The IT3870 is designed for tough industrial use, such as on loading docks, where shipping and receiving of materials requires the freedom to move around, and industry standards recommend the use of linear barcodes and PDF417.   The cordless scanner is ideal for manufacturing applications, such as work-in-process, interfacing to RF LAN based terminals mounted on forklift trucks, tool crib management, asset tracking, inventory control, point-of-sale terminals.
The 3870PDF is designed for aggressive reading performance on PDF417 and MicroPDF417. The 3870HD reads    high density bar codes with dimensions as small as 3 mil., while the 3870LX reads 15 mil. codes out to 18 inches.   
The 3870 offers many advantages over a laser scanner. Its aiming line is brighter than a standard laser. It scans and decodes 270 times per second, about seven times faster than a laser. It can read all common linear bar codes,
plus   PDF417 and MicroPDF417. The 3870 can be easily upgraded when new features or symbologies become available.