Reddit mentions: The best pos equipment

I think you have several options:

-You could set up an account on LibraryThing and use that to "store" your catalog. It is a searchable database that would be available online to your community members. They would be able to see what you have available and write reviews. I believe it is free up to 250 books and relatively simple to use. To use it after 250 books, you just pay $25 for a lifetime membership. You could even use LibraryThing to check out books. There are two "comment" fields when you edit an item. One is for
public comments and the other is for private comments. If you structured your comments like:

Public Comment: Due 6/9/11

Private Comment: Doe, J. 555-5555

You could search comments by the keyword/term "Due" and find out which books needed to be returned and then only you, the LibraryThing administrator who had the log in information, would be able to view the patron information and contact them to get your item back. If you used LibraryThing you could also purchase CueCat Barcode scanners for around $15-$20, which would make it easier to search your catalog when "checking out" books.

LibraryThing has a lot of neat features. I would suggest making an account and getting familiar with it so that when you start adding books it is a piece of cake.

-There is software available called Collector that allows you to scan an item into a database and enter information about each individual scan. This software is not free and it requires you to purchase a scanner (so that it can read the13 digit ISBN number that identifies each book), but you can share it with your community via a posted link to the database. One of the good things about this software is that it will give you both Dewey decimal and Library of Congress call numbers, making it easier to catalog on the shelf.

-You could use Microsoft Excel spreadsheets or Microsoft Access to create a database of books. Both databases would be searchable, but it would be very difficult to make them available to the public. You might think of using Microsoft Excel or Google Documents (spreadsheets) to keep patron information so that you could search for an individual using their identification.

Of the three, I would suggest using LibraryThing as it has several key
features that make it better for smaller libraries. Depending on how many books you end up adding to the library, you would want to make sure that it was organized in a way that made it easy (and less time consuming) for both you and your users.

You can shelve books a couple different ways

• Authors last name
  
• Title of the book (excluding The, and A)
  
• Keyword catalog (looking at a list of Dewey classifications: http://dewey.info/ would help you organize your shelf in this order)
  
• Shelf list is used when you have your own system. A separate list would be kept and updated as items would be added. (An example could be Year+Author, Date Added to the Collection, Color Coding)
  
  Hope this helps!

I've never taken one apart, nor have I really put hands on one - I'm just spitballing the things that seem logical given the little I know about PCI compliance standards.

There has to be some way for a shop owner to replace the card reader fairly easily - I think generally they are purchased with the encryption keys pre-loaded by the manufacturer, or maybe by the transaction processing company. This one has remotely-programmable keys, it seems. This other one has a review stating:

>Credit card processing company wanted a boat load of money for a new terminal, found this one here on Amazon for much less.

That would imply to me that the encryption keys are either remotely programmable by the processing company, or the keys are standardized. Remote access of a credit card terminal to change the keys seems pretty unlikely to be compliant, but it did show up in that first reader (unless I read the specs wrong).

Regardless, the devices seem pretty replaceable. Affixing a skimmer to the inside of the device seems pretty feasible - you just need to tap in before the data is encrypted.

There might be some sort of tamper switch on these as well, though. I just now remembered helping with compliance for one company that had mobile card readers - every time they got dropped or ran out of battery they would have to be sent back to the manufacturer to have the keys reprogrammed. Opening the device might wipe the key (again, depending on the model). There definitely are some card readers available without a tamper switch.

I started using checkout at the beginning of the year. It is a decent program. We do phone repair, so are SKUs are in the couple of hundreds. I would say it is a great deal for $500. I would definitely take as many notes as you can in the first two weeks and give them a call the third week to have them straighten out all of the kinks. Phone support is only free the first month and $30 a month after that, optional of course. I saved quite a bit of money by buying the hardware from Amazon, only needing the cash drawer and receipt printer. The [barcode scanner] (http://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Barcode-Scanning-Bar-code-Adjustable/dp/B00406YZGK/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1368482901&sr=1-1&keywords=barcode+scanner+usb) is cheap enough if needed.

This is the one that I am using: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00406YZGK/

I started with the one linked above by u/K1ngN0thing, but I like the one I just linked above as it will automatically scan items when you place them in front of it. It has a motion sensor that detects the item, and you can press the trigger as well if you don't want to use that feature. I have used several, and this is my preference for the price.

