Panasonic KX FL511

The Panasonic KX-FL511 is a laser fax and copier, all in one neat little chassis. Aimed directly at the small or home office, this device is compact but fully featured and offers everything a device like this should.

The fax runs at a respectable 14.4kbps. This allows the KX-FL511 to transmit a page every 4 seconds. The built-in 2Mb memory might not seem much, but it’s enough to store up to 170 fax pages if the paper runs out, or you want to schedule sending.

It can broadcast send to up to 20 locations at once, saving time and effort if you want to transmit to more than one destination. There is a fully functional telephone keypad and handset so the KX-FL511 can be used as a phone too. There are enough speed dials for most needs, 122 in fact, and a two line, 16 character LCD screen for quick information or Caller ID if you have it.

The copier is a fully functioning one, with most of the features you would find on a standalone machine. It can print at 12 pages per minutes, resize pages, images, turn them, flip them and of course print them. The machine has three print modes depending on the material, fine, superfine and photo. These all lend themselves to text, fine text and text and images.

Print quality is pretty good for a fax/copier. The lines are clean and the details sharp. The KX-FL511 struggles a bit with photographs, but the end result is more than respectable. Faxes are printed clearly, and the built-in filter removes most of the noise that appears on most faxes. Our test sheets were amazingly clean, the only toner on the page was where it was supposed to be.

There is a 220 sheet paper tray for letter sized paper, and a 20 sheet automatic document feeder at the top. Both feel solid, and avoid the flimsy construction that seems to plague other manufacturers machines. The whole of the KX-FL511 has an air of solidity about it, as if it was built to last forever.

Replacement toners are easy to acquire and will serve 2500 pages before it will need changing. The machine will remind you when the toner is getting low by an audible beep, then will print out a warning when getting very low. This is great in situations where the office is busy and the fax easily forgotten. It allows you to change out the toner before it actually runs out which prevents any downtime.

The Panasonic KX-FL511 is a good machine for the small or home office. It has everything a fax and copier should have, and produces prints of high enough quality for most uses.