In yet another "dumbing down" of peripherals, we recently purchased an 
OfficeJet 570 for use as a standalone fax machine.  For those not 
familiar with them, OfficeJet's are HP's line of "multifunction" 
machines - you know, printer, copier, fax, and scanner all rolled 
into one.  Well, after running the phone line and setting up the 
OJ, I followed the quick-start instructions:  Print a demo page 
and then copy the demo page, which confirms the hardware is 
working.  But no matter what we did, we could not get it to 
dial out to send a fax.  

After an hour or so of trying, I decided to call the tech 
support line (long distance, no 800 number for these things!).  
After a few pertinent questions, the tech support guy asked me 
to read the message on the LCD display (which was something 
about "Follow the instructions and print a demo page"), he said, 
"Well, have you connected it to your PC and loaded the drivers 
on the PC?"  

I told him, "Of course not, you ninny!  We're using it as a 
stand-alone fax machine!  There is no PC!"  

"Well", he says, "too bad!  It won't work without a PC!"

So, it looks like the OJ goes back to the store and we look 
for another vendor for our plain paper fax machines.

Jim Phillips                            Manager of Information Systems
Voice: (330) 527-2124                   Therm-O-Link, Inc.
  Fax: (330) 527-2123                   PO Box 285; 10513 Freedom St.
Email: [log in to unmask]       Garrettsville, Ohio  44231