Has anyone had good experience with the use of bar code scanning on a PC/Gateway. I've read a lot about MACs but have found limited chat about PCs. Especially regarding the Unitech MS690?!?

There's no magic to barcodes - just look at them as just another font.

The barcode reader is really just an input device like your keyboard, and is often piggybacked onto it by use of a "wedge". All this does is enter the numbers it reads. The effect is the same as if you had typed them in manually. Some readers allow you to program in an action such as a TAB to next field/rcord.

Sorry for the late response, missed the post on the dailys. The MS690 is good because is is easy to program and has a very good manual (IF YOU BUY FROM SNX AND NOT UNITECH!!). The "good" manual and firmware is from SNX (www.snx.com), the Unitech stock manual is an unreadable translation. The MS690 comes with PC keyboard connectors and adapters for PS2 and ADB (Mac) interfaces. It has worked equally well on both PC's and Macs for me.

For most complete automation with FM, you need a scanner that can be programmed to send a Control-1 and Control-2, which you setup to trigger two scripts. Lots of scanners or scanner/wedge combinations will do this. Stay away from serial port interfaced scanners, they require software. Some wedges, like the ones from Symbol will do this, but I challenge you to figure out how from the manual without calling tech support.

-bd