Sharp UX-B700 Large-Capacity Business Inkjet Fax Machine

It takes up very little space on my shelf, and it has an easy, intuitive usage set-up. It has the distinctive ring feature which allows me to not get a second phone line, and it has a very clear output. I can put 15-20 sheets into the feeder at a time, and I can load it up with plenty of paper.

The complaints are as follows: the paper seems to jam up somewhat more than I would have hoped, and after a piece of paper has been jammed in the machine (even if it just has a small crease in the bottom of the paper), you really can't use it again unless you flip it over. Also, even with an ink-save mode, it seems to go through ink fairly quickly, although I won't swear to it. Finally, I really don't like that Sharp doesn't have any ink refill kits for this machine, forcing you to buy their new, expensive ink cartridges (...). I hope that will be corrected in the future.

Otherwise, this machine certainly does the trick for the person who doesn't care about lots of bells and whistles. For the price, it's a great buy!


Great machine for the money   January 15, 2004
 8 out of 10 found this review helpful

I've been using this machine for several months now and I'm quite pleased with it. I have yet to have a paper jam, even though I've placed more than the specified 20 pages in the send tray. The output is selectable as to quality (in order to save ink) and even the lowest quality printing is fine for everyday use. The machine has several nice attributes, fast 14,400 transmission speed (many small machines are slower), small footprint and intutitive controls. The instruction book is easy to read and follow, but the basic functions are so intuitive that you really don't need to use the book unless you're doing something out of the ordinary.

Contrary to another reviewer's comments, ink cost per page is only about 7 cents. That's a far cry from the 70-80 cents the other gentleman was claiming; perhaps he got his decimal place mixed up!

As with most inkjet machines, the ink cartridge supplied with the machine is only a "starter" cartridge and has limited capacity. Be sure to buy a replacement cartridge so you won't be left without.

This is my third home office fax and it's the best yet, surpassing a previous HP and a slower Sharp machine.


The truth about ink cost   November 10, 2004
 5 out of 6 found this review helpful

I visited Sharp's web site to read the "detailed specs" for this machine. Sharp says it makes 600 copies per ink cartridge if you set the machine to "ink save" (it is not preset that way) and if ink coverage is 4% (which is typical of a text document but not a photograph). In that case, each page costs 6 cents since the cartridge is $35. (They say the free cartridge that comes with the machine is only half full.) This cost seems reasonable for the average user. If you receive a lot of faxes, you might consider spending $200 - $300 to get a laser fax, which prints pages for 2 - 3 cents each.


Fax eats ink, but generic refill kit works fine   January 8, 2006
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Got the Sharp UX-B700 fax from CostCo way back when. It was replacing one that uses thermal paper, so it was a big improvement. It was bad that the ink cart could have been larger or cheaper, but after I found that the ink cart can be easily refilled, I've saved quite a bit of money since. My main grip is how sensitive the fax itself is to the ink cart.

Many of the reviews have complained about the high cost and low volume of the ink cart. The carts are about $30 in those office superstores and they do hold very little ink, but you can buy generic black refill kits and refill these for pennies. Each cart can be used anywhere from 5-10 times. Nothing special needs to be done... Just drill a hole on the top and add ink until almost full, and reuse. This is in contrast to HP or Lexmark carts which must maintain air pressure, or needs a chip reset, and so on.

The MAIN problem I ran into with the fax is the cart holder inside the fax eventually goes lose, making the fax not recognize the cart, even if it's brand-new. It just keeps saying "CHECK CARTRIDGE". Then it becomes a hit-or-miss whether you can get the cart working or not.

Print quality is decent and it works fine as a convenience copier for a few pages at a time.


Good plain-paper fax, for low-volume use only   January 4, 2005
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

I wanted a plain-paper fax machine so I wouldn't have to buy special paper. At the time, this machine was getting the best reviews for the price, so I bought it. It works flawlessly, and has all the features I wanted, but the ink sure costs a lot: $35 for an 11ml cartridge, vs. $30 for a 42ml cartridge for my HP printer.

So the moral is, check the price of ink before you buy any inkjet device, and be sure to set the device to its ink saver mode.