35th Anniversary of the Barcode

Yeah I’m basically reposting a gizmodo post, but if it weren’t for the barcode, I wouldn’t have such a kickass job that I get to blog about barcodes. And barcode scanners.

User Reviews: They’re the Reviewiest

In our ongoing effort to make the site plump with content and solid, honest information, we’ve implemented user reviews. Customers can hop onto the site, find their favorite product, and write up their likes, dislikes, etc. It’s always nice to have verification on the awesomeness of a barcode scanner or receipt printer, especially if it’s from someone who isn’t drawing a paycheck from the site.

We’ll be adding them slowly, but if you want to check out a couple, the Honeywell 3800g barcode scanner. Two whole reviews! And they both backup the claim that it’s probably the best 1D handheld barcode scanner on the Earth. That’s a big dorky claim, and I’m sticking with it.

Better Star Trek Barcode Scanner Images

One of my buddies sent me this link last night with a better view of the bridge from the new Star Trek Movie. Pretty sure there are ten barcode scanners on the bridge, including the Honeywell VoyagerBT, Honeywell Orbit, and Symbol M2000 Cyclone.

Anyway, check out the link, it’s fun times: http://www.startrekmovie.com/panoramas/bridge.html

Ultra Ultra UltraScan Review

Hey so I already used my words plenty of times to talk about the UltraScan, so here’s some video of it, with the incomparable Jaime showing off the barcode scanner’s feats.

Opticon OPN 2002

Opticon, those guys who make really crazy yet inexpensive stuff, have finally unleashed their OPN 2002 on the masses, and I’m pretty stoked about it. It’s a straight upgrade to the OPN 2001, which is a batch data collector with a lithium ion rechargeable battery and memory capable of holding about 1,000 barcodes and timestamps. We put it up on our site at the beginning of 2008, and with no real big fanfare on our part, it was able to become a top seller no sweat. You could get mobile inventory management, attendance tracking, or registry services for $200, which is a fantastic deal.

The OPN 2002 beefs up the specs, making it a solid contender for almost any use. In addition to bumping up the memory to 1 MB (around 20,000 barcodes and timestamps), Opticon crammed a Bluetooth radio in the unit. So now the mobile data collector can be configured to run as a Serial Port Profile or HID bluetooth device, making it a great fit not only for mobile data collection on a budget, but it’s now one of the cheapest Bluetooth scanners on the market. Hook it up to a PDA, smartphone, whatever you like, and you can send data easily.

I have a feeling this product will have limited stock quantities just by demand alone, and that’s pretty fantastic.

Space: The Final Barcode Scanner Frontier

A couple weeks ago I got an email from a buddy at Motorola/Symbol about how fantastic their warranties are. So fantastic that the scanners are in use 300 years in the future.

At first I thought it was photoshopped. Why would the Enterprise have two Motorola M2000 Cyclones on the helm? And if you look to the left, it looks like there’s another one there. And yet a couple more at the top of the image.

And what’s this? A Metrologic Voyager just hangin out? Seriously? It sort of makes the Enterprise look like they raided a museum of old stuff to get the right aesthetic. I’m hoping when they go into red alert the auto-sense modes kick in. Get some sort of crazy laser party goin on in there.

It’s pretty interesting to see products get used as set dressing, especially when it’s not their intended use. Though who knows, maybe they scan barcodes to start the ship or something.

Oh and here are a couple more shots, with some brooding and drama!

Google Interest-Based Advertising

This is absolutely fantastic, and I’m hoping it increases our conversion rate in the long term. Interest-based Advertising, so if I’m reading this right, and I’d like to think I am, you search Google and its affiliates, reading up on say “president nixon”, “blue people”, and “alternate universe”, and you’ll see ads for like Watchmen stuff. Look at me, being quasi-relevant in a post about ad relevance.

Our business is really focused on a specific market anyway, but having ads reinforced based on users’ interests as opposed to one-time searches should help drive quality visitors to our site. And that’s a pretty solid thing in my mind.

