I was wondering if you could give me more information on the FaxScanner you mentioned in your article. Exactly what is it, how much does it cost, and where can one obtain it? Is the price US $ or Canadian $? Thanks for any information you can give. Joseph C. Proud owner of Sharp Zaurus ZR-5800FX
Hi Joseph It is my pleasure to give you more information on the faxscanner. It is a very small electronic device powered by a 9V battery, that emulates the telephone network. When I want to send from my Zaurus directly to a fax machine to use it as a printer, then I connect my PCMCIA fax modem in the Zaurus to the faxscanner. The other end of the faxscanner is then connected directly to the fax machine. At this point the fax machine is happy because it thinks it is connected to the telephone network and sits waiting to answer a "call". The Zaurus is happy because it thinks it has an ok modem / telephone line to send data out on. Then I send a fax out of the Zaurus as usual (a real tele # is course is not needed). As you can see, faxscanner saves you having to tie up two telephone lines. It worked nicely at a computer show where I was primarily demonstrating the faxing capability of the Zaurus. I had the Zaurus, faxscanner and a Sharp (of course) fax machine set up. I would encourage booth visitors to enter their name into a promotional document on the Zaurus and then fax it and gave the hardcopy to them to take away. It was a simple but effective way of having people see with their own eyes the power of the Zaurus. The other potential use of the faxscanner is to have the fax machine send data directly into a PC (ie act as a scanner), without having to tie up two telephone lines. The faxscanner comes with PC Windows software for this kind of operation. However, you can use your normal PC fax software, set to receive mode. The faxscanner is made by S.V.A. Software, 5170 Broadway Suite 26, San Antonio, TX 78209, tel (210) 822-0014, fax (210) 822-0515. I was in contact with Donald Christensen, President in April of this year. He will sell just the H/W, which is all that you need if using the fax machine as a printer. My guess is for $25. USA. If you buy the commercial combined H/W & S/W pack, the cost was approximately $100. USA. I hope this helps you. Since writing the mobilis article, I have moved up to a Zaurus 5700. I too am a proud owner! Best Regards, Egbert Verbrugge