Really liked the form factor for this scanner, but it has three major flaws.
One: it is bright. Could literally hold the button and this would just be a regular flashlight with a little optical/laser reader of some sort. Could probably be used as some sort of self-defense device if the reader was laser based along with the flashlight.
Two: turning off the light means it can't read ANY barcodes. There's a way to turn off the light by finding the online manual for an older revision of this device. However, doing so means losing the scanning ability in dimmer rooms or places with a little less light. I'm not talking about a pitch black room, but if there's any chance of being on the wrong side of the room where something is partially casting a shadow; good luck scanning anything in this mode.
Three: just refuses to scan even with the flashlight mode is turned on. I think each attempt took maybe 3-7 times just to get a scan. I find that I have to hold the scanner maybe 5-8 inches away from a barcode before it scans (can't be too close) and sometimes I have to hold down the button until it reads something (most times it won't). However, I needed this device to scan every time on good barcodes no matter how close I got to the barcode.
The only saving graces for this scanner was that it was very small, it didn't need much setup, and would sometime scan digital barcodes on monitors/phone screens (detection was slightly better than on physical barcodes, but still needed distance). I just wished it worked better than it did.
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