Often times we speak to people that are puzzled about which register to buy. The question is often in regards to which is better; the SAM4s ER-650 or SAM4s ER-5200M Cash Register.
There is no easy answer to that question as they are both great cash registers designed for restaurants. However there are many difference. So lets explore which one has the best features for you. Below I try to point out which machine has the better feature in important categories.
Keyboard: No doubt the ER-5200M has a much bigger keyboard at 117 item buttons.
Display: With question the ER-650 kills the ER-5200M in this category. The 650 features an 8 line LCD display that makes operating and programming much easier.
Printer: Well this one is a toss up depending on your needs. The ER-5200M features a two station printer with both receipt and journal tapes. The ER-650 only has one tape. If you want a journal you use the electronic journal feature. Both machines printers are high speed thermal printers.
Cash Drawer: A draw! They are both the same. 5 bill 5 coin
Kitchen Printer: Features I think the ER-650 wins this feature. Although they can both have a kitchen printer the ER-650 makes better use of modifiers and add-ons
Rear Display: A Draw! They are the same
Credit Card Interface: Draw! Both cash registers interface with Datacap credit card interfaces and Gift Card Interface
Computer Interface: Draw! They both interface to two different computer to cash register software packages
Inter-Register Communications: The ER-650 takes this category hands down. The ER-650 features standard register to register communications that allow program downloading and report consolidation. The ER-5200M does not have this feature
Scale Interface: Draw! They both have it.
Bar code Scanner: Interface Draw! They both have it.
Quick Books Interface: Draw! They both do it using PC Poll Software
DVR Interface: Draw! They both interface to several DVR systems like the Talon DVR
Window Buttons: The ER-650 wins this one. With the ER-650 you can program up to 8 buttons that are windows of items. So maybe you have a sandwich button, you press the sandwich button and a list of up to 8 items pops up in the display, you then choose which item you want by number or by scrolling up and down. Not used often, but when needed it is a powerful feature!
Order Review on Screen/Display: Another win for the ER650, you can review your entire order on the display. The ER-5200 has no such feature you would have to look at the tape.
Selective Voiding via The Display: Again the ER-650 takes this one. The SAM4s er650 has the 8 line LCD display that makes that feature possible.
Programming Ease: Well the ER-650 takes the cake when it come to being easier to program then any other cash register on the market, not just the ER5200M. Not at all that the ER-5200M is hard to program it is just that the 650 is made much much easier because of the display. I have had customers program the machine without ever opening the manual
OK, I know the ER-650 won a few more categories then the ER-5200M, but look at the keyboard size and the fact that the ER-5200M has both receipt and journal. Just those two items can push the 5200M to the best choice.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
SAM4s Cash Registers and Credit Card Interface
Interfacing your credit card payments into you cash register is not only a good idea but it is very affordable these days. The number one reason to interface your cash register and credit card payments to to avoid mistakes in tendering sales amounts in the credit card terminal after the cash register. As an example lets say you ring up a sale on your cash register and it totals $19.49 and your customer hands you a credit card for payment. Know you have to re-enter the $19.49 into the credit card machine. Problem is that is is very easy while in a hurry to enter that amount as $1.49 or 9.49 or $194.90 and in the rush no one notices. Don't believe me? Well then go back and match the sales in your cash register that were paid to the charge button to the amounts on your credit card machine. If you do any volume at all you will find some glaring mistakes. The larger your average ticket the larger your mistakes.
So when you interface your credit card payments in your cash register you can not short change the cash register. The register automatically inserts the sale amount the credit card is be to be authorized for. Yes it is possible for you to enter an amount less then the amount and the cash register will let you do that, BUT the cash register still won't completely finalize the sale until the amount is paid for in total whether by cash, or credit. This keeps your clerks from making those mistakes or at worst they notice right then so they can fix it.
