Note to self re: barcode scanners

I'm sure to forget this, so I'll write it down here, for when I implement the roster barcode scanner part of the rostering system for college. Via Joel on Software's article on How to Ship Anything:

"I didn't really know which barcode scanner to buy, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find any online reviews of barcode scanners. I did find out that the kind of scanner I wanted was a USB keyboard wedge scanner. That means that it has a USB port, which makes connection simple, and it behaves exactly like a keyboard as far as your computer is concerned. I also found out that I wanted a laser scanner, not a CCD scanner, because it works at a distance. I ended up buying a Wasp WSL-9000 along with the stand which you can see in the picture. So far it's been great.

Setting up the barcode reader was the easiest thing in the world. Plug it in to a USB port, and you're done. It comes with a whole book of barcodes that you can scan to configure it to behave in many interesting ways, which you can throw away. Without any setup, when you scan a barcode, your scanner will type the letters that barcode represents on the keyboard and press Enter."

According to Google, though, that's the only place on the web that refers to that scanner as "Wasp WSL-9000", so search for Wasp WSL 9000" (no dash).

And get the one with the USB cable.