'help'

[Randy B. Singer]

On Mar 7, 2012, at 1:28 PM, Georgia Dufresne wrote:

> Any suggestions as to how to send a "fax" on the MacBook Pro? I am  
> currently running Snow Leopard.

For a few years now Macs haven't come with a fax/modem built-in for  
direct faxing.  Apple discontinued their own external portable fax/ 
modem a couple of years ago.

In the past you could purchase any fax/modem made for Windows, tweak  
the initialization string,  and have it work just fine with your  
Mac.  I'm not sure what changed, but that doesn't work with the  
latest V.92 modems.  There are now only two popular choices for a Mac- 
compatible fax/modem.

Zoom V.92 USB Mini External 56K Voice Faxmodem
http://www.zoomtel.com/products/dial_up_external_usb.html

$40 from:
http://www.frys.com/product/5892103?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG


U.S. Robotics 56K USB Faxmodem
http://www.usr.com/products/modem/modem-product.asp?sku=USR5637

$46 with free shipping from
<http://www.amazon.com/USRobotics-USR5637-FaxModem-Windows-Linux/dp/ 
B0013FDLM0/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1317983414&sr=1-1>
or
http://is.gd/Du5z7T


That said, most folks now use e-mail-based fax services for sending  
and receiving faxes.  These services are fast and convenient, and  
much more reliable (especially for receiving faxes) then using a fax/ 
modem.  There are over a dozen such services (I can send you a list,  
if you like), and everyone you talk to seems to have a favorite.  The  
most common favorite I hear about from Mac users is:

MaxEmail
http://www.maxemail.com

However, I just switched to a new e-mail based fax service myself  
just a few months ago, and I did an extensive comparison, and I  
settled on this one, which is extremely hard to beat:

Metrofax
http://www.metrofax.com/

Metrofax  e-mails you your received faxes in PDF format, and you
send faxes by sending an e-mail to their special e-mail address with  
the document to be faxed included as an e-mail attachment.
A very reasonable flat fee per month gives you a total of 500, 1000  
or 2500 pages either sent/received. They
are a BBB member with a good rating unlike a lot of the other similar  
services, some of which are
scary spammers. They have U.S.-based customer support!  There is a   
30 day free trial available.

___________________________________________
Randy B. Singer
Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions)

Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance
http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html
___________________________________________