We support scanners from Grabba, Symbol, and Socket in all of our products. On the PalmOs side almost all of our users have a Grabba T-series unit and they work great and almost never generate support issues.
On the PocketPC side it's a different story. Grabba has finally release a unit that works with some HP units, but not all. They current have nothing for the Dell Axim units. Our users tend to be cost sensitive so they buy from Dell because they're less expensive. However when they want a scanning solution, they're stuck. So, imagine our excitement when Socket introduced the CHS scanner (yes this does tie into the thread of the discussion) Unfortunately it didn't work out so well. I made the necessary changes to the software and tested it outside scanning VINs. The scanner itself worked fine. The next week a user who had purchased one took it with him to an auto auction. Big problems. The device would go to sleep before the scanner went to sleep. The user would wake up the device, try to scan, and it wouldn't work. The only way to get it going again was to turn off the scanner, reset the device, and then let the scanner pair with the device again. I spent a few days trying to resolve the problem with some help from Socket. In the end the only way to insure that it would work would be to prevent the device from going into suspend mode. The fundamental problem was that when the BT stack was suspended, it didn't communicate that with the device that was paired with it. Apparently different BT stacks handle the situation differently so I'm not sure what would happen with a Palm device, but your first two items of concern are valid. We never got further than one user so I can't speak to items 3 and 4. One downside to the Grabba is that if there is a camera on the backside of the device, it is covered up. So a two handed solution may be better if the camera is important. The CHS does come with a lanyard. Our users need a class 2 laser or an imager so the cost is about the same. Bill MacAdam -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Douglas Handy Sent: Friday, February 03, 2006 3:23 PM To: Palm Developer Forum Subject: Re: Scanning (was Is Palm OS deing?) Roger, >However their CHS BT laser barcode scanner seems to have much better >potential. It uses a laser barcode reader, so you get far better >scanning functionality. It appears, finally, to be a viable BT-based >barcode reader! And it works with the Treo650. Have you tried using BT scanners in a production environment? I have the following concerns, which may be unfounded assumptions, but make me hesitant it would be viable in the environment where I'd most like to use it. That environment is a sales order process where there could be upwards of 40 people all working within BT Class 1 range of each other and where the time between scans may be enough to have the pda auto-off. Concerns: 1) Once in the trusted list etc, how much delay is there while pairing after first turning the pda back on? If the pda auto-powers off from inactivity, it must pair again before the next use, right? 2) If the pda has auto-off'd, then just trigerring a scan on the CHS will not awake the pda and let it act on the barcode. You must turn the pda back on, let it re-pair, then continue. Or so I'd suspect. 3) If multiple people attempt discovery at the same time, is there a risk one will try to pair with the wrong scanner? 4) Can 40+ scanners co-exist peacefully within range of each other? 5) Usage becomes a two-handed operation: one to hold the pda and the other to hold the BT scanner. 6) It isn't significantly cheaper than direct attach scanners, such as the Grabba T series (which has models for the Treo 650 and others) Truthfully, what I really miss is the Symbol CSM150 springboard in a Visor Prism. For price/performance, it was a pretty unbeatable combination. And Symbol hasn't come out with any new SPTxxxx models, only Pocket PC based scanners. Doug -- For information on using the PalmSource Developer Forums, or to unsubscribe, please see http://www.palmos.com/dev/support/forums/ -- For information on using the PalmSource Developer Forums, or to unsubscribe, please see http://www.palmos.com/dev/support/forums/
