I hate hardware installation -- even with a fresh system... so many wires and stuff to trip over and wind through and trying to make sure that everything is all compatible. I suspect it is even worse when, like me, you're not actually putting in the POS *yet*, so you have to keep the space for the cash register and all of the "analog" systems at the same time you're trying to set up the new stuff.

I'm likely about a month or so before I even try to ACTUALLY put in the POS -- I'm waiting to hear back from MOBY about what I can expect with the database before I start making with the inventory and all of that. I've downloaded the demo of MOBY from Bitter End, but I haven't installed it as of yet, trying to get all of the hardware pieces sorted first.

I picked a cheap Dell computer (it really was a good price, on the catalog sale), and it's working just fine. What's funny is that, except for the video card, it's faster and smarter than my "home" computer, which is mostly a gaming rig from Alienware. And it cost about a fifth of the Alienware (nearing about 4 years old now... got it right before Ben was born)

Dell's peripherals are damn awful, I have to say -- this keyboard and mouse feel like a child's toy, though the monitor seems decent enough. I'll be getting a new POS-oriented keyboard in a week or so (with a touch pad mouse built in), and that can't happen soon enough.

I picked out most of the rest of my hardware based on recommendations from other retailers on the CBIA, the internet-shopped for most of a week before finding the cheapest vendor.

Some of the hardware I can't precisely test yet -- I've hooked up the receipt printer to the cash drawer, but without installing MOBY, I'm not positive they actually work. Next week sometime!

The first thing you have to do with a new computer is scrub off all the useless software crap they come preloaded with. That's why they're so cheap, I guess -- kickbacks from the software companies.

I also got a regular laser printer from Dell, but I was flabbergasted (FLABBERGASTED) that it didn't come with the USB cable it REQUIRES to hook up to the computer. Next week for that I guess, too.

I've also hooked up the barcode printer, but I don't have the right size labels yet, so setting that all up correctly is going to take some time too. Using the starter labels it came with gave me indifferent results, but they're not the same size as the labels I'll end up using, so I don't want to invest a lot of time in programming it until I get the right labels. That could be today's FedEx, but dunno. I'll begin worrying about that for real tomorrow.

I haven't hooked up the barcode scanner yet, either, but that's more from not being sure exactly where it will finally end up more than anything else.

But yeah, the DSL was easy enough to put in (I can't believe how eensy the modem is!)

Spent yesterday and most of the morning downloading and installing virus protection, firewall, Firefox, then all of the websites I'll want to access from the store with the various passwords. I'm at about 9 hours now, and I'm feeling good about all of that stuff.

Still 9 hours, and POS is still a "soon" prospect, if you see what I mean? At least another 2-3 hours of hardware foolin' in front of me, but its lunch time, then I should get to some "actual store business" (not that this isn't, but you know what I mean -- it feels like I'm "fooling around" by blogging from work)

I'll do one review before the end of the (store) day, I think, but I need to cross off at least 5-6 more items off my "to do list" for today...

-B