Quick answer: The terminal you need for Odoo depends on a decision you may not realise you are making: how the printer will be reached. Odoo POS runs in a browser over HTTPS, and a browser cannot talk directly to an ordinary ESC/POS printer — so unless you buy Epson's network ePOS printers, you need an IoT layer.
If you take the Windows virtual IoT route — the cheapest, because it uses the PC you already have — that service runs on the terminal, alongside the browser. Specify accordingly: 8GB and an SSD. The NB-POS750 (15.6″ 1920×1080, 4–8GB, mSATA SSD, Windows 10/11) is the default.
The printing decision drives the terminal decision
This is the part that is easy to miss when specifying hardware, because it looks like a printer question.
Odoo POS runs in a browser over HTTPS. A browser blocks requests from a secure page to a non-secure local device, which means the POS cannot simply open your printer and write to it. Odoo's answer is three routes, covered in full in the Odoo receipt printer guide:
| Route | Extra hardware | What runs on the terminal |
|---|---|---|
| A. Epson network ePOS printer | None — the printer does the work | Just the browser |
| B. ESC/POS + Windows virtual IoT | None — uses your Windows PC | Browser + the IoT service |
| C. ESC/POS + IoT Box | An IoT Box unit | Just the browser |
Route B is the one that changes the terminal specification. It is also the route most shops end up on, because it needs no extra hardware and works with ordinary ESC/POS printers — which are a fraction of the cost of Epson's network models.
On route B the terminal hosts the browser and the IoT service together. That is the same shape as Erply's local microservice, and it deserves the same answer: do not specify to the minimum.
The second question: where does Odoo itself run?
Odoo can be used as a hosted service or self-hosted on your own server. This does not change the till hardware much — the POS is a browser either way — but it changes what happens when the network fails, and it changes whether you need a server at all.
- Hosted Odoo — nothing to run on site beyond the till. The internet connection is part of your POS.
- Self-hosted — you need a machine for the Odoo server. A till terminal is not the right machine for that job in anything but the smallest single-till shop, and even there we would separate them.
If you are self-hosting and considering running the server on one of the tills: it works, and it means the shop stops when that particular till has a problem. For two tills or more, put Odoo on its own box.
What to specify
| Component | Specify | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Memory | 8GB | Browser plus, on route B, the IoT service. 4GB is the floor, not the target. |
| Storage | SSD, 128GB+ | Not eMMC — Windows updates need staging space over the life of the terminal. |
| CPU | i3 or better | Rendering a web POS is light work; i3 keeps it light when several things happen at once. |
| Screen | 1920×1080 | Odoo's POS interface has a lot on screen. 1024×768 means scrolling. |
| Network | Wired, and give the printer a fixed IP | Network printing on Odoo breaks when the printer's DHCP address moves. Reserve it in the router at installation. |
Windows or Linux?
Odoo runs happily on both, and the browser is the same browser. Two practical points tilt the decision:
- The Windows virtual IoT route is a Windows feature. If that is your printing plan, the terminal is a Windows terminal. On Linux you would use an IoT Box or ePOS printers instead.
- Peripheral drivers are less effort on Windows. ESC/POS printers and HID scanners are usually fine on Linux, but "usually" is doing some work in that sentence, and a shop is not the place to find the exception.
For a licence-conscious multi-site rollout with technical staff, Linux plus IoT Boxes is a legitimate and cheaper architecture. For most shops, Windows plus virtual IoT is the path of least resistance.
NETBYE terminals for Odoo
| Model | Screen | Memory | Storage | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NB-POS750 | 15.6″ 1920×1080 | 4GB / 8GB | mSATA SSD 64–512GB | The default. Specify 8GB for route B. |
| NB-POS750D | 15.6″ 1920×1080 | 4GB / 8GB | mSATA SSD 64–512GB | Same, with a 15.6″ customer-facing second display |
| NB-POS420 | 15.1″ 1024×768 | SO-DIMM DDR4, 4 / 8 / 16GB | mSATA SSD 64–512GB | Upgradeable memory slot; also the Linux-friendly option |
Browse all-in-one POS terminals.
Ordering advice for Odoo: decide the printing route first, because it decides whether the terminal is hosting a service. Route B → 8GB, Windows, SSD. Routes A or C → you can specify more modestly, and the money goes into the printer or the IoT Box instead.
The rest of the till
- Receipt printer — the three routes in full, and why not to buy a Bluetooth printer for Odoo.
- Cash drawer — fired by the printer; match the voltage.
- Barcode scanner — HID input, plus how Odoo reads weight from a scale label.
Frequently asked questions
What hardware does Odoo POS need?
A machine that runs a browser well. If you use the Windows virtual IoT route for printing, that service runs on the same terminal, so specify 8GB, an SSD and an i3-class processor rather than the minimum.
Does the terminal need to run anything besides the browser?
On the Windows virtual IoT printing route, yes. With Epson ePOS printers or a separate IoT Box, no — the browser is all.
Can I run the Odoo server on the till?
In a single-till shop, technically yes. We would not: it makes the shop dependent on one machine. From two tills up, give Odoo its own box.
Windows or Linux for Odoo tills?
Windows if you want the virtual IoT printing route, which is the cheapest path with ordinary ESC/POS printers. Linux is viable with IoT Boxes or ePOS printers, and makes more sense at multi-site scale with technical staff.
Is 4GB enough?
It will run. On route B, with a browser and a service on the same machine all day, 8GB is the specification we would actually ship.
Why does network printing stop working after a while?
Usually the printer's DHCP lease changed and its IP moved. Reserve the address in the router at installation — five minutes, once.
A note on this guide. The terminal side above — memory and storage behaviour, eMMC versus SSD, screen resolution, fixed IP addressing for network printers — is what we know from the products we supply. The Odoo-specific parts, including the three printing routes and the browser's HTTPS restriction on local devices, are drawn from Odoo's documented behaviour and covered in detail in our Odoo receipt printer guide. The sizing recommendations are our engineering judgement rather than published Odoo minimums. If something here did not match your installation, tell us and we will correct this page. We would rather publish something accurate than something impressive.
Get pricing
NETBYE supplies distributors, system integrators and retailers worldwide. Our terminals are built by our partner factories in Shenzhen and sold under our own model range — we handle specification, quality control and support, so you deal with one supplier rather than several factories. Direct wholesale pricing, low MOQ on first orders, and OEM/ODM covering branding, packaging and pre-configuration.
Tell us which printing route you are taking, how many sites, what quantity and which country, and you will get an accurate quote in one reply — terminal and printer specified together, so the two decisions match. Request a quote.
Related guides
These guides form a set. If you are specifying a complete till, the other hardware for Odoo POS is covered here:
- Receipt printer for Odoo POS
- Barcode scanner for Odoo POS
- Cash drawer for Odoo POS
- Label printer for Odoo POS
And if you are comparing across POS software, terminals for other systems: