Biscount Software recommend the following hardware, peripherals and configurations. This is a preferred list and is not the minimum required. (see the Biscount On-line Shop)
Operating System, Laser Printers, Dot Matrix Printers, Ink Jet Printers, Bar-Code Readers/Scanners, Networking Recommendations, Summary.
Biscount runs well on a computer that is slower than what is recommended, these specifications will give good performance for all programmes running in Windows.
Pentium 1Ghz Computer or higher with:
- 256MB of RAM (Note - 512Mbytes is recommended for Windows 2000 and XP)
- 20 GB Hard Disc Drive (1GB is sufficient for a Workstation computer)
- 15" SVGA Colour monitor.
- Recordable CD-drive (for backups).
- Sound Card with Speakers
- Keyboard
- Mouse, the new type without a roller don't have the problems with dust and grease than the older type do.
We recommend Windows 2000 with SP4 installed (Service Pack 4) for the best reliability and speed. Before installing Windows 2000, ensure that your hardware and software for all devices in your computer (printers, video drivers, etc) are compatible with Windows 2000.
Biscount automatically directs printing to up to 6 different printers for different print jobs. A Laser printer is the best all round printer.
We recommend the Canon LBP300 Laser printer and we use this as our own standard printer. Here are our reasons why:
1. The Canon is very affordably priced (we can supply these- see the Biscount On-line Shop).
2. The Toner Cartridge is inexpensive (under $100)
3. We have never experienced any printer driver problems but have had many customer reports of problems with other brand printers.
4. The Canon is fast (14 pages/minute) and no warmup it will print a page printed within 6 seconds.
5. The Canon is easy to install on a network.
Dot Matrix printers are printers of the past. Although Biscount supports them , it is recommended that Laser printers are used for most printing.
However Dot Matrix printers are still recommended for:
- Bar Code, Label and Name and Address label printing.
- Printing of repairs on Pre-Printed Repair Cards (available from Biscount Software only).
These printers are expensive to run and slow to print. These are not recommended.
Biscount Software use, sell and recommend the Hand-scanner. This scanner plugs into the computer keyboard socket so installation is very simple. (see the Biscount On-line Shop)
Hand-held scanners with either Laser beam or CCD are best. Ensure that your scanner has an 80mm aperture otherwise anything smaller will not be wide enough to scan longer bar-codes. Pen type bar-codes readers are not recommended
Biscount prints its own bar-code labels and reads bar-codes already printed on items. Scanners will speed up Point of Sale very easily. All Point of Sale computers should have a bar-code reader.
The fastest and most reliable type of networking is a UTP Cable network.
Pricing of UTP networks has greatly reduced in the last few years and when configured properly, will run up to 10 times faster than Co-axial cable networks.
Network Protocol Configuration
The recommended protocol is TCP/IP protocol. This gives fast and reliable networking when TCP/IP is set as the only protocol.
Network Card Configuration
Biscount Software recommend the 10/100Mbits network card for UTP networking. (see the Biscount On-line Shop)
These are items we have found to work very well. This does not mean other configurations or brands will not work perfectly well with Biscount. Biscount Software provides these recommendations as an assistance to customers and prospective customers. These are recommendations only and should be acknowledged as opinion only.
