Disto With Bluetooth?

[CNYAppraiser]

Good evening everyone.

I have been using my phone with Total for Mobile along with my Disto D5 for appraisal inspections. I upgraded to a Samsung Tab S4 for various reasons. So far, so good and I enjoy it as much as using the phone.

Anyway, is it worth it to upgrade my Disto to a version that features Bluetooth? Will it make sketching that much easier and faster or is it just a hassle?. I'm tempted to get a new Disto for this purpose but my D5 is in great shape and works perfectly.

Thanks in advance for your input. I have been a member here since 2002 and have learned so much over the years. I never would have gotten into mobile appraising without the tips from people on this forum is an example.

Have a good night!

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

sketching for me often means multiple buildings and I don't use forms. Honestly I don't see how it saves as much as 5 minutes, but doing single building sketches using forms perhaps you could save enough to justify it over a long time. Or you're just a technogeek who likes cool toys.

 

[CNYAppraiser]

sketching for me often means multiple buildings and I don't use forms. Honestly I don't see how it saves as much as 5 minutes, but doing single building sketches using forms perhaps you could save enough to justify it over a long time. Or you're just a technogeek who likes cool toys.

If your not into it then don't bother with it. It sounds like you've made up your mind . It's not just having to sketch a home once and labeling the rooms while on site, but with photos too. No more camera cards and dropping pics from a specified folder into a report. Upload the report to the cloud and download once at your desktop and voila, the work is there. Saves me 20 minutes or so a report.

 

[Tom Woolford]

I've been using a Disto since the "Brick" days. I've never been comfortable with using the Bluetooth as I was always concerned with erroneous entries. I prefer to enter it myself. And sorry Terrel, but I save a bunch of time with the Disto. There is a learning curve that not many people work through. If you stick with it, there is a ton of time savings both in the field, and back in the office.

 

[CNYAppraiser]

I've been using a Disto since the "Brick" days. I've never been comfortable with using the Bluetooth as I was always concerