Three major factors will affect your experience reading barcodes:

•Whether the scanner is hand-held or not

•Whether the scanner is laser or not

•Whether the scanner is omni-directional

 

The CCD scanner  illustrated in use below emits a wide, soft red light.  It will typically read barcodes from about 3 to 5 inches away from its head.  

Its primary advantage is its low cost when purchased new.

In that laser scanners are so reasonably priced on eBay, I personally would not buy another CCD scanner.

 

 

 

The Symbol LS4007 shown in the photo below emits a sharp, bright laser beam.  It easily scans labels from 3 to about 14 inches.  However, you need to hold it in your hand and pull the trigger each time.  As explained in the data entry cheat-sheet, ForScore is designed so you can do virtually all score entry with your right hand, leaving the left hand free to manipulate score sheets and the barcode scanner.  I found the LS4007 and a similar LS4004 on eBay.  The LS4007 was $76 plus tax and shipping.  Make sure you buy one configured for USB.

 

There is also a stand available to convert the LS4000 series scanners for hands-free operation.  I bought one for $61 including shipping.  The stand's trick is a little magnet that presses against the front of the scanner, just beneath the lens.  The magnet puts the scanner into always-on mode.

 

 

Below is a hands-free omni-directional laser scanner.  These tend to be more expensive than the models previously illustrated.

 

The scanners illustrated above use a single back-and-forth scanning beam, which you need to orient across the barcode.

 

The scanner shown below uses a more complex pattern.

Your barcode can be successfully scanned in many directions.  This is a  Symbol M2007 "Cyclone" scanner, available very reasonably on eBay.