WHat does a cheap par code reader cost and where do I buy one (USA)

I've just started using an application that has prints bar codes on
documents for data entry. How much does a cheap one cose and who sels
them?


The ones I've seen are serial, but the laptops we are using don't have
serial ports, so I need USB. I assume they are available.



--
Al Dykes
News is something someone wants to suppress, everything else is advertising.
- Lord Northcliffe, publisher of the Daily Mail

Previously Al Dykes <> wrote:


> I've just started using an application that has prints bar codes on
> documents for data entry. How much does a cheap one cose and who sels
> them?

You should look at your next elecronics parts supplier.
Depending on where you live, this will be different.
Farnell (pretty innternational) has one for about 550CHF
(~ 350 EUR/550USD). Distrelec (www.distrelec.ch) starts
at around 185 CHF ( ~ 120EUR/185 USD) for a serial+USB
reader (Touch65-Pro). I doubt you can get much cheaper
than the last one.

> The ones I've seen are serial, but the laptops we are using don't have
> serial ports, so I need USB. I assume they are available.

You do not need USB. An USB-to-serial adapter will give you serial
over USB with a serial driver interface on the software side.
For Linux usage, I have made good experiuence with adapters based
on the PL2303 chip, see here

http://www.qbik.ch/usb/devices/showdevcat.php?id=12

Arno

On Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:44:07 UTC, (Al Dykes) wrote:

> I've just started using an application that has prints bar codes on
> documents for data entry. How much does a cheap one cose and who sels
> them?

I bought a couple of CueCats on eBay for $10 each. These were the
ill-fated 'free' hardware that ended up in a lot of scandal about covert
data collection. Their output is scrambled, but in a trivial way. You
can either fix the hardware, or descramble in software.

They work on a PS/2 port, in between keyboard and PC. That's if your
laptops have PS/2 ports..

--
Bob Eager
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org