Side by Side Comparison of: Panasonic vs Brother

This particular fax unit is one of the best products I've see yet. As an independent administrator for a number of corps here in NYC, most of my clients in the past have relied on "popular" ink jet brands that are not only expensive to operate, but lack in image quality and are many times, unreliable when connecting to newer "digital" fax lines.This one vastly surpasses not only in the volume of pages provided as a laser printer, but offers an impressive image quality when used either as a fax or copier that's very close to an original.This Panasonic fax/copier, is an excellent price with a quality output that's hard to beat, even with the more expensive brands.

seems to work good and I just love how it works

It does what I purchased it for. Have had no problem with it so far either in istallation or in functionning

This fax machine also works as a copier. It has many helpful features to make faxing easy, readable and reliable. The only complicated part is installing the cartridge (since it must be done in low light... due to the photo sensitive features of the cartridge). I have this hooked up to my main phone line and it does not accept faxes unless I hit "auto answer" That way I can use the same phone line for phone calls and faxing!

I am so happy so far.Set up and assembly was easy. Print quality is good. It is bit On the expensive side but it is very well built. I recommend it.

Today I replaced a 14-year-old Panasonic FAX with this one. Here are my first impressions:Assembling the drum unit and toner cartridge requires so much force, I was afraid to break something. I went back to the manual a few times to make sure I did not forget to remove a tab or a sticker, but no, you just have to push really hard while rotating the tonner barrel.The fax machine itself looks solid, but the paper trays feel very cheap and flimsy.Comparing to the old fax machine, I was surprised how good the quality of received faxes is; this is probably due to the error correction feature that works with compatible newer fax machines on the other end of the line.My setup for this unit is on a dedicated fax line, it works great for that. There is line out port for an answering machine, but I did not test that.So far I have good feelings about KX-FL421, I will update this review if anything alarming pops up.

Works very well . Easy to set up. Was going to only give it 4 stars, because its much bigger than you expect. Its big !Recipients say the fax is very clear.

This fax machine is excellent. However, the "deep sleep" mode problem is real. Pasting together several comments that appeared online, I learned the following. 1) The machine will spontaneously go into regular sleep mode when not in use. This saves energy. In regular sleep mode the machine will wake up and received faxes normally. So, that is good. 2) After a certain time (that you can set from the Ecology menu), left to its own devices, the machine will fall into "deep sleep" mode. This mode saves more power than regular sleep mode. However, the machine in deep sleep mode will only wake up and become able to receive faxes if: a) one physically touches a key, b) one lifts the handset, or c) if it received data from a computer or network. This will only happen if the fax machine is used as a printer, attached to a computer or a network. So, if one wants to use it as a stand-alone fax machine or one wants to receive faxes at all times, the deep sleep mode needs to be turned off. This is not an intuitive project.To turn off the Deep Sleep mode you need to do the following: Press Menu. With the up and down arrows select 1. General Setup, press OK. Select 4. Ecology, press OK. Select 2. Sleep Time, press OK. Then, with the two-digit sleep time still on the screen, PRESS TOGETHER the LOW ARROW + START keys. The Deep Sleep menu will appear. You can then choose yes or no with the up and down arrows. Enter OK, then press Stop/Exit to exit the Manu mode.As much as the deep sleep mode is ecologically friendly, it remains incomprehensible why Brother made the access to controlling the Deep Sleep mode so hidden and arcane.The machine makes excellent copies and is a great printer. As to durability and cost of maintenance, remains to be seen.

After dealing with an HP inkjet fax in my restaurant that kept jamming and having dried up ink from, I decided I needed a compact laser that would fit in the allocated area.This fit the bill, except that it was white and every other piece of equipment in the area was black.Once I unboxed the unit, I used masking tape to cover the black areas and any open electronics. Using a simple flat black can of spray paint, I was able to make it all black. Nobody can tell it was painted even when I point it out to them. First problem fixed.I have had the unit for about 7 months and it has performed flawlessly. It even uses the same toner as a wireless Brother printer I have which is a bonus as well. This past week of course, I encountered the DEEP SLEEP curse that so many people speak of. The machine will do half a ring and act weird, but will not receive faxes. After some research and playing around, there is a solution, even though Brother has decided to hide the feature.You ARE able to disable DEEP SLEEP.Go to General Settings, Ecology, Sleep Mode. When it asks you to change the time before sleep, simultaneously press the START and DOWN ARROW buttons. You will now get the hidden option to Disable DEEP SLEEP mode. Disable it and enjoy your fax for many years to come.

