So you have chosen to utilize bar code terminals to record order transactions fulfilled in your warehouse. Good choice, but which of the many flavors do you choose from? When people are walking or riding on man-up order pickers I always start showing off the WT4090 wearable terminal from Motorola.

Why? Well as a kid I was a big fan of Space Ghost and I kind like the idea of pointing my hand at a bar code label / evil space alien and blasting it with my laser. I know you young kids think Space Ghost is a Talk Show host on the Cartoon Network, but in my day he was a full-fledged Super Hero!

Symbol WT4000 Series Wearable PDT

Besides my desire to pretend I’m still a kid with super powers, the WT4090 wearable computer is exactly what is prescribed for data transactions in the warehouse. Other terminals have to be holstered or placed down while the person counts out the number of Salt Water Taffy boxes to send to the Cracker Barrel in Pooler, GA.

Holstering a device takes unnecessary time per transaction. When a person sets a non-tethered terminal down, it is sometimes sucked into the same vortex that many of my socks have entered when I put them into my clothes dryer.

The WT4090 is always on the ready. Patiently waiting on your arm as you thoughtlessly use an Exacto knife to cut the top off of a new carton of “I’m with Stupid” t-shirts. It lightweight and has an easy to read color display. The WT4090 has come a long way from its predecessors which had small monochrome screens and weighed as much as a VW Beetle.

Click here to see Symbol’s WT4000 in action.

You always knew when you walked into a warehouse that used the old wearables because some of the women had large forearms and squinty eyes. They kind of looked a little like Popeye after a while!

RS507 Hands-Free Corded/Cordless Imager

The only things I have not liked on the WT4000 Series is the lack of a Touch Screen and the fact there is a cord running along the back of your hand connecting the scanner to the CPU (could be a safety issue).

Both of these shortcomings are now available options on the wearable device. Kudos to the project manager at Motorola for listening to those of us who believe that whining incessantly is a good thing.