It always amazes us what different things the term "bar code scanner" means to different people! To us, it will mean one of the following:

• Tethered or Cordless Bar Code Scanner - A very simplistic scanner that interfaces directly with a PC or terminal through either a cabled or short-range RF connection. Note that a wireless scanning terminal (see below) is a completely different animal!
• Fixed-In-Place Bar Code Scanner - A scanner that is typically permanently mounted onto a fixture and scans bar codes that are presented to it. The scanners you see in large grocery stores and scanners that sit beside conveyor belts and scan passing bar codes on the sides of boxes are two examples.
• Mobile Batch Bar Code Scanning Terminal - An industrial-grade, hand-held computer with a built-in bar code scanner that remotely records data and uploads the collected data in batches to the host system.
• Mobile Wireless Bar Code Scanning Terminal - Identical to the above device, but with a built-in, real-time WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network - "Wi-Fi") or WWAN (Wireless Wide Area Network - digital cellular network) data radio that provides a persistent RF connection to the host system.
• Bar Code Verifier - A device used to check and grade the quality of bar code symbols.