Been looking around for what might be a simple question but haven’t had much luck. We are really liking the SambaPOS system and are planning for an early 2017 rollout at one of our clients.
What is the best/economical POS hardware for SambaPOS?
Touch Screen (Undecided on 15" or 17" (depends on cost)
Possible All-in-one with i3’s or separate Small Form Factor. (Not a fan of Celeron)
Credit Card Swipe (Integrated or not)
POS printer
Cash Drawer
Anything else we may have overlooked.
Any advice on recommended hardware, Pro’s and Con’s, would be greatly appreciated. Curious to see what others are using and how well they work for you. Constructive Criticism is GREATLY appreciated. And/or links.
Thanks in advance.
Also, to note, this is for a Bar/Tavern. Drinks only, no food as of yet. Two POS site and will have either a 3rd POS to run the main database on and use as a backup should one of the other two POS systems go down.
I only use seperates setups 99% of the time as easier to maintain and allot cheaper.
All my tills are dell USFF 780s which are only core 2 duo and work very well as terminals and small system servers. Have run 5 terminals from one of these as SQL host.
If wanting improvement upgrade to a 60GB SSD on terminals and make server an i3 or higher.
At the hotel that’s what I have with dual ssd in raid on server. Works sweet.
Hmmm, only Core2Duo ehh? So you have setup a system with 5 POSs with one of them as the SambaPOS server? Trying to keep cost down as my client doesn’t want the expense of a separate server. But are willing to beef up one of the system to be used as a backup. Dual SSDs as a drive mirror is defiantly a good thought.
I would recommend a Dell or HP AIO with touchscreen. Add SSD (EVO 850) to computer that is hosting SQL. You can easily run 5 terminals. I have this setup with 5 terminals and it performs flawlessly. Computer that is hosting SQL is used as server and order entry terminal. There is no need to have a standalone server. Setup one terminal to be your backup terminal, so you can easily restore your DB in case your main server stops working.
Kitchen Printer: Always ethernet(never USB) SRP-275 Receipt Printer: Star TSP143
All my installs are refurb sourced via eBay.
That setup was only basic bar system on v4 but is. Busy night club and they have been very satisfied, in fact provided 3 other systems to friends/contacts of theirs after being recommended by them.
I wouldn’t serve a larger v5 setup with a c2d machine if it was taking advantage of lots of scripts etc.
At end of day you generally have to compromise when on a budget.
The units are 3ghz core2duo with usually2-3gb of ram on plain terminal and 4gb on SQL hosting machine.
Hotel had decent budget and make less as regular customer/where I work days paye but that was same machines with 4gb and sad for terminals and a sff 990 I think it was with 8gb ram and dual 120gb sad raid.
That setup has all my PMS scripts on it and runs smooth. Only lag is on API scripts but that’s more down to the extra time of post and receive to PMS API and most is handled using triggers on the headless server not terminals.
If you can budget for i3 etc then do it but I am very happy with the core2duo models which are available at great prices.
I work on basis the savings on refurb go so far as I can keep spares of everything on hand and often offer additional terminals within a given budget where new would restrict number of terminals.
Also had very few issues, think I had a had die on one machine but had more issues with cheap cash drawers kick relay failing than with pc.
Also had fair success with cheaper 80mm Chinese printers, fast and affordable. While expect an Epson would outlive them they are often half or less the price of a new epson.
Anyway you will most likely find a fast 500mbs (BOTH read and write) SSD and extra couple gig of ram will give more performance boost than i3 without those upgrades, at least on terminals.
End of day depends on how big and complex your setup is going yo be.
Must be US model, only get 15 items for touch screen dell on eBay UK (shipped from Uk) and and non auction are twice that in GBP… Shame, could be tidy solution.
What environment do you use these in?
My concern primarily supplying bars would be lack of provision for wet and sticky fingers…
Other than more wires still prefer separates as easier to maintain and replace parts, all in ones are often so expensive to fix when they go wrong it verges on being more economic to replace whole thing.
But if space is issue or open front counter position all in ones do have an advantage…
Minor problem with Surface is they dont have enough USB ports and build-in Ethernet. I need an USB for APC battery, K&M receiver, USB printer. I know I can add a USB hub, but it creates too many attachments and it starts looking messy. Just a clean freak.
That’s where the dock comes in, gives Ethernet.
As for ports… If it was me I’d probably use a hub on single sub to under counter for all that stuff, even with an all in one that’s allot of cables on show semi defeating the clean look aimed at with an all in one. Only my 2 pence.
@Jesse, the dock for the surface is fixed angle isn’t it? I from what I’ve seen the angle on the surface port dock is a bit upright for good use on service counter stood up - although that might just be my 6’3" perspective lol
They are all used in restaurants. Bar/Pizza/Breakfast etc. No issue with getting wet. Touchscreen is one piece. I barely replace or maintain them. I have some Dells AIO running for more then 6 years. I generally never service them. They are cheap. If it breaks it gets replaced.
20"+ is massive though lol.
Have generally used 15 and 17"
Mostly 15 due to price and availability for refurb screens but hotel and some have been 17" and thing it’s a nice size for good size buttons and screen space.
Not sure I could get on with a tablet long term for till as although resolution would be better than the 15" screens I’ve used buttons just end up smaller obviously and a busy bar you want to keep them a decent size to keep things quick and easy.
Table side ordering obviously size matters but again I’d prefer something in the size range of a iPad mini as easy one handed but think the buttons are on the small side.
Expect pmpos will lead to some more tablet friendly layouts with less/separate views for menu and orders a bit like portrait mode. A good combo of this would be great for tablets use.
