Bianca,

The scanners I am most familiar with run from $125 for the inexpensive up to $3000 for the wireless, REALLY programable models. The differences in cost are apparent in the capablilities: such consideratsions as how accurate the beam is at a given distance. The cheap scanners could accurately scan a well defined barcode label at a maximum of about 6 to 8 inches while the expensive scanner was accurate at 12 FEET. The cheap scanner might misread a poorly printed barcode while the expensive scanner was more likely to get it right. Expensive scanners actually SCAN a barcode by using a motor or a capacitive system to move the beam generator across a mirror which actually "moves" or "scans" the beam across the barcode. The less expensive units will use a strip of light emitting diodes and "flash in sequence" to mimick the scanning process.

I've read specs of scanners rated at reading barcodes from as far away as 16 feet, which would be useful in a warehouse environment where you want to scan a barcode on a pallet that is stored on a rack that's 12 feet above the floor. It's obviously irrelevant if you're scanning a barcode on a document at less than arm's length.

Some scanners are "wireless" in that they produce keyboard input but the scanner itself is not attached to anything via wires. The "base" unit, usually acting also as a charger, recieves the wireless signal from the scanner and passes it to a computer as keyboard input. These units can frequently be programmed to perform various calculations or conversions INSIDE the scanner itself via numerous buttons or a keypad on the scanner.

Then there are the "special" scanners that are more like mini, wireless terminals, such as would be used to enter inventory into an accounting or warehouse management system. They can be wireless, meaning that they actually tie into the network and are acting as wireless data entry terminals. They have to have built-in 802.11x transceivers, so they are not cheap. You can also scan and process information via Palm and Pocket PC handheld computers.....a whole other world of joy....but those are Computers that can scan, rather than Scanners that can compute.

My previous "documentation" statement was a little tongue-in-cheek, although the cheap scanners we had came only with 2 pieces of paper, folded and crumpled, which had barcodes on them used for setting some of the scanners capabilities. Trying to read a crumpled barcode with a cheap scanner provided us with hours of fun.

I hope you find this somewhat useful.

David