The chute-type machine has a lower footprint and fewer moving parts which results in lower investment and operating costs. In general, it is more applicable to well liberated material and surface detection, because a double sided scanning is possible on a more reliable on the system. The applicable top size of the chute-type machine is bigger, as material handling of particles up to  is only technically viable on this setup.
The cost for most average farmers and industry workers is around $500 for the study and ergonomic design of the sensor. The sensor itself is still a prototype not yet built but looking to be approved by FDA around 2003