So here is a great source for SAM4s Cash Registers that do credit card interface and here is a link to Datacap Systems who make the credit card interface device that works in SAM4s Cash Registers as well as Sharp and Casio Cash Registers
So when you interface your credit card payments in your cash register you can not short change the cash register. The register automatically inserts the sale amount the credit card is be to be authorized for. Yes it is possible for you to enter an amount less then the amount and the cash register will let you do that, BUT the cash register still won't completely finalize the sale until the amount is paid for in total whether by cash, or credit. This keeps your clerks from making those mistakes or at worst they notice right then so they can fix it.
So here is a great source for SAM4s Cash Registers that do credit card interface and here is a link to Datacap Systems who make the credit card interface device that works in SAM4s Cash Registers as well as Sharp and Casio Cash Registers
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Receipt and Journal
OK, we get this questions over and over regarding cash registers. What is a receipt and journal?What is an audit tape? What is an Electronic Journal?
So lets tackle the Receipt and Journal printer and Audit tape first
What is a receipt and journal? Well seems like a stupid question, but I guess if you are brand new to cash registers maybe you don't know. A receipt is a receipt paper that prints out the transaction to give to the customer. Right everyone knew that! The journal is the 2nd paper tape in a cash register that prints and stores the detail in the register. The journal is often called an Audit tape. The Journal or Audit Tape prints every entry as they happen. It is great to have when you need to research a problem with balancing, solving a overage/shortage, and the like. Normally it will print as you go and wind itself up on a take up reel in the machine. Most people never look at the audit tape, they just take it out and store it for years. They do seem to be seldom used but very useful when needed. Most cash registers these day are not being built with both a receipt and journal (R/J). The common phrases for this style of printer are @ station printer, R/J printer, and Receipt and Journal Printer.
There are machines that will use two ply paper to accomplish a receipt and journal printing. The top copy exits the machine for the receipt and it is usually white, the second or bottom copy remains in the machine and winds up on a take up reel or spool. The 2nd copy or bottom copy is the Audit Tape or Journal Tape. The 2nd copy is almost always yellow or canary in color. It is most often referred to as 2 Ply W/C. This practice is not as common as it was in the 80s and early 90s as the paper is more expensive.
OK, what is an Electronic Journal (EJ)
Well the Electronic Journal commonly referred to the EJ is a method of keeping an audit tape (see above if you don't know what an audit or journal tape is) with a register that only has one tape also known as a single station printer. The EJ is RAM Memory based in the register. Rather then print every transaction on a paper based journal or audit tape. Now when you need to see the audit tape or journal you print the E/J on the receipt tape, or in some machines you can view on the display. Pretty cool and does not waste paper. Again most folks never look at their journal tape and they just take up space in a closet somewhere! However that is not the end of the story! Registers can not store the E/J forever and most can't store more then a day of two worth of business if your store is a busy place. So most registers will overwrite the EJ as it fills oldest to newest. And the one biggee possible problem with an EJ is what happens if your machine dies after a busy day before you have taken reports? Well in that case you are up the creek without a paddle. There will be nothing other then your memory to recreate your sales figures. This would not be an issue with a hard printed journal tape!
But rest easy because modern machines very rarely ever fail completely! It does happen but so does lightning (ok you do have a better chance of your machine dieing then being hit by lightning) but you get the point. Modern machine do not fail nearly as often as machines from a decade ago!
Also keep in mind more stores and restaurants use computer based POS systems these days instead of cash registers with an R/J So that means they are using an EJ on a hard drive. Cash Register memory is more reliable then a hard drive!
Hope all that rambling helped!
So lets tackle the Receipt and Journal printer and Audit tape first
What is a receipt and journal? Well seems like a stupid question, but I guess if you are brand new to cash registers maybe you don't know. A receipt is a receipt paper that prints out the transaction to give to the customer. Right everyone knew that! The journal is the 2nd paper tape in a cash register that prints and stores the detail in the register. The journal is often called an Audit tape. The Journal or Audit Tape prints every entry as they happen. It is great to have when you need to research a problem with balancing, solving a overage/shortage, and the like. Normally it will print as you go and wind itself up on a take up reel in the machine. Most people never look at the audit tape, they just take it out and store it for years. They do seem to be seldom used but very useful when needed. Most cash registers these day are not being built with both a receipt and journal (R/J). The common phrases for this style of printer are @ station printer, R/J printer, and Receipt and Journal Printer.
