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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
General
What is a Groqit?
A Groqit (grock'et) is pocket-dwelling device that reads and remembers
barcode information. It can hold hundreds of thousands of barcodes
and related information and do lookups in seconds.
You use it at home to compile and store barcode numbers from
your music, video, book and other personal collections, then
bring it with you when you go shopping. It can be used to read
barcodes (UPC or EAN) of books, DVD's, games and so on,
which it then compares to its stored lists of what you already
have. It tells you whether or not the barcode you have just
read is something you already own.
You can manually key in numbers that cannot be read due to
damaged or inaccessible codes.
The Groqit can also let you compile lists of items you'd like
to own.
Organize things your way: You can create
your own Categories on your Groqit, and organize things
the way that makes sense to you. For instance, if you only
collect books, but you collect a lot of books, you might
decide to make categories by type of book.
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What Is a Personal Inventory
Management System
The Groqit device alone is a powerful tool for keeping track
of your possessions. With our web-based services it can
do more.
Insurance : You can use it to document the
books, movies, and other barcoded items you own in case of loss,
then present your documented Personal Inventory to
your insurance company for reimbursement.
If you connect to the Groqit web site, you can store a backup
of your data basic of charge, so you have your data protected
even if your Groqit is lost.
Translations: The Groqit web site can let
you do even more than the device alone can. Used with the tools
at Groqit.com, you can translate your barcode data into human
readable form, to help you to know exactly what you have, and
be able to search your inventory in different way (such as looking
for a book by Title or Author).
Gifts: If you have friends who also
use our services, you can share your lists, to make gift giving
less of a hit amp; miss guessing game. If you're a movie
lover, your friends know you already have lots of movies, so
they're not sure if they should even get you one, because you
might already have it. You can let your friends have a
complete list of movies you have, as well as your Wish List!
(See the Member Introductory page.)
Organize, add and edit on line: With
your computer (Mac, Windows PC) and the Groqit web
services, you can upload your Groqit's data lists for translation
into human-readable form, and add that information to the Groqit.
You can organize and reorganize data by Categories and file it
in different ways. You also can add items to your Groqit that
do not have barcodes by looking them up by author or title. There
is a "Notes" section for each individual item in your
collections, where you can enter any information you choose to
type in.
Search your lists in ways that make sense to you: Translating
online gives you enhanced data, appropriate to each different
kind of item. You can search your Popular Music recordings
by Artist or by the name of the CD. Classical music
is different. You might search by Composer, by the name
of the composition, or by the performer's name, and see the
lists displayed under those categories in alphabetical order. If
you collect books, your update will contain ISBN's, EAN's,
and Library of Congress numbers.
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What is the Groqit device?
The Groqit is the major (and only physical) component in a
patented Personal Inventory Management System.
A "Groqit" is a hand-held device that can read barcodes, as
well as accepting information (letters and numbers) entered by
hand, can store barcode and other data in user-accessible data-bases,
and can display this data on a screen. Groqit uses its
screen to communicate data to the user, who can look it up by
using buttons to navigate the data bases, and can also communicate
via a USB port with a computer. Via the computer link
and a Groqit Desktop Application, it can communicate with Groqit's
web site, to look up barcode translations, organize and back
up data and do other useful things. However, the Groqit
device can be used on its own as a portable data storage and
lookup device.
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Why buy a Groqit?
Have you ever purchased a CD or book, gotten it home and discovered you already have it?
Have you ever passed up a deal on a DVD because you thought you had it? And were wrong?
Do you know what you friends are looking for?
Do they know what you want this year?
The Groqit is a complete, standalone, portable solution to inventory management.
The Groqit has a built-in barcode reader. With its 128 MB,
it has more data storage than any barcode reader, consumer or
commercial, on the market. It requires no additional software,
hardware, cell phone or web connection.
A Groqit allows you to organize your items and can search your
lists automatically. When a barcode is read,
the number is displayed. The menus are simple and there are only
five controls: UP, DOWN, ENTER, RETURN and SCAN.
And a Groqit is small. Smaller than a laptop, smaller than
most barcode readers, smaller than a PDA and most cellphones,
Small enough to fit in your pocket along with your car keys,
so you always have it with you.
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What about other sites with free
web services? Why pay for a Groqit?
There are many web services that provide product information.
In many cases, they require the purchase of software,
hardware or both. Some services let you maintain your inventory
on their site. For others, the inventory is maintained on your
computer. Still others only let you look an item up, but you
have no way of storing the information. You still have to carry
each item over to your computer and key in each item or buy a
barcode scanner with very limited capacity and software that
can interface to your computer.
The stored information is either on their site or at home on
your computer. Even in the cases where you can download the data
to a portable device (such as a PDA), you have to own that specific
device already or buy one.
