Home Electronics Reviews

When it comes to business equipment, a fax machine is often a necessity. Here's how to choose the best machine for your home office.

How a fax machine works

A fax machine, short for facsimilie machine, works by transmitting messges through telephone wire by first turning information into a series of dots and digitizing this information so that it can be transmitted. When the signals arrive at their destination, they are then converted into dots that make up the original message. Fax machines have become the faster, more convenient alternative to the post office. A fax machine is composed of an optical scanner useful in digitizing images, a printer, and a telephone line. Older models are thermal, which means they use a special kind of paper rolls required for the machine to work.

What to look for in a home office fax machine

The quality of the print, the reliability of the model, and the look of the machine are all major considerations. Experts advise that you look for machines with four choices for image quality, choose a machine that is easiest to use, and determine what other features you cannot do without. For example, you may need to choose a machine that has delayed transmission, has an integrated digital answering machine, has the aibility to poll other fax machines and to perform other tasks such as copy reduction and enlargement.

A fax machine is an important piece of electronic equipment that no office should do without. When choosing a fax machine, know what features you need and take your pick among the models and brands you trust.

A seemingly innocuous document such as a bank statement, credit card bill, or an ATM receipt can be used to commit identity theft and fraud. Security experts in both the government and private sector recommend that you make such documents inaccessible by running them through a paper shredder before throwing them away.

How a paper shredder works

A paper shredder is a machine that grabs paper and runs them against sharp blades, cutting the paper into tiny pieces. This makes whatever was printed on the paper unreadable. Paper shredders come in three basic types: strip cut or spaghetti cut shredders, cross cut or confetti shredders, and granulator shredders. Strip cut shredders, as the name implies, simply cut the paper into thin strips. Cross cut shredders cut the paper into small, confetti-like pieces. Granulator shredders process paper into very fine particles, much smaller than those produced by cross cut shredders.

What to look for in a paper shredder

When selecting a paper shredder, the most important factors to consider are (1) the size of the documents you will be shredding, (2) the amount or volume of paper you will be shredding each day, (3) the level of security you require, and (4) the cost of the paper shredder, including the expense involved in maintaining it.

Among the types of paper shredders, strip cut models are the least expensive and the easiest to maintain. However, it also easiest to reassemble documents shredded by strip cut machines. Cross cut models provide more security, but are more expensive and require more care. Granulator machines are usually found in government and big business offices. The high level of security they provide is matched by their high cost and maintenance requirements. Most households and offices probably will not need a paper shredder as high end as the granulator model.