Handheld device which one you recommend?

@neo_classic2004

Wireless is not well suited for POS. It does not matter what POS vendors tell you. It will work for the majority of the time, but the one time it fails it creates a havoc during a busy lunch or dinner.

Running SambaPOS installed on a Windows 8 tablet is a big NO, NO, in my opinion. It does not matter what equipment you buy. Wireless connection will drop and your order might not go in the kitchen.

RDP setup is more reliable because your are viewing a local session, if connection drops it will reconnect to the same session. This requires major investment in hardware and software. You also need to be an expert in Microsoft Remote Desktop Services. Getting proper licensing from Microsoft is not cheap.

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You can get enough licenses for a basic small business with Windows Server 2012.

Contrary to what I posted earlier I do agree with what you say. What I was demonstrating was in ideal situations for sheer menu speed. I was not meaning to advocate the setup over another setup
 Installing it locally will typically = faster menu response if the network is a nice fast network.

I agree its not the best route for fault tolerance. A strong RDP setup supported by a real Server OS like Windows Server 2012 for example will be the best solution.

There are numerous reasons not to use the Hack method to get multiple concurrent RDP to run on windows 8 or windows 7 but one major potential that I feel is most important is the fact that it could break at any time with regular security updates from Microsoft. I would want those security updates and I would not want to worry that my setup would fail because of it. So far they have not put efforts into fixing it or patching hacks
 but that potential is there.

Here is a great brief on the RDP CAL licensing.

Licensing Windows Server

For 5 devices its around $799 or $159.84 for 1

But there are 2 main types: Device CALs and User CALs. User CALs are slightly more expensive as they allow a user to use any device to connect.

Next version of Windows Server has an interesting feature that I am following.

The new role, tentatively called “MultiPoint Services,” lets you use the
 functionality of Windows MultiPoint Server in your Windows Server 
deployment. MultiPoint Services lets multiple users, each with their own
 Windows experience, share a single computer. When a user logs into the 
shared computer, they will see their desktop – not a standard, shared 
desktop.

@kendash

Hacking Windows 7 or Windows 8 should not even be considered or discussed. It is simply illegal. When installing Windows 7 or 8 you agree to Microsoft licensing.

I will assuming a 10 User/Device environment with Server 2012 Remote Desktop Services.

Approximate Cost:
Windows Server Standard 2012 R2=$800
Windows Server Standard 2012 R2 10 CALs =$270
Remote Desktop Services CALs 10x$102=$1020

Total is over $2000 for just licensing alone. :frowning:


The other alternative to this is to install Hyper-V or Vmware as barebone hypervisior to host Windows 7 or 8 virtual desktops.

Sorry, I am not very well educated on Multipoint server licensing.