Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

RFID for Laptop Inventory Tracking?

Posted by Cliff on from the knowing-where-your-hardware-is dept.

An anonymous reader asks: "We are in the process of getting new laptops and I was wondering if anyone has used RFID for inventory control of them? Like many places laptops have had a way of going MIA. In an ideal world I would like to be able to get a 'real time' update of where the tags are located. I also would like to know when a RFID tag goes by a fixed location such as a door. What are people's experience both good and bad with RFID? Is this realistic? Where do I start? Had this been done with open-source?"

2 of 47 comments (clear)

  1. Random points by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    1. RFID can be readily defeated (e.g. with tinfoil, or by placing laptop in metallic container), it should not be viewed as a security mechanism.

    2. The current model of IBM thinkpads have an integral RFID option (enabled via BIOS).

  2. Re:Size Matters! by Skater · · Score: 4, Insightful

    My workplace is doing inventory right now. The have bar codes on every monitor and CPU, but not keyboards, mice, or speakers. Laptops have a single barcode on the laptop itself, but none of the accessories.

    It seems to work pretty well. They come in with a handheld bar code scanner, scan the bar codes, key in the branch we're in, and move on to the next cube/office. If the range of those RFIDs is as short as you say, they offer no advantage over old-fashioned bar codes - you still have to get near the equipment to check it.

    --RJ