Zebra DS3600-KD - A Barcode Scanner with a Screen
By: Colton Redtfeldt - 5/6/2022

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Are you looking for an industrial barcode scanner that can do more than scan barcodes? The [Zebra DS3600-KD might be the way to go][1]. Equipped with a 2" color display, a suite of pre-built applications, and powerful fleet management tools, the 3600-KD brings value to every level of user in any warehouse setting.

<h3>Appearance</h3>
The DS3600-KD features a 10-key numerical keypad with some extra buttons for an enter key, backspace, 
 navigation arrows, and then a programmable function button and a button to convert the keypad to alphabet mode. Above all that is your 2” full-color and backlit display.

<h3>Durability</h3>
Zebra notes that the 3600-KD can survive 10 ft./3 m drops to concrete and about 7,500 tumbles. That’s an upgrade from it’s non-screen-equipped brother the DS3608 - which was rated for 8ft drops to concrete and about 5,000 tumbles. Comparing that to similar screen-equipped scanners on the market, it’s for sure a competitive product. It’s closest competitor caps out at 8ft and doesn’t actually rate for tumbles.

Environmental sealing wise, The 3600-KD also features an IP65 rating, which means it’s 100% dust tight - which is great for manufacturing environments, and can withstand being sprayed with water. [We put all of this to the test in our video review here][2].

Another cool thing about this scanner is that it’s one of the few we've seen that has a cradle with an IP65 rating as well. The cradle also features industrial charging contacts that can withstand 250,000 insertions.

On the topic of cradles it’s only natural to bring up charging. This unit can do about 60,000 scans - or about 16 hours - with a full charge. That’s 10k less than it’s non-screened counterpart and about 20k less that it’s closest competition. So the big question there, then, is how much is the unit getting out of each of those scans to compensate for that difference?

<h3>Scanning</h3>
The DS3600-KD is equipped with a 1,280 x 960 pixel scan engine which is a slight upgrade from the DS3608 and it’s closest direct competitor - both of which capped out at 1200x800 pixels. PRZM Intelligent Imaging technology. This is going to give it a leg up when capturing really problematic barcodes — particularly ones that are dirty, damaged, poorly printed and under shrinkwrap.

Practically, that translates to being able to scan from about 7 ft. or 2 meters away depending on the mil spec for the code you’re scanning. Compared to some of it’s direct competitors, the DS3600-KD beats them out by at least a few inches on the far end. With that noted, the DS3600 does feature a slightly smaller field of view that it’s competitor - both horizontally and vertically - but the skew angle tolerance is better by about as much so in that regard, so we can chalk that up to a draw

<center>![enter image description here][3][600][]</center>

<h3>Built-in Utilties & Applications</h3>
Another cool feature this scanner has is Multi-Code Data Formatting. With this feature, it can scan all the barcodes within a label, with one trigger pull, and then modify and transmit some or all of them to your host application. [Click here to find Zebra resouces that go into more detail on MDF][4].

The DS3600-KD also comes with five pre-configured applications that were built with warehouse management and manufacturing in mind. These tools will need to be pre-configured to work with your software ahead of time - so don’t expect an easy drop-in solution. I’m going to quickly go over each of them here.

<centeR>![enter image description here][5][600][]</centeR>

Also note that there is a software development kit available for this scanner so if the applications pre-loaded won’t meet your needs, you can custom build one that’s going to do everything you need to do. This can be a pretty complicated process, however, so it’s not something that your general IT manager is going to be able to work on without a bit of learning curve.

<h3>Device & Fleet Management</h3>
One big advantage that this scanner has over it’s non-screen scanner counterparts is a whole host of integrated device and fleet management tools aimed at reducing loss and downtime.

The first big feature is a Virtual Tether tool that will will alert users when a scanner is taken beyond its Bluetooth range or left out of the cradle for a predefined length of time by beeping and flashing both the scanner and cradle. This is great if you an employee or customer accidentally take a scanner from self-checkout or have a warehouse worker leaving a scanner behind on a pallet.

Another cool business management tool that this unit has is something called ScanSpeed Analytics. With this tool, the scanner will report back detailed metrics on every barcode captured from your fleet of scanners — enabling you to identify poor performing barcodes that slow down your operations.

Finally, IT Managers will be happy to hear that this device has some built in Remote Diagnostics capabilities to automate the recording of scanner asset information, health and statistics, configuration settings and barcode data — this gives you the information needed for event verification, blockchain traceability, pilot site ROI generation, troubleshooting and predictive fleet-wide trend analysis.

So with all those features noted, I think it’s probably a good time to give my overall impression of this scanner. I think that it’s a solid and durable unit with a pretty good scan engine. It’s power really comes from the tools and utilities that can really make your business more efficient, and your employee’s happier, but you’ll need to do some work up front to get everything setup and this device is for sure not for a small business or beginner. You’re going to need someone with some technical experience to get this started and even then you’re probably going to need to work with someone who has some in-depth understanding of barcode configuration to get the most out of this unit. If you have the capacity to do this work up-front, then this scanner is for sure going to make back that time in gained productivity and efficiency. And it’s powerful set of fleet management tools is going to make any IT Manager happy.

If you’re looking for a more out-of-the-box solution that doesn’t require a lot of setup, there might be a better solution for you. If you fall in that camp, please give us a call and let us know what you’re looking to accomplish. We can help build a solution that will meet your needs.

[1]: https://posguys.com/industrial-barcode-scanner_53/Zebra-DS3600-KD_3911/
  [2]: https://youtu.be/pdhfweZVov8
  [3]: https://posguys.blob.core.windows.net/content/images/blog/79004/DS3600-KD%20Decode%20Range.png
  [4]: https://www.zebra.com/us/en/products/software/scanning-systems/multi-code-data-formatting.html
  [5]: https://posguys.blob.core.windows.net/content/images/blog/79004/DS3600%20Apps.png

Zebra DS3600-KD - A Barcode Scanner with a Screen By: Colton Redtfeldt - 5/6/2022

Recent Posts By Colton Redtfeldt

Zebra DS3600-KD - A Barcode Scanner with a Screen
By: Colton Redtfeldt - 5/6/2022