When buying barcode scanners does it really just come down to price?

Although price might be the first consideration; functionality, your working environment
and device durability should also be evaluated.

The majority of our customers purchase the ‘mobile computer’ style of scanner rather than a tethered, presentation or fixed device and in this discussion I will focus on this range.

Functionality: this should be a key consideration and geared around your specific business. Do you know the type of barcodes you use or will need to use? How much information do they need to reference as this will affect whether you choose a 1d or 2D scanner?  Do you need a long range capable scanner? Will your warehouse team be 'up close and person' to your products when scanning or will be the item be on the top racking shelf? What size will your barcode and dispatch labels need to be? How much space is there on the product packaging or racking area?  Do you work with refrigerated products? Does your warehouse run 24-7?

All of these have an impact and are important to the efficiency of your business and the processes you use.

Depending on the type of barcode you use, there are 3 main types of scanner:
Laser : Most commonly heard of, this scanner uses a red diode laser to read the spaces between the black and white lines in a barcode. These are the most cost effective option but are only able to read standard linear (1D) barcodes. Typically they read a short distance; from several inches to several feet (depending on the size of the barcode and quality of the scanning engine). There are models that can read greater distances but these are of a higher cost and may well require labels printed on different media (to enhance their readability).

Linear Imagers: Similar to lasers these also only read 1D barcodes but they do this by taking a photo of the barcode from which the code information is extracted. The benefit of this scanner is that the imager is better able to read poorly printed or damaged barcodes and because of this quite often will read barcodes quicker.

2D Imagers: The advantage of the 2D imager scanner is that it can read any type of barcode in any orientation and direction. Which can greatly reduce the time taken to scan a barcode as the user doesn’t have to accurately aim, and the code can be smaller which is an advantage when you have small component parts with minimal space on the package for the code to be located.

Budget:
Typically we recommend devices across a price range suitable for most budgets without compromising on quality and functionality.
Hand helds range from £545 for our entry level Datalogic Memor (suitable for Datalinx IM50) to £625 for our basic Motorola MC45, up to £1500 for the exceptionally rugged Motorola MC9190 long range  scanner

Durability:
Another consideration which affects the purchase price of your new investment is how rugged you require the scanner to be. The more rugged, the more expensive, but you do get what you pay for and a saving of a couple of hundred pounds can seem significant but when you have had to replace several broken devices, the up-front cost saving may not seem such a good investment.

We tend to recommend Motorola and this video gives you an idea of the reasons why!

You may also review how big the display screen  is. If you have very detailed product descriptions and batch/lot tracked items you may want a device with a larger, easier to read screen. Also the smaller the device, the smaller the buttons tend to be and whilst there are many different variations within a model range and you expect your team to be scanning codes and not keying in information, this will still happen and buttons designed to be pressed by child sized delicate hands and not workers with larger digits wearing gloves will greatly reduce productivity.

The differences between a ruggedized and standard model are quite drastic. Rugged units are completely sealed against dust and can handle repeated 6ft drops on concrete. With a rubberized case, they can handle severe mistreatment. Some of them can even be used as a hammer without any problems!


Accessories:
Designed to make life easier, there is a wide range available from trigger grips and carry straps, to extended life batteries, wrist scanners and mobile printers to name a few. Talk to your team, they will probably have an idea of what could make their life easier.