jst@cca.ucsf.edu (Joe Stong) (03/09/90)
Folks have been talking about the Casio BOSS and the Psion Organizers... What I need is a device to log start-stop times of my consulting jobs, and maybe a few names and phone numbers. I'd like it to be extremely small, like the smallest of pocket calculators. The only thing I've seen that was vaguely close was a little flat thing by some company like Videx that read bar code, and could log the time that the barcode was read. No display, as I recall, and the real price was about $450, by the time you got the serial interface/charger. Any clues? (Send responses by mail, and I'll post a summary) Joe Stong jst@cca.ucsf.edu
coryc@sequent.UUCP (Cory Carpenter) (03/10/90)
In article 320, Joe Stong (jst@cca.ucsf.edu) writes: >The only thing I've seen that was vaguely close was a little flat thing >by some company like Videx that read bar code, and could log the time >that the barcode was read. No display, as I recall, and the real price >was about $450, by the time you got the serial interface/charger. Yes, it is made by Videx. The bar code reader you're referring to is called the Videx Time Wand. A rather elegant little device, it's about the size of one of the "credit card" four-function calculators. It has a single IR transciever that is used for data acquisition, and for uploading stored data to a PC through the RS-232 interface built into its charging unit. Confirmation of data acquisition is by means of an audible signal. (It's a neat design, but aligning the transciever in the charger unit is a pain in the butt -- I spent a summer doing it, which is why I happen to know about the system.) I always though that it was a pretty good little package, but I've never seen one in use. Perhaps the price Joe mentioned has something to do with that. -coryc -- ______________________________________________________________________________ | Cory R. Carpenter | "The world had never had so many moving parts | | Sequent Computer Systems | or so few labels." | | {uunet}!sequent!coryc | --William Gibson, `Mona Lisa Overdrive' |
jordan@esegue.segue.boston.ma.us (Jordan Young) (03/17/90)
A couple of years ago I installed an 8K timewand in a friend's bookstore for inventory control. It's worked quite well there an the one time it's needed service (new battery) the Videx people were very responsive. The thing is very flexible about the kinds of barcodes it reads and is totally programmable, although I haven't done so. The documentation you get about how to download from it is rudimentary at best but having looked at the TRS Model 100 software they shipped with it, I've gotten it to work quite well with standard PC communications software. Reading barcodes with the timewand requires a little more practice than a standard pen or gun reader, and the barcodes have to be pretty clearly printed (9 pin dot-matrix printers with old ribbons don't cut it - I use a laserjet). Also. for 8K timewand, docking station (RS232/charger), cable, and Model 100 SW I know I paid lessthan $300; I think it was $225. jordan@esegue.segue.boston.ma.us