There are machines that will use two ply paper to accomplish a receipt and journal printing. The top copy exits the machine for the receipt and it is usually white, the second or bottom copy remains in the machine and winds up on a take up reel or spool. The 2nd copy or bottom copy is the Audit Tape or Journal Tape. The 2nd copy is almost always yellow or canary in color. It is most often referred to as 2 Ply W/C. This practice is not as common as it was in the 80s and early 90s as the paper is more expensive.
OK, what is an Electronic Journal (EJ)
Well the Electronic Journal commonly referred to the EJ is a method of keeping an audit tape (see above if you don't know what an audit or journal tape is) with a register that only has one tape also known as a single station printer. The EJ is RAM Memory based in the register. Rather then print every transaction on a paper based journal or audit tape. Now when you need to see the audit tape or journal you print the E/J on the receipt tape, or in some machines you can view on the display. Pretty cool and does not waste paper. Again most folks never look at their journal tape and they just take up space in a closet somewhere! However that is not the end of the story! Registers can not store the E/J forever and most can't store more then a day of two worth of business if your store is a busy place. So most registers will overwrite the EJ as it fills oldest to newest. And the one biggee possible problem with an EJ is what happens if your machine dies after a busy day before you have taken reports? Well in that case you are up the creek without a paddle. There will be nothing other then your memory to recreate your sales figures. This would not be an issue with a hard printed journal tape!
But rest easy because modern machines very rarely ever fail completely! It does happen but so does lightning (ok you do have a better chance of your machine dieing then being hit by lightning) but you get the point. Modern machine do not fail nearly as often as machines from a decade ago!
Also keep in mind more stores and restaurants use computer based POS systems these days instead of cash registers with an R/J So that means they are using an EJ on a hard drive. Cash Register memory is more reliable then a hard drive!
Hope all that rambling helped!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Datacap Credit Card Interface with SAM4s Cash Registers
OK, I get this question weekly. Can I interface my credit card terminal to my cash register. The answer is yes if you have the right credit card terminal. You must have a Datacap credit card terminal. The Datacap products are the only credit card device I know of that interface to cash registers.
So the Datacap products are not the traditional credit card terminal you are probably thinking of. The reason for that is that the Datacap products must have the cash register to work. Unlike the traditional credit card terminal Datacaps have no printer and no keypad as it uses the cash registers. Here is a picture of on of the standard Datacap terminals
As you can see it has not keypad and no printer. It does however have a serial port that connects to the cash register and a phone jack or Ethernet port to connect to either the phone line or the Internet. Yes this can process high speed over the Internet.
So once you have this connected to the cash register you can just put it under the counter and forget about it. Everything credit card related will now happen at the cash register. Once you ring up a sale and press the charge key of the cash register you will be prompted to swipe the card, you swipe the card, the cash register passes the info to the Datacap, the Datacap connects to the credit card network and approves or disapproves the transaction and give the info to the cash register, which then prints the information out on its receipt tape for the customer to sign. All this happens in just seconds and it really a fast process. At the end of the day you can batch for the cash register or have your service set up to auto batch in the middle of the night.
So why would you want to interface a cash register and credit card terminal? The three biggest reasons are speed, transaction accuracy, and security. How and why are explained here
So the Datacap products are not the traditional credit card terminal you are probably thinking of. The reason for that is that the Datacap products must have the cash register to work. Unlike the traditional credit card terminal Datacaps have no printer and no keypad as it uses the cash registers. Here is a picture of on of the standard Datacap terminals
As you can see it has not keypad and no printer. It does however have a serial port that connects to the cash register and a phone jack or Ethernet port to connect to either the phone line or the Internet. Yes this can process high speed over the Internet.
