Barcode scanner

Any recommendations for a barcode scanner and associated software to help me inventory my Bluray and DVD discs?

There are free barcode scanning apps on your phone.

There are standards for barcodes so with a commercial good you should not have a problem getting the serial number.

You don’t really need software but if you’re looking for an asset/inventory solution to use with barcodes then I recommend Snipe-IT.

It’s easily self-hostable too.


@TimHolus you might want to check this out as well if you’ve been wanting to ditch excel spreadsheets.

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I have nothing specific to recommend. I will only share this loose observation from my own CD / DVD collecting experience in the past.

Human-readable labeling!

I used the usual “00000” numbers, go up per cd / dvd.
In excel, I had a simple list of contents per cd / dvd and the corresponding catalog number for the disc.

Without using the reader in a quick and easy way for a human, I was able to find specific data per cd / dvd

In the database I am looking for what interests me and I see that it is on 00123 and I reach for the cd / dvd with this number written.

Sorry for offtop.

I stopped collecting cd / dvd years ago… I never wanted to change excel, especially since I started creating this list somehow in 2001. Later it was a historical event and a habit and I did not mind such a simple solution. :slight_smile:

Now it’s prehistory, a casual story to tell… :wink:

The point is that its not limited to just DVD’s, it can be used for anything with a barcode

Yes, understand that. My story is only meant to signal that it is good to have signs that the human brain can also operate in a simple and quick way. imho

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An app on your phone (or an old, unused phone) is likely the easiest and cheapest way to go.

I have no experience with this use case, and you weren’t very specific as to what features you want/need, but a quick search turned up the following:

Just so the story has an ending, I got one of these from AMZ: WoneNice USB Laser Barcode Scanner Wired Handheld Bar Code Scanner Reader Black. Wrote a script around curl to use the “trial” subscription from https://api.upcitemdb.com/, and Bob’s your uncle, in business. The trial sub doesn’t require a login, but does limit you to 40 searches per day and no more than 6 requests per minute.

you can make your own barcodes as well. literally just lines that represent data.

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