If you wanted to see any of the other tools I am using for my FBA business you can find them here: www.onlinesellingexperiment.com/resources. I will say upfront that some of the links are affiliate links, but they are all products that I personally use, and if you have any questions on them I would be happy to help.

How long does the upload at the beginning of the day before you go out take?

Is this the right item for android? $200?! https://www.amazon.com/KDC200-Laser-Barcode-Scanner-Bluetooth/dp/B008S2R3WU/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_229_tr_t_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=K1VV12X2VFE7C39Y8KVF

It sounds like this is an information compiler, not just a normal price scanner. If it's giving you information from many places it sounds like it.

I do have inventory lab. WHat are you paying monthly?

I dig free trials, and I guess I could use a scanner and return it within 30 days if it came down to it. That is enough time to see if we would find benefit. One reason we don't do books or cd's as much now is due to so many fails before a good hit. If this is near instant that does open up a few other strategies to use at places.

We also have a few places with bad reception and this seems to solve that problem too. Definitely a few things to think about.

Quick tip if you're a routine gift card checker: Almost all gift cards are magnetic swipe cards and you can input them into a computer with a swipe card reader. These plug into a computer via a USB and emulate a keyboard such that when you swipe a card, the card's information is entered into whatever text field you have selected. Instead of typing out the numbers on the card by hand, you can swipe the card through the reader and the numbers will be automatically entered through the computer.

What took maybe thirty seconds before can be sped up to less than one second.

They're also pretty cheap.

On a related note, you can get USB barcode readers that function much the same way. This can help you find obscure products online, books, and (my own favorite use for it) read barcodes on computer parts and batteries.

If you have physical media I'd treat them like books and use something like LibraryThing or iTrackMine for inventory. Most of these programs are web-based and have mobile versions so you can check your collection from anywhere. Best of all, they have robust databases so you can ususally just scan the bar code on the item (book, CD, DVD, etc.) and the fields will self-populate. I have about 6K books and while I don't have them all online yet I can do a hundred in about an hour. I bought a USB barcode scanner for about $20, so I can just take a shelf of books at a time, scan them into the laptop, and add notes before saving. I do the same with CDs, DVDs, LPs, and other media.

Can anyone recommend a good cheap card swipe scanner to use for tracking gift cards without having to type all the info in?

Found this one on Amazon which got an A from a FakeSpot but prefer churned recommendations to Amazon reviewers.

MSR90 USB Swipe Magnetic Credit Card Reader 3 Tracks Mini Smart Card Reader MSR605 MSR606 Deftun https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DUB4GVO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_D3g4BbRQSR2RF

Only done a few minutes research for you but I think if size is the problem your best bet is this 24" U24E850R - That's 4K though and about £350GBP

The only 1440P one I've been able to find so far is the ACER H277HU which I THINK has the support you need, worth confirming this one though.

I think what I'd do is use something like this DELL dock which my mum uses to split from USB/Thunderbolt to HDMI

> On my 6th FBA shipment now and already feel like I want a barcode scanner to go with profit bandit. I figure the sooner I get it the faster it pays itself off just like my dymo but 300$ for that one scanner everyone seems to use is crazy.

Buy a $50 commodity gun scanner.

I use this one, there are 100000 PL versions that are all identical. I'm not selling this one, so feel free to buy from someone else.

You aren't a spy. No one will care you have a gun format scanner, and it'll be faster and easier to use. Good luck.

https://www.amazon.com/Xcellent-Global-Wireless-Bluetooth-Automatic/dp/B00W92Y2AQ/ref=sr_1_27?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1467923775&sr=1-27&keywords=bluetooth+scanner

you don't need a breadboard or any external circuitry. a usb card reader shows up like a keyboard, typically. some of the super cheap ones show up as serial devices that transmit the card data.

what you Need: information, first. how many tracks of data are on your ID? what track has the ID number that you're going to use? if you're doing it as a project and you've got a sign-off on it, ask your school IT department. someone there should know, hopefully!

