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How Do I...?
For beginners:
How do I read a Barcode?
The reader only turns on when you are in the correct menu modes and it
is ready to do something with the barcode. If the words,
SCAN BARCODE
PRESS SCAN KEY
or
SCAN BARCODE
ERROR RE-SCAN
are not on the display, your Groqit is not in a mode where the reader
will operate.
Follow the steps in Section 1 of the Quick Start guide Tutorial until
the display says,
SCAN BARCODE
PRESS SCAN KEY.
Press the SCAN button and look at the tip. It should turn red for
approximately 2 seconds. If it does, the reader is functioning.
Here are tips on:
How to hold and move the Groqit to read effectively
How to enter multiple items quickly
What the Groqit can not read:
- What kinds of barcodes the Groqit cannot read
- The CD Jewelcase problem
- Barcodes printed on glass
How does it know to put the Books in the Book category?
It doesn't. You choose the Category before you add,
delete or look up anything.
If you enter DVD's while in the BOOKS Category, those barcodes will remain
in the BOOKS area.
Barcodes are can reveal what country and what company a product came
from, but there are no codes that tell you for sure that a given
barcode is a CD or a game or a movie or a can of soup! Manufacturers
use the barcodes that belong to them to identify their own products in
ways that make the most sense to each company.
If you decide to put all of your barcodes in one location, that is not
a problem. Most people like to keep items separated, but your Groqit
will work either way.
Is there any way to sort the codes later?
No. Our online databases can identify items correctly, regardless
of where you put them, but we do not have a sorting function. One
problem with doing this is you would not know if something has
been moved or where it was moved to.
How do I create a new Category?
This is explained in the manual, here.
How do I delete a category?
You can not remove a Category from your Groqit without using the services
of the Groqit web site. This is a safety feature.
If removing a Category was easy, you could lose a lot of work in a few
button pushes. To remove a Category, you must have a Paid Membership. The
process requires you to run a backup and a Web Sync, then log into your
account and delete the Category. Running Web Sync again will remove
the Category and all of the information in it.
You will be able to restore the data from the backup, until you remove
that backup. At that point the information is gone.
How do I enter items with no barcode?
Adding items without a barcode can be done online with a Paid Membership.
How do I use the Groqit's keys to enter numbers and letters?
This is explained in the manual, here.
How can I name my lists so I know what they are?
Groqit's ability to store a huge amount of information depends on an
underlying file structure (FAT16) that allows the data storage to be divided
into very small chunks. The file names are short as a consequence
of this. There are only 8 characters allowed per Category name
We suggest naming conventions that you can easily decipher, such as starting
a wish list with w, so you might have a "WBOOKS" list and a "WJOHN" list
for, respectively your list of books you want and John's wish list. If
you have a lot of lists, you can use "B" for books lists, "M" for music
lists, "V" for video lists, "G" for games. You might then see a list
called "WBSCIFI" and know it is your Wish-list of Books of Science-Fiction,
and "WJBSCIFI" and know it means the Wish list of John for Books of Science
Fiction.
If you create list names on the Groqit web site, be warned that the longer
list names will be appear to be truncated when they are downloaded
to your Groqit. If you look on your Groqit, you will see a Category of
HOUSEH~1. It is actually HOUSEHOLD and will display properly on your computer
or your account.
Adding Categories using the Groqit itself cannot use more than 8 characters
and we have built that limit into Configure new Category.
Be aware that once you have created a Category on the Groqit, you can
not delete it unless you go online and use the tools at Groqit.com. (This
is a safety feature to prevent accidental deletion of whole
Categories!)
How do I look up items I have stored on my Groqit?
If you're in a store, wondering whether you have something already, you
can use CHECK function and your Groqit will tell you whether it has that exact
same barcode in inventory or not.
Other options:
Non-subscriber
If you want to look for a particular barcode manually (and you are not
a subscriber), you can use the buttons to scroll up and down through numbers
to see if they are on your list. (Link
to directions in Manual for this)
Or you can key a barcode manually, using the "Manual
Keypad"
to enter numbers for the barcode you want to check, to see if
it is on your list. When keying a barcode, you have to enter
all of the numbers, because your Groqit will validate the barcode.
Subscriber
If you are a subscriber and have performed a Web Sync, you have stored
translations and barcodes. You can look up information by scrolling
to a list you want to search, then pressing ENTER and deciding
whether to search by Title, Author, or Barcode (for instance).
Entering a couple of letters (or numbers) and pressing the ENTER button
will cause the Groqit to show you items starting with those letters.
Then you use the scroll buttons to take you to the right place
on the list. For barcodes, you will not need the entire barcode.
(Link to more detailed
instructions in Manual)
How do I read barcodes into my computer?
Your Groqit is a self-contained inventory system. You take the Groqit to
your collection, rather than dragging each item over to your computer for reading.
It reads data into its own files. These files can be read by most personal
computers, but the reading process itself will not communicate with your computer.
How do I enter CDs?
Reading a barcode through a jewel case is difficult. Early in the development
of the first Groqit, we were faced with the decision: Build an affordable product
that works with everything except jewelcases 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. 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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