I bought this Brother to replace a 1.5 yr old Panasonic unit that was on its last leg. This unit is great, and I am very happy with the purchase. The packaging was excellent and straightforward. The toner cartridges and drums are very easy to install. You have ample warning to purchase replacement toner cartridges once the toner low light comes on. The print quality is excellent, and the speed is fast. Mine does go into deep sleep mode after a few minutes, but any incoming faxes or hitting any button wakes it up immediately, and I have not lost a single fax from anyone. We use this in a very busy restaurant that has numerous fax in orders from customers and delivery services. The environment is far from ideal, but this Brother FAX2840 laughs at everything that's thrown at it and keep on chugging.

We have a small home business about 20-30 pages a day. This works great no problems. I read other reviews about the sleep mode but we haven't had any trouble.

I was using an older HP inkjet fax machine. Not only is the toner cheaper for this Brother, but the faxes look a lot better as well - on both ends. I had an USB cable (not included) and have it hooked up to my computer as well - it makes a dandy black and white printer!

Works well but sometimes when faxing it'll accidentally pull in extra page, requiring you to cancel the fax and start over again. Not sure if this is because of the quality of paper I'm using or from static electricity in the paper--but my older fax didn't have these issues. Receiving has been fine, and I've had no issues with transmissions over both my VOIP and POTS lines.

It is ten times faster sending a fax than my older Brother fax machine.Hopefully, it will last as long as my Brother fax!My one con is it does not automatically transmit, you have to wait for a fax tone, then press send.

UPDATED September 2012:Looking for a laser fax that wouldn't take up 3/4 of my office desk, I decided to gamble on this newly introduced laser fax machine from Panasonic.Overall, I am VERY pleased with both print quality and speed. This fax machine produces excellent quality copies, and does so relatively fast for a fax machine. The machine is well built, with controls and operation being mostly well thought out.There are some solid cons for this machine, however. Namely, it has a mind of it's own.The biggest problem is if you are using it on a shared line (a telephone line that is primarily for voice, but occasionally used to receive or send fax). The Auto Answer feature is the culprit. Worst case I've experienced is when I have placed a call, started talking with the other party, and randomly in the middle of our conversation, this alleged inanimate object unexpectedly chimes in to give us its two cents. "Oh, here it goes again, let me call you back after I figure out who is playing smart guy with the fax machine." The rest of the time, which is most of the time, it falls in line and does what it is supposed to, without completely destroying the conversation.Our voice mail machine (integrated cordless phone system) picks up exactly after 4 rings. On the Panasonic fax, I have Auto Answer set for 4 rings, like on my old Sharp fax. This Panasonic, however, sometimes also "squeals" before the voice mail answers OR while the voice mail machine has already answered. This makes for some humorous messages to play at company picnics, but I hardly find it funny for the person trying to leave a life or death voice mail. Sometimes even, it'll just start up shortly after answering the phone, well before the 4 rings!Again...When these infrequent / random voice interruptions occur, it's clearly NOT when fax machine is trying to connect on the other end.Our old Sharp fax machine that this Panasonic replaced NEVER did this. For "Auto" mode, the Sharp instead listened for a fax handshake tone on the line after a certain number of rings, without initiating. Perhaps there is something to making Auto Answer work properly that I am missing, but in the documentation it states very simply that Auto is either On or Off, and to specify the number of rings. That's it!There are no settings for initiation. I caution anyone reading this review that this machine is best suited to a dedicated line, a disappointing limitation if Auto Answer does not work on a shared line.Another major flaw which I cannot seem to understand from any perspective: The fact that the display is not backlit!! In 2011, the year of this machine's introduction, the customer expects a backlit display using LED, EL foil, simple incandescent lamp, OLED, two candles and a mirror....Whatever technology it takes! Come on, Panasonic! I'd have paid extra for the backlight if it were an "option"! This is just plain disregard for the consumer.

does the job, but lacks function as a good copier and scan machine. However, prints fast and great. fax pretty o.k.