So once you have this connected to the cash register you can just put it under the counter and forget about it. Everything credit card related will now happen at the cash register. Once you ring up a sale and press the charge key of the cash register you will be prompted to swipe the card, you swipe the card, the cash register passes the info to the Datacap, the Datacap connects to the credit card network and approves or disapproves the transaction and give the info to the cash register, which then prints the information out on its receipt tape for the customer to sign. All this happens in just seconds and it really a fast process. At the end of the day you can batch for the cash register or have your service set up to auto batch in the middle of the night.
So why would you want to interface a cash register and credit card terminal? The three biggest reasons are speed, transaction accuracy, and security. How and why are explained here
- You do not have to re-enter the total of the sale into the credit card terminal thus saving time.
- You do not have to re-enter the total into a credit card terminal and make a big mistake (happen all the time) for an example often times a sale of lets say $19.99 could easily be entered as $1.99 and no one will notice. When interfaced to a cash register this can not happen.
- When interfaced you can not run a credit card transaction without ringing up a sale. The helps prevent theft to the business owner and card holder. What happened in the past is a cashier would use the merchant copy of a credit card slip and manually enter the credit card number of the last customer and run it for what ever dollar amount. They then take that dollar amount out of your cash register. When you run the end of day your receipts will still match you sale totals. You would have no idea a cashier just stole from you customer until your customer calls with the credit card fraud.
Learn more about Datacap here and find our more about Datacap terminals and Cash Registers here
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Cash Registers in Tacoma
National Business Systems Inc. (NBS) has been serving Tacoma, Seattle, and the greater Puget Sound Area of Washington State for over 36 years now. NBS's products include Sharp Cash Registers, SAM4s Cash Registers, Digital Dining Restaurant, Aldelo Pro, Microsoft POS, Microsoft RMS, and paper and ink ribbons for all types of Cash Registers and POS printers.
So go to NBS for the best Cash Registers in Tacoma
So go to NBS for the best Cash Registers in Tacoma
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Samsung Cash Registers
So many people ask me about Samsung Cash Registers and where did they go. They did not go anywhere, just the name changed.
While Samsung marketed their cash registers they never made them. They were always made by someone else. So Samsung for whatever reason decided they did not want to sell Cash Registers any longer. So the company that always made them in the first place decided to take them to market themselves and began to sell them as SAM4s. I have no idea why they choose a goofy name like SAM4s but I'm sure they have their own reasons.
So bottom line, same great cost effective cash registers, different goofy name. Check them out here Samsung Cash Registers whoops I meant SAM4s Cash Registers
While Samsung marketed their cash registers they never made them. They were always made by someone else. So Samsung for whatever reason decided they did not want to sell Cash Registers any longer. So the company that always made them in the first place decided to take them to market themselves and began to sell them as SAM4s. I have no idea why they choose a goofy name like SAM4s but I'm sure they have their own reasons.
So bottom line, same great cost effective cash registers, different goofy name. Check them out here Samsung Cash Registers whoops I meant SAM4s Cash Registers
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
SAM4s ER-285M and ER-265M Cash Registers with Free Software
So I heard some sites are charging customers for the software that comes FREE from the manufacture for the SAM4s ER-285M and the ER-265 Cash Registers.
The Cash Register Guys give you the software for free when you buy the register from them. You still have to buy the cable of make your own, but that is still a savings of $99.00 compared to some of the sites that are gouging customers for software that is really free, shame on them.
So to buy a SAM4s ER-285M or SAM4s ER-265 Cash Register check the Cash Register Guys, they treat you right.
The Cash Register Guys give you the software for free when you buy the register from them. You still have to buy the cable of make your own, but that is still a savings of $99.00 compared to some of the sites that are gouging customers for software that is really free, shame on them.
So to buy a SAM4s ER-285M or SAM4s ER-265 Cash Register check the Cash Register Guys, they treat you right.
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