Then you need a USB card reader that reads the number of tracks your card contains.

a Pi of some sort, and then you're just filtering and processing text. you could probably write it in bash, if you felt like it. I'd use python, but you should be able to use any language capable of listening for keyboard input.

edit: you don't even need to worry about tracks now, https://www.amazon.com/ETEKJOY-3-Track-Magnetic-Stripe-MagStripe/dp/B01N4L19CR/ref=sr_1_3 3 track readers are under $20 on amazon. =)

We purchased one of these super el-cheapo ($52) wireless scanners off of Amazon, and staff love it, they want more and more and more of them. They say that it scans significantly faster than our normal scanners. And they like not having a tether. You can turn them into stand alone, store only scanners for inventory. The downside is that they cannot detect when they are in a stand, to switch from trigger mode to barcode detect mode. So they don't work great as a front desk scanner.

https://www.amazon.com/Inateck-Wireless-Automatic-Handheld-Rechargeable/dp/B00IOGSZ04/

i've been thinking about getting a scanner, how is that one better than one like the CT-20 Mini Portable Wireless Bluetooth Barcode Scanner? Is it because thats the only model that works with profit bandit?

I've done some work with corded barcode readers before. Units like this. They basically plug into a USB port and mimic a keyboard. Scanning a tag (to the computer) is the same as typing the barcode in from a keyboard, so you'd probably need some sort of software or configuration to make it useful for your purpose. There are cheaper versions and from what I recall, most of these will read any standard barcode (and there are like 20 standards).

Well, if you decide to go that route, this is the one I bought. It worked quite well. :) $30

http://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Barcode-Scanning-Bar-code-Adjustable/dp/B00406YZGK/ref=pd_sim_op_3

A previous company I contracted with had usb magstripe/id barcode readers for some customer facing rewards software. The barcode scanner would verify their age, and the scanner input their rewards info.

I was bored and swiped my debit card. The CVV was there, as well as my full name, billing zip, and the card number.

The scanner was one of these for reference.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seven-OceanS%C2%AE-Emergency-food-rations/dp/B005ARF3PA

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I've had these before, they are pretty good.

My work had the MC9000 or MC 9060 like these. They were running some old windows versions and were all in black and white visuals. Then they had some newer ones they tested for a few months either the MC9190 or MC9200s like these.

The newer one had better wifi, better cpu/ram, better laser system and were in color. But for whatever reason they went with the TC75 instead (just with handle attachments). And sent away all the MC series ones they still had.

Its better in almost every spec department and the batteries being able to charge in the machine like with a phone is a big plus but the loss of buttons is a big detractor in my opinion. The OS is the exact same so the layout isn't an issue. I've just never been a fan of touch screens for typing, I'm always hitting the button next to what I wanted as my fingers are a bit bigger than average. And the way the keyboard/numpad pops up in the screen it tends to cover up some functions. So I'll be typing in something, then need to press ALT which is now covered. So I have to press back to get the keyboard to go away and then I have to bring the keyboard back up to keep going. When there were tactile buttons, after a few years, I was at the point of knowing where buttons were and being able to type in numbers without looking. It was so much faster.

No experience with the opticon but I picked up a Socket 7Ci and while pricey, it has been excellent; long battery life, small enough to throw in my pocket, pairs instantly with phone and laptop.

Mapquest has an optimal route planner that I use after finding locations on google maps or via a store "locator" page (e.g. Target's store locator feature, etc.).

We use [this one](UPGRADED 2 in 1 1d Laser USB 2.0 wired + Wireles Bluetooth Barcode Scanner for iPhone iPad Android Tablet PC, Support Mac OS X, Android, Windows 10 an https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ERUJ6ZE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_shsMUarsyUROt) in our warehouse. Everyone seems to like it.

I am...Scan Man! I shall evaluate your worth and help you budget your grocery shopping!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00406YZGK

I have this one. It works great.

The phone is hooked up to this scanner. Link below. So yes it does need to detect data as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Esky-Handheld-Automatic-Long-Range-FG-WX2800/dp/B00EIBRXXE/ref%3C/span%3E%3C/pre%3E%3Cspan%20class='ellipsis'%3E...%3C/span%3E%3Cpre%3E%3Cspan%20style='display:%20none;'%20class='hiddenText'%3E=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1397488744&sr=1-5&keywords=Wireless+Cordless+Handheld+Barcode+Bar+Code+Scanner+Reader+Kit.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006LVO56W/

Scanners like this one are a dime a dozen. The computer sees it as a keyboard. I've even hooked it up to my phone on occasion.