Official Google Blog Post

POSGuys ULTRASCAN!!!!

I just like the name. UltraScan. Like it should be fighting dudes in rubber suits over a scale-model Tokyo. And it’s a new scanner only from POSGuys.com and totally great for low to medium volume retail establishments.

The POSGuys.com UltraScan laser barcode scanner, to use its full name, is a laser barcode scanner on the cheap. And that’s not to say it’s a cheap scanner, just inexpensive. It’s got a 12″ scan range on 100% UPC barcodes, which is 99% of what retail stores end up scanning. And, pretty fanciful, it can scan inverted barcodes without having to set any configuration. That’s a lot more rare than you’d expect but still pretty rad.

Other fun facts, this is a REALLY light barcode scanner. The cable probably accounts for 90% of the weight, so extended use isn’t going to cause arm problems. We also dropped it a bunch and it seemed to survive 12-foot drops no sweat. But that’ll be in the soon-to-be-released video. And outtakes.

We’re trying to aim the scanner (hah pun) at people who need something more aggressive than our entry level & contact scanners, but don’t need all the bells and whistles that make medium volume and high volume scanners so expensive.

Starter POS System

I bet you can sense the start of a trend with the low-cost security system and this new low-cost retail pos system. Times are tight, and so a $5,000 point of sale system just doesn’t have the same shiny allure as it used to. And so here begins the Starter POS System, at a more affordable $1,599.

Don’t let the low cost fool you, though. While other companies list an inexpensive system, only to forget parts like the PC, we make sure you get everything you need. Just scaled back a bit. So you get the PC, you get the barcode scanner, you get the receipt printer, you get the cash drawer, you get it all. I really wanted to sound like Vince from the shamwow ads there. I hope I did. That thing sells itself.

We’re able to trim down the price by shipping the systems with Ubuntu Linux and an in-house variation on pos software. But after a few months really mashing around on the system and trying to break it, we were left with a system that is a great first step into computer-based sales tracking.

The barcode scanner in the system is the POS-X Xi1000, a solid choice for low volume scanning. Learning the scanning sweet spot is a little rougher than most scanners, but once you get it, scanning UPC barcodes should be no sweat. There is an upgrade to a laser scanner only available from us, which should get blog love later today or tomorrow or whenever I’m feeling wordy.

For receipt printers, we went with an impact printer lacking auto-cutter, the POS-X Xr210. It’s a little loud, but it’ll print receipts just fine and you can’t heat the letters off the receipts. Again, upgrades can get you the POS-X Xr510 instead, which is a faster, quieter, thermal receipt printer.

The cash drawer is the POS-X XC16HD, which we’ve already shown to be pretty tough. Upgrading that guy seems unnecessary when you can stand on it. More products should have a “can I stand on it” rating.

As with all the other systems we sell, you get pretty solid support, including a year of coverage for faulty hardware, training, and having our tech support guys at your beck and call, so long as it’s between 7 am and 4 pm pacific.

Security Cameras Without Breaking the Bank

That’s one hell of a title up there, for a pretty solid and low cost way to get a surveillance system going at your business. The Astak CM-818DVR4V has been kickin around on our site for a few weeks now, and should have a video review once we get footage from the DVR and into our movie editing software.

I got to play with this rig for a couple days, and the toughest part of setup is running cables to the cameras. Everything is plug-and-play, and the DVR can either be plugged into the network or straight into a TV/Monitor. It does require an ActiveX control to properly use the network access control, which is a little rough for those of us without IE, so it’s usually a solid plan to have a standalone monitor for general access.

For those times that you’re not around to check on the system, the video receiver has a 250GB hard drive and can store video data there. There’s also a USB port in case you want to store footage on external devices, or grab the clip of the guy dancing to the store muzak to upload to YouTube.

But for the price, you get a great and easy way to keep an eye on your business, and with the way things currently are, anything that can prevent loss and keep your accounts accurate is well worth the investment.