-scan feature is total gold, I can toss several pages through then walk away and do something else with them while it faxes.

But the toner. Oh, god, the toner.

I'm used to laser printers whining at me on the message display about low or "out" toner, and I'm just as used to ignoring them. The helpful people at Panasonic have decided that they don't like people ignoring those messages, so they include a pleasant beep. And when I say "pleasant", I mean it gives me nightmares. When the time comes for the machine to be replaced (and it will come, oh yes, it will come), I may run an extension cord outside so it can actually be actively beeping as I go Office Space on it.

Anyway, toner. To guard against the possibility of someone with super-human will tuning out the beeping (or perhaps to guard against the deaf), they also have included a helpful print out. On this print out are several large bars of varying shades, designed, presumably, to illustrate visually to you exactly how low your toner is.

I have never seen this page print in anything but a perfect, pristine manner. The bars are wonderful in their consistency, with nary a hint of lightness. While this would be an excellent demo of print quality, as a notification that the toner is low, I must admit to some confusion. It's *perfect*. It *never prints light*. So as far as I can tell, the only function it actually serves is to *use more toner*. Quite a bit of toner, considering the large black and near-black bars.

In amusing phone conversations with Panasonic, I've determined that either A) there is no way to disable this helpful function or B) there is, but they require a more substantial bribe than I've offered to offset their loss in toner revenue.

It gets better.

After it's printed two or three of these frame-worthy gems over the course of a week, it decides to play hard ball. Now it claims that the toner is gone. Out. No toner remains. This is communicated in two ways. One, the beep. Only this time it's incessant. The beep just goes on and on until you replace the toner, unplug the machine, or throw it out the window (and perhaps even then). It also...*prints out a notice*. That's right, you read that correctly; to inform you that there is no toner, it *uses toner*. I'm sure you've guessed the best part already - this notice, like the joyous banners of grayscale earlier, also prints perfectly. It's never been even a little light.

Now we engage in a little off-Broadway production for the benefit of the fax machine. "Ahh, pity," we say, opening the machine and removing the toner unit. "We're out of toner. Guess I'll have to get more toner. I'll just open this package over here," we continue, as one of us makes crinkling noises in the background, and the other grimly shakes the toner unit from side to side. "Ah, good, I'll just pop that in, then," we say, winking, as we remove the toner drum, whisper an incantation over it, and pop it back in. "Whew, good as new. I'm sure glad we don't have to worry about any light printing thanks to the Panasonic engineers," we shout with glee, as we put the toner unit back in and close it up.

If we've said the incantations correctly, the fax machine accepts our tribute and pretends everything is ok for a couple days, when the process is then repeated. Usually we perform the ritual twice successfully before it tires of our blandishments and insists the toner is out, despite the repeated evidence of our eyes. At this point we surrender to its whims and put a new drum unit in.

The drums aren't *too* bad, price-wise. I just have a minor philosophical objection to tossing them out when there's still clearly good toner left in them. But aside from that, it's a worthwhile machine.

The fax machine is quick at printing out receiving faxes. However it is rather slow in faxing out documents. I feel I should have bought the Canon faxphone L80 which is 33.6khz versus the Panasonic at 14.4Khz.
Also the pages often get jammed in the machine which is not something you want to see in a $200 fax machine.

Great fax and copier for my small business.Makes very fast copies and faxes. I always owned a ink jet fax and copier , now I'll never use anything but a laser. Gets loads of more copies than a ink jet before needing a refill.Very easy to set up and use. Great price. Highly recommend this laser fax/copier.

I had been hoping to purchase a laser fax machine for two years, having been through the thermal paper and ink-film "plain paper" routes already. When I finally found this one on special offer ($150), I bought it - as did another person to whom I recommended it. I am thrilled with the machine. It sends and receives faxes beautifully. It has features to interface with an answering machine should it need to share a line with that machine. It photocopies easily and excellently. The toner cartridge is easy to install and confidential - much easier than those delicate ink film rolls required by most "plain paper" fax machines which leave an recorded imprint of everything that has been printed on the ink film-dependent machine. The toner cartridges are inexpensive in comparison to laser printers and personal copiers. All in all, it is a wonderful machine.

THIS MACHINE IS AWEFUL. I SPENT $200.00 ON THIS MACHINE ONLY TO HAVE A PAPER JAM FAX, AFTER FAX, AFTER FAX. THIS USUALLY OCCURS WHEN I AM FAXING ONLY ONE SHEET OF PAPER TOO, QUITE ANNOYING AND FUSTRATING. I DO A LOT OF FAXING AND NEEDED A QUICK AND DEPENDABLE MACHINE. THIS WAS NOT THE MACHINE TO BUY. IT TENDS TO GO THROUGH A LOT OF TONER TOO WHICH CAN BE QUITE COSTLY. THE PAPERS I FAX HAVE SMALL PRINT ON THEM AND WHEN I FAX THEM OUT THEY ARE BLURRED ON THE OTHER END AND LOOK SMEARED. THE SPEED IS GOOD ON THE MACHINE AND IT COPIES GREAT. I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED IN THIS MACHINE AND WISHED I HAD BOUGHT ANOTHER BRAND. PLEASE TAKE THIS INTO CONSIDERATION IF YOU PLAN ON BUYING THIS FAX MACHINE. I ONLY WISH I KNEW IN ADVANCE. (BOTTOM LINE IF YOU FAX A LOT OR HAVVE SMALL PRINT IN THE ITEMS YOU FAX DO NOT BUY THIS MACHINE).

I hate faxing with this fax machine- it is such a time waster. It NEVER sends on the first 'connect'. I have to dial wait for it to ring then it connects but makes the connect ring for aa while and then it hangs up. then i have to redial and then it connects and sends. I have NEVER had it connect and send on the first. It takes 10 min when it should take 5. I do not recommend it at all.

Worked fine for about a year. Now both paper feeders jam! I can't send a fax, make a copy or receive a fax. The paper feeders don't grab the paper. I tried cleaning the unit to no avail. Next I called the Panasonic support number. (As a side note the service number included with the fax machine is for porn). Finding the correct number on the website was a waste of time. They were of no help. Nearest authorized service center was 1.5 hours away. After the problems I have had with this Panasonic a several Panasonic cordless phones I won't buy any of their products again.

THIS IS.... THE ABSOLUTE WORST FAX MACHINE I HAVE EVER OWNED...
JAM...JAM...JAM..
DID I SAY JAM...WELL THAT'S ABOUT ALL I CAN SAY..BECAUSE THAT'S THE ONLY THING IT DOES WELL...SAVE YOUR MONEY...

This is the absolute worst fax machine ever! I would not even call it a fax machine because it doesn't fax! Where to start -- the paper feeder will not take multiple pages. It jams or smashes 3 pages together. Do not buy this product. It's a waste of you money. It's a waste of your time. You'll just end up having to buy a new fax machine anyway.

I dont' know where to start. I cannot put multiple pages in at a time. It won't even grab one page at a time without hand feeding it like shoving a dollar bill in a change machine. I could go on, but that is reason enough to not purchase one.