None of them provide a portable solution with a barcode reader
and search capabilities. None of them allow you to scan thousands
of books, DVDs and other items where you have them stored.
And
none of them automate the translation process to the extent
Groqit does. Thousands of translations, one click.
Once you own a Groqit, you own a complete, portable system. Hardware, software and searching capabilities in a very small inexpensive device.
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Is Groqit expensive?
A Groqit costs less than the software for many personal inventory systems. Much less than any other hardware reader available. And it's a complete system, not just a part of one. All other solutions require you to purchase hardware and software and assume you own a PDA or computer. Each of these parts will cost as much or more than a Groqit.
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Using your Groqit
Do I need a computer?
No. It is designed to operate completely independently of a
computer OR a PDA. That makes it portable and in your pocket
when you need it.
It also makes the Groqit a great gift for people that don't
have a computer or just don't like using one, but have large
collections of books, CD's, movies, etc.
However, some of the service that comes with owning your Groqit
we can only provide online. For instance, we can safely store
a backup of your Groqit's data on our servers. The site can also
let you translate barcodes into files you can recognize by Title,
Author, and other details, to organize your data in a more accessible
form.
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Why does it have a USB port on it?
So you can plug it into a computer and make a backup on Groqit.com.
The interface works with MAC OS/X and most versions of
Microsoft Windows.
There are many additional features offered with a Groqit
owner's membership: Automated downloads of title, author and other
details about your inventory. A registry for sharing your lists
with friends.
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Groqit Web Services
Free services at Groqit.com
Though we ask you to register in
order to become a Member, the services on the Groqit site are
free whether you get a Groqit or not. Free services include
the creation as many lists as you want and full use of Groqit Buddy
and Registry features.
You can use the Member Services to look up information
on music CDs, books. Movies and games in our data bases.
The Groqit
site helps you translate barcodes into files you can recognize
by Title, Author, and other details, to organize your data
in the most accessible form.
You can look up individual barcodes and have them translated
to add identifying details you can read, and download the expanded
files to your Groqit.
These additional files allow you to do lookups, on your Groqit,
by author's name, titles, composers, and other orders depending
on your inventories. (For example, if you have a list of book
barcodes, the list is uploaded, we look up each code and then
build Author, Title, Publisher and ISBN files. These are then
downloaded to the BOOKS category on your Groqit.)
You can also use all of the Member Services for creating, organizing
and sharing lists (Groqit Buddies, Registry), do manual lookups,
create new Categories for your Groqit and delete unwanted ones
online. The Registry and Groqit Buddies features allow you to
share your lists with your friends, whether they own a Groqit
or not! Shared Wishlists can take the guesswork out of gift giving.
Sharing full inventories means that you can surprise even a movie
maven with a DVD you know they don't have. (See the Member
Introductory page for details such as what a "Groqit Buddy" is. )
Groqit owners can store backups of the Groqit's data
on our servers (you can store data online even if you don't own
a groqit, but you don't have all the capabiliteis Groqit owners
do).
The constraint on use of the site if you DO NOT own
a Groqit is an inability
to export CSV files. Also, since the download capabilities of the GDA are work specifically with the Groqit device, you can not download inventory files from the Groqit site directly to your computer.
See above " What Is a Personal
Inventory Management System " for details of what the system as
a whole offers beyond the Groqit device alone.
Just For Groqit Owners
We provide unlimited upload and download privileges.
As a Groqit owner, you can restore lost data from
our server, or restore your inventory to a new Groqit,
if your old one is lost or damaged. You can have up to 5 backups online.
The backup function copies all of the barcode files from your Groqit into
a protected area on our server. Backups are FREE. Keep your personal inventory
safe.
You can export your inventory in CSV or spreadsheet formats.
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What's so hot about Groqit's data bases?
First, our partners have provided us with the most comprehensive
databases for music, video and books available. Even the Library
of Congress isn't as complete.
Second, since we host the databases on our website, we can
deliver the data faster. If it is not in our database, we send
bots out to find it.
Third, other services require entering the barcodes one at
a time or do the lookups one-by-one. We upload your entire
inventory (and keep a backup for your convenience), look up
everything and download the results.
Fourth, we sort the information by author, title and composer
and reload it to your Groqit so you can do lookups.
(Where does Groqit Data come from? That and more info here)
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Version Management
Translating your lists of barcodes into "human readable" form can be
more helpful than the numbers alone. It lets you see more than
whether you have an item with a particular barcode. Being able
to look up your Book collection by Titles and Authors (for example) lets
you know if you have something that might be very similar to a book you're
looking at, which the barcode alone can not tell you.
