MagTek 21073062 Dynamag Magnesafe Triple Track Magnetic Stripe Swipe Reader with 6' USB Interface Cable, 5V, Black

We recently started integrating magnetic readers into our software - and initially started development with a less expensive reader.We're using them to scan the magnetic stripes on: Drivers Licenses, Credit Cards, and Concealed Handgun Licenses.The first model had fairly frequent accuracy issues; but, since it was the first scanner I had used, I figured that was normal. On top of that, just swiping the card again would give correct results so it didn't seem like a huge deal.When we got to a point where more readers were needed, I decided to grab one of these simply because of the removable cable - but it turned out to be far better for several reasons:1) The accuracy is pretty much perfect! The first scanner probably had a 10% error rate, but this one is as close to zero as we could expect.2) The USB cable is removable and the USB port itself swivels to point out either the side or bottom. That makes it perfect for attaching to a monitor and routing a short cable down the side where it's out of the way. (Double sided tape is also included for mounting these readers.)3) It's very easy to switch this reader between HID and Keyboard interfaces using a tool on the MagTek website. I'll mention more on this later, but we opted to use the HID interface because it integrates more fluidly into our software.4) It seems to be compatible with just about everything.At the end of the day, this is definitely a case of 'you get what you pay for'. It works perfectly - but still isn't crazy expensive.I would definitely recommend giving this a shot if you're looking for a reliable magnetic stripe reader![*** Programming Considerations ***]I know this won't interest most readers; but, if you're looking to integrate this into your application, the HID interface is the way to go. It's a little more work than using the keyboard interface - but the end result is worth it because you can process an entire swipe at one time rather than trying to parse our keyboard character events.For a great example (including a sample for accessing this MagTech reader), just look at the 'mikeobrien/hidlibrary' sample on GitHub.

The first unit that I purchased did not work straight from the box. So I got another one. It worked great for 3 months and then it stopped working. Don't buy it's a waist of money.

This thing not only runs credit cards, it runs credit cards like a the final boss on that video game you never beat as a child. My business has had several first boss level credit swipes. One of them didn't even get 1-hit, it was DOA. Others were confused like a level 5 Pidgey fighting a buff Zubat on Victory Road, like what?! This credit card swipe though...you want it like a fat man wants a toilet after moldy Mexican leftovers forgotten in the fridge way to long but you're broke and just don't know any better because you dropped out of community college after your first College Algebra test. Come on man exponential polynomials really aren't that complicated...On a more serious note. This is the best swipe I have purchased without spending over a hundred dollars. It gets the job done and it is low profile a that. Exactly as described.TL;DR this what you are looking for.

Plug and play....easy to setup. Swipes super easy. It has a green light on it.One star deducted because there's no beeping noise indicating that the card swiped okay.Overall I like it!

I was very hesitant to buy this product as it is the least expensive one on the market however I went ahead and ordered it. I upgraded to the one day shipping as we needed to replace a broken one as soon as possible. It arrived on Saturday as requested and easily attached and immediately started working! I was extremely pleased with this!

This product sold by other sellers has an average rating of less than 3 stars. This cost a good chunk of change where most others are around $20. Pretty much has only worked sporadically then has pretty much quit after a few months of really only using MAYBE 3 times per month. If you have time to swipe over and over and over and over, you might get a reading.

Great Product, Great Prices and Fast Delivery + Happy Customer! This MagTek was exacted what I needed and at a very good price. Product arrived and was quickly installed to a computer and works great. I am very happy and satisfied with this SFT Store on Amazon.

Warning! Some readers are marked as Security Level 3 encryption enabled. This DOES NOT WORK with all applications. This is also not labeled in the description that I can see. Here is the response from MagTek product support:"The Serial Numbers provided are for Dynamag readers that have had the encryption enabled. Those would be marked as security level 3 encryption enabled.Once the reader has been set to security level 3 encrypt, it cannot be reversed. The encryption these readers are performing cannot be disabled once set to level 3. The readers will have to be replaced with ones that are level 2 non-encrypting if your application does not support level 3. You can go from level 2 to level 3, however level 3 to level 2 is not possible. You may want to send these readers back and get ones that are Level 2, encryption disabled."