Handheld computers - plenty of options/tradeoffs
We're about to go live with our new Warehouse Automation System. We've tested and evaluated several handheld computers. In the end, we couldn't get the exact configuration we wanted.
First, there's different form factors - gun style, brick style, PDA style, wearable units, truck mounted units, and more. We quickly ruled out wearable and truck mounted units because we wanted more flexibility in deployment than these units offered. PDA units were not rugged enough and did not provide a large enough keyboard - we wanted units that were at least rated to withstand a 4 foot drop onto concrete. We quickly narrowed our search to industrial style units that looked like a rounded brick of varying sizes with or without a pistol grip and trigger. The pistol grip proved to be to bulky and everybody preferred the regular brick-style industrial unit.
The next key option was the scanner itself. There's at least several different types and they vary in their ability to scan at long range and their accuracy. Different scanners from different manufactures also vary in their ability to scan at angles and the accuracy based on different scanning surfaces. One scanner from Symbol has long range and short range capabilities (others are optimized for one or the other) and has great accuracy.
The last big option for us is the keyboard. We wanted a keyboard with separate alpha keys and separate numeric keys.
Other options included bluetooth, WLAN, color/monochrome screen, etc.
But ... although we could mix and match various options to design the ideal unit for our needs, we could not get the high end long range scanner in a brick style unit. The long range scanner is only available in the pistol grip unit. C'est la vie. We'll try them for the next few days and weeks and see if we have to make an adjustment.
The Tipping Point
Winning