So far good... I used the brother fax-2820 for years, until it went out... bought this 2840 that looks pretty much a like, only faster faxing and coping, and can load a little more paper into feed, documents come out clear, and setup was simple just like the 2820... did not give 4 stars because it's still too early to tell if it will last.

Our previous fax/printer ( same make &model) lasted for 4 +years. It developed a problem with the toner/drum sensors and never came off replace toner/drum mode.This replacement (same make & model, but more expensive $) should hopefully hold out for the next 4+ years.

This fax machine does just what we need it to. Performs great and replaces an old we had that had just worn out. The only negative is the plug in for the phone line is in the back. We use the phone line between several communication devices and need to plug it in to use it and it is unhandy to get to in the back. That's why 4 stars instead of 5. Otherwise, great machine.

I bought this to replace a Brother Intellifax Model 2820 which had developed some problems with the feeding of paper. This model is a bit faster, prints very cleanly and sharply, has a voice receiver option and functions very well. It was a good purchase.

I bought this fax machine because it was a recommended buy from Consumer Reports. It is a good buy and the set-up was easy. The only issue I have is that it goes into a deep sleep and there is no way to prevent it from doing so. I knew this from all the previous reviews I read about this particular fax machine. I would recommend it for sending faxes and have not received any faxes so I don't know if that is an issue.

This is the third one of these I purchased. The product is great, when it works. The first two of these I bought, the cartridge was not functional or the front would not close. Finally the third worked, but after much struggle.

This was not the product I thought it was. It did not have an answering device, so I returned it.

no speaker phone

We used this in my busy cafe for about a year (50 to 80 faxes per day), before it decided that it wanted out of the business. The machine, when new, printed and received faxes very nicely. The problem is that most of the time, the toner cartridge is replaced by one of my employees rather than myself. The employees are usually in a rush when replacing the cartridges, and almost every time they replaced the toner, they would spill toner inside the machine due to the way the toner goes in. It seems so simple when you are familiar with the machine, but I learned early on that I could not expect my employees to be as careful as I am.After about a year of clumsy toner replacements, the machine decided it no longer wanted to print clean faxes or copies. I opted to go with a Brother laser fax machine (model FAX2840)to replace this one, and I could not be happier. The toners are designed so that anyone can replace them blindfolded, and I no longer worry every time the low toner light shows up, because it's so easy for my employees to just pop out the old Brother toner and pop the new one in.If you have a busy business environment, and rely on employees to manage supplies in your fax machine I would recommend going with a different machine than this one.

Was a bit of a pain to setup, but it is what it is.Many won't have use for a Fax/Print/Scan combo --- but if you do, this will satisfy your needs.

Replacement of drum and rollers frequent never had this with other printers

I could not connect the fax to assure that a non fax communication would not trigger the fax to pick-up gthe line.

Wondering if anyone has had a problem with during multiple page faxing it grabs more then 1 page., sometime several pages as its sending. Finding myself faxing over and over and wants to take,several pages. I was thinking it might be the paper (thin). Is there a feature to adjust paper thicknes

Everything was great except for the very dim display. It was very hard to read which was a disappointment to me.

Somewhat fast fax. Does not print as legible as I would like, but it prints like a fax would. I thought the laser printer would help the resolution but it doesn't. Copies are nice on the machine as a feature; but again, you are better off using a real copier instead. Changing the times in the sleep mode in the menu helps a LOT. It's a serviceable fax machine for a home office or a small office.

A piece of junk. First, the genius who dreamed up the method for inserting the toner cartridge needs to be moved to the loading dock. You can't insert it without spilling toner all over the place. Second, the latches to hold down the top don't hold. The one on the right is not tight and the one on the left doesn't hold at all. I wasted my money on this fax.

