Olivetti FAX-LAB 100

I warn my readers that this could be a raging review since I just threw this fax machine into the bin.

Not only it costed me more than £30 two years ago but for the little times I've needed it it hardly worked properly. This morning I was trying to send a fax and the paper kept jamming into the rolls... but let's proceed in order.

This Olivetti Fax-Lab is one of those product that you always see in offer (and for a reason), a couple of years ago they costed even up to £60-£70 but I found mine with a 40% discount so, since I often needed to fax documents and stuff like that, I bought it without second thoughts

Later on I found out that I didn't need to fax documents SO often to justify purchasing a fax machine but still, it has been useful sometimes. But most of the times it was dreadful (read problems later on)

THE MACHINE

As can be seen from the picture on Ciao, the machine has a phone receiver on top, and just under a control panel with digits and other buttons for the fax/photocopier funcions, a little two lines monitor and nothing more. Aside from the ugly look that doesn't possibly match with any existing furniture, it's a space waster, too big to be placed anywhere but on an office desk (surely not in a house). I'm not even listing too many details because it's a machine to be avoided and I'll write down very soon why.

WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT THIS MACHINE?

Mmmh... mmmhh... I guess it's a fax machine that is often in offer for a good price but aside from that and the fact that it can also do photocopies, I could only find bad points.

THE PROBLEMS

I noticed annoying problems from the start. The machine has two different entries for papers to be faxed or photocopied. One is called "automatic" and another is "manual". I never understood the difference since you still do the same operations but what I did notice is that one never worked from the first day I bought it. Since they appeared to have the same function, I wasn't too bothered afterall.

Another problem was the ink. It went way too fast, I think I must have tried to photocopy a total of 5 documents in all (5 single sheets of paper) and it started giving me the "LOW INK" message! After a wile the message turned itself into "CHANGE INK CARTRIGE"... considering that I didn't even use it again since the Low Ink message I can only presume that the ink just disappeared by itself. With the ink gone after 5 little photocopies I was practically unable to receive any faxes as you can imagine so the novelty of having a fax machine was already gone in a few days from its purchase... I certainly was not going to buy another ink cartrige to see the ink magically vanish from it again!

The receiver is not wireless, it's an old-fashoned cord receiver. Nothing wrong with this of course but again there was a problem concerning the receiver too. Although it was new, from the beginning I experienced interferences as soon as I moved or lightly pulled the wire. I guess the plug was simply loose. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, there is nothing you can do about it: you can't change the cord because it would mean you have to change the receiver too (they are built together). So everytime I needed to use the phone I had to bend over it (the cord wasn't long enough to allow a full standing conversation) and be careful not to pull or move it too much otherwise I couldn't hear well my interlocutor.

Today, after few months from the guarantee expiry date, the rolls that are supposed to move out the sheets of paper just BROKE! To be precise, the rubber around them broke in three points making the rolls unoperable. So the paper inevitably get stuck and bye-bye fax that you were sending. It gives you an error and you still have paid for the call.
I fax documents so rarely so I cannot even say that perhaps I've abused of the machine until it broke. I must have faxed about 15 documents in 2 years since I bought it.
After this last experience of few minutes ago I decided to throw it directly into the bin. I don't care if the phone still works. This machine takes too much space for being just a phone and even if its repairing was for free I would still have opted for buying a new one of a different brand.

To conclude this consumer review, I would like to point out and remind that this fax/phone/photocopier machine is plastichy, had too many faults from the beginning and I warn everyone from purchasing it. It's just not worth anything. As a phone is a lousy one, faxing is often a nightmare (when it actually works) and I never got to try the photocopy option too much because the ink ended after few uses. I hope I've said enough to discourage anyone from this product or any similar by Olivetti.