It makes a huge difference while running inventory, or swapping tapes.

Or shop at a normal fucking place like Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/CueCat-PS-Standard-Barcode-Scanner/dp/B0006SJTOY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345781022&sr=8-1&keywords=cuecat

actually i didn't figure it out my comments are out of order. i figured out i needed the code from the link you sent. but i can't figure out how to use that code. Its a cheap esky scanner from china. i believe this is the one https://www.amazon.com/Esky-Automatic-Adjustable-Supermarket-Warehouse/dp/B00406YZGK/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=esky+barcode+scanner&qid=1564683115&s=gateway&sr=8-3
Guess i will contact them and see if they can help.

Just looked at Amazon and they have a four-star scanner for $26. That might help you out.

Oh man, you should try http://www.collectorz.com/movie/freetrial.php

It cost 25 dollars for the program and there is an app ( http://www.clz.com/movies/ ) to sync with your phone and I bought a 26 dollar bar code scanner ( http://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Barcode-Scanning-Bar-code-Adjustable/dp/B00406YZGK/ref=sr_1_1?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1382508376&sr=1-1&keywords=black+usb+bar+code+scanner ). Cataloging has never been easier! So glad I discovered it!

I believe some people use this one on here. USB Automatic Barcode Scanner Scanning Barcode Bar-code Reader with Hands Free Adjustable Stand (Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00406YZGK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_rMjHwb8HATBV7

Honestly, unless you are trying to do this as a project to learn, you are going to save an incredible amount of time (and maybe money) by buying an off the shelf usb barcode scanner for $20. These scanners work as input devices, like a keyboard, and require no programming to get started. You may want to add a little code to restrict where it can input data in your program, but otherwise it is a very simple application.

Not so much . . .maybe the people that make the door locks use something special and charge more for them.

https://www.amazon.com/MSR90-Magnetic-Credit-Reader-Deftun/dp/B01DUB4GVO/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_147_bs_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

One of these: https://www.amazon.com/Inateck-Wireless-Automatic-Handheld-Rechargeable/dp/B00IOGSZ04

Not sure what you are using for ticketing/boards but most of them (Solarwinds/Connectwise/Spiceworks) have some sort of Asset Mgmt. Create configs and plop in the barcodes.

Get extra fancy and make your own barcodes with a barcode printer (https://www.newegg.com/Barcode-Label-Printers/SubCategory/ID-3031) and stick barcodes on everything.

Then when that one switch dies, instead of having to try and figure out which config has the credentials for that switch or which config has the latest backup config, just scan the thing.

This is the one I use: http://www.amazon.com/UPGRADED-Wireles-Bluetooth-included-keyboard/dp/B00ERUJ6ZE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416893723&sr=8-1&keywords=teemi+bluetooth

I use it paired to my iPhone when sourcing and via USB when listing with my laptop. Easily paid for itself in labor savings.

I would venture to say that you are spending significantly more than you would need to on a point of sale cpu.

This would totally get you by with a USB pci expansion card:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B01L7UOCW8

It ain't pretty, but I'm trying to show that this doesn't have to be pricey.

Also, why 200 on a barcode scanner?

https://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Barcode-Scanning-Bar-code-Adjustable/dp/B00406YZGK

I have used these $20 ones and they work just as well as the expensive ones Uline used to sell us.

The receipt and label printers are right on though. Gotta spend the dough for those.

We used a barcode scanner like this one. Just have the cursor on the file name part and scan the barcode and it will type it out for you automatically.

As for the crop part, unfortunately I don't know how to do it as part of a preset. I would usually just sync the crop at the end of a session, takes less than 5 seconds at least.

There has to be something similar available:

http://www.amazon.com/UPGRADED-Wireles-Bluetooth-Barcode-included/dp/B00ERUJ6ZE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396272201&sr=8-1&keywords=bluetooth+scanner

That's about 65 euros each

This just made me scream internally as a CyberSec graduate.

There are card readers that you can buy as low as $16 that give you the full number of the card as if you were paying at a store. Don’t do this. At all. Even if it is cool. Follow /u/hat_like_dad’s advice.