Books can be published many times, as hardcover, paperback, original
and reprints. They get a new barcode each time, and with each new
publishing company. A movie in widescreen has a barcode different
from another format, and a DVD is different from a VHS tape. Sometimes
you want a DVD of a movie you already have in VHS - but some times you
don't.
GDA basics
The Groqit Desktop Application, or GDA is an application that transfers your Groqit's data to and
from the Groqit site securely. It allows you to store backups of your
data on Groqit.com and to upload and download data files. It also makes
a secure handshake between the site and your Groqit to ensure your
collections are protected at all times. Basic information on GDA
and Web Sync is here.
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Limitations
The jewel case problem
Reading a barcode through a jewel case is difficult. The Groqit
is a contact reader. Even though you can see a barcode through
a jewel case, the barcode reader - because of the focal length
of its lens - cannot read it. Early in the development of the
first Groqit, we were faced with the decision: Build an affordable
product that works with everything except jewel cases or triple
our target price. The Groqit is optimized for reading barcodes
on contact.
This is a real problem for people who only collect CD's, because
they will have to remove the sleeve from the case to read the
barcode. The alternative is to enter each barcode by hand, either
on the Groqit or in the Membership lookup area online. This is
reasonable to do for a search, but some people will be unwilling
to do this for each CD they own.
Shiny book covers and plastic wrappers are not a problem.
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Manufacturer's Coupons
Coupons use an extended form of the Price Point barcode that the Groqit cannot read. Your Groqit will read the first section of the barcode, but that only tells us the company and the value of the coupon. The second section contains the details on the offer, but since it contains ten extra digits, the Groqit cannot read it. Your Groqit can only read UPC codes with two or five extra digits.
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How detailed is the data I can download?
The Groqit is a simple device that keeps track of enough information
to uniquely identify the specific books, movies, music, games
and other items you collect. Many items are unique, so that just
knowing the barcode tells you all you need to know. Our translations
are "bare-bones" in
the sense that they don't offer you a huge information dump beyond
those identification basics. (More
details here.)
(Here are the specific items of data our translation data bases provide,
by Category.)
Dedicated collector software from many different companies is available
that is far more detail-oriented . ( More on
this)
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Why the Groqit uses a text-only screen.
The Groqit doesn't need a full color LCD screen, to do
its job. We decided not to spend more of your money
on a fancy screen, so all you will see there is text. This also
minimizes the drain on Groqit's internal resources, so
it allows for faster searches and improves the quality of our
identification methods.
So no, you won't be seeing album cover art.
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What is not guaranteed?
We do not guarantee that the information we supply in the translations
from barcode to "human readable" data will be 100% accurate. There
will always be errors.
We do not guarantee that the Groqit will be able to read all barcodes. It
is programmed to read UPC and EAN codes, only. Some of those codes
will be unreadable due to the materials used for printing. A UPC
printed directly on glass is difficult to read.
Some items are not barcoded correctly, such that even typing or keying
the barcode information in by hand will not work, because only 10 or 11
of the digits will be printed in human-readable form.
We can not guarantee that using the Groqit will actually PREVENT duplicate
purchases. Using the Groqit alone will tell you if you have the same
barcode in inventory, but it can not guarantee that you will not get a different
edition of a book you already own (link to BOOK problems section ). Movies
come out in many versions, and each has its own barcode. Music CDs
are sometimes re-issued, so that identical content aquires a new barcode. Some
times a price change alone triggers a new barcode for a product.
The success rate on Groqit helping you avoid duplicate purchases should
go way up if you choose to take advantage of the Membership
Services, because looking up your collections by Title, Author and so
on lets you see what you actually have much more intelligibly. Still,
even then errors can creep in (see the problems sections (links) for the
kinds of things can go wrong), so we can't promise perfection.
The Groqit uses a contact barcode reader, and this means it can
not read the barcodes inside CD jewel cases.
Food and groceries
Tracking groceries requires both a Groqit and the Groqit.com site.
The Groqit will read the codes on most grocery items, including 8 character UPC-E & EAN-8. We have several 100,000 codes and translations in our database. But, there are several problems working with groceries. Our codes are restricted to pre-packaged, canned or bottled products. Fresh produce, meat and sale items rarely use standardized codes. Barcodes that are painted on glass or printed on clear plastic are extremely difficult to read.
You can enter non-barcoded items on the site and download them to your Groqit and even add expiration dates!
You may have 10 12 ounce cans of Hunt's tomato paste at home, but having the barcodes in your Groqit won't help much if you scan for the "Contadina Tomato Paste 6 oz" that's on sale. Using the site helps with this problem, because we translate the barcodes into something you can read.
Many companies have tried to build barcode-based systems for managing food, even going as far as a web-enabled, barcode-reading refigerator! None of these efforts accomplished much. We suspect they were designed by people that only have beer and corn chips in their kitchens.
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