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17-Apr-2003
Pros: Cordless phone reception is great. Speaker phone works well, too.
Cons: Poor print quality & poor answering machine outgoing message quality
The Bottom Line: The print quality is lower than I expected. The outgoing messages I recorded for the answering machine were very unprofessional sounding and crackly. The cordless phone part was great.
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RATING DETAILS
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Full Review
The KXFPG371 is a combination Facsimile (FAX), answering machine, and cordless telephone. It can also function as a copier, but you will find that it has a fairly high cost per sheet in that use.
The menu structure for setting up the machine is moderately intuitive. Setting the time and establishing the outgoing answering machine message were the first priorities, and were done without problems. However, the quality of the recording for the outgoing message was not good. I called the answering machine from another phone and the greeting was rather crackly and unclear. It was worse than some inexpensive dedicated answering machines. This may be attributable to a poor microphone, or poor quality circuitry.
The facsimile function was of major importance in selecting this machine. The faxes are not printed using Inkjet or laser, but use a roll of thin film, similar to carbon paper. This film works OK on the phone call log that automatically prints after every 30 calls or so, but incoming faxes were not printed clearly, and were difficult to read. As you might expect, larger fonts printed more clearly. Outgoing faxes were similarly difficult to read on the receiving end, and one of the receiving faxes were known to produce clear printouts. The scanner on the machine is probably the problem on those outgoing faxes.
The cordless phone and speaker phone worked very well. I have yet to find the maximum distance that the cordless phone will reach because I don't have a large office suite. The voice quality is very clear via the cordless handset. I have also received no complaints about the quality of my voice being picked up by the speakerphone. The buttons on the base unit are large and easy to use.
The answering machine stored and retrieved messages efficiently and it was easy to erase old messages and play new ones. For some reason, the quality of incoming messages was of noticeably better quality than the recorded outgoing greeting messages. That seems to indicate a microphone issue.
Aesthetically, the KXFPG371 is an attractive piece of equipment that fits well in my office decor. I just wish the functional shortcomings were ironed-out.
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