This product was not a well constructed as a Brother that I have. I do not like the small toner.

Still trying to find time to set it up. Seems complicated and time consuming.

This item was used, didn't come with ink ~ was in a pinch for time....but all the information was in the memory of someone elses office. Not pleased

For 9 months it worked well. During month 10 reports of my faxes would state "OK" but my fax recipients have been receiving unclear faxes. I can't return it to AMAZON and so I am left to call Brother to problem solve this issue. If you can't fax a clear fax what use is a $145 fax machine. JUNK!

great for broadcasting lunch specials, but has really small cartridge. Run out from ink in less than 2 months

it only lasted 14 months. it will no longer receive a fax. what a waste!

It worked good for about 2 months but now error messages are coming up constantly and we have called the company 3 times since purchasing. Now they will only send me out a refurbished one to replace. I wish I would have never purchased this. I had a Panasonic fax machine that lasted 6 years. Not Good!

Well - as I've learned, faxes just don't like VOIP. Although I did buy this one and toss out a perfectly good one because it supposedly works with VOIP.... yea, no it doesn't. I now pay $40/month just for a FAX POTS line. Pain, but hey, it faxes....

My old $20 fax machine works better than this one. The machine goes into "deep sleep" mode whenever it isn't in use. A fax may come in, and not be picked up while in this mode. The machine will "click" a few times and you have to go over and make the machine pick it up. Other times, the machine will receive the fax just fine. I called Brother and they told me it is working perfectly and that nothing is wrong with it. Don't buy this fax machine.

Quit working 1 yr and one month after purchase. We occasionally use our fax machine so this is not an item we beat to death. Customer service from the manufacture stinks. I worked good for one year. Very disappointed.

worked for 2 years and now the drum is gone!is that a product for 2 years only???

By far the worst ever fax machine. Trouble at day one. Poor Poor customer service through Mfg Panasonic. Continued to limp along and then finally after 3 more calls to Panasonic and no satisfaction (obvious they read from a script) called Amazon. Amazon refunded my money and I am rid of this piece of junk. Bought another from Amazon another mfg and absolutely love and it worked right out of the box!!! Do not recommend

This fax machine is cheaply made and does not work properly. We have been through three machines in less than one year. Each machine makes a terrible squealing noise that reminds you of metal on metal brakes and nails on a chalk board. Panasonic has replaced it twice and the machine I received today still makes the noise and is cracked. I would strongly recommend you not purchase this even though the price seems to warrant it.

My secretaries were unhappyLots of jammingWent back to the more expensive Brother fax

Very bad experience with this fax machine.This machine does not fax more than 2 pages and is extremely slow. Within 2 months it has started making noises as if it was 10 years old.Would advice not to buy this item.

STAY AWAY FROM THIS CRAP! It died 5 weeks after purchase! What a Piece of crap!

It has stopped working. It has barely been used in the 6 months that we have had it and was incredibly slow when it did work.

This has never sent faxes correctly and I have complained many times to no avail. It prints nice copies but I wanted this mainly for a fax machine. I had to unplug it and am using one I purchased years ago for $9.99 which is a very small basic fax machine. Very disappointing that I paid so much for the Brother that does not send faxed.

Worked fine the first 2 weeks, then it started giving me trouble. Its been a little over at month now and the faxes receive only after 3 attempts and it's already giving me toner low message. The toner was rated for 2600 pages and I haven't even hit 1000 pages yet. It also gets jammed about once every 4 faxes received.

Fax still NOT working properly. More than 10 hours on the phone with Brother and AT&T - can either send or receive a fax. Unable to send & receive. A geek came to my home - spent about 2.5 hours & gave up - paid @ $150 - still not working properly. IMHO a real POS.

I bought a brother printer and it turned out to be excellent. But this intellifax its a nightmare. Why ?Buy it. I cannot say much because Amazon won't publish my review. The experience was a nightmare.Thank God I bought a Canopy protection plan. They work 24/7 and there phone number is easy to find on the warranty.Canopy send me a UPS shipping label and they will reimburse me . Everybody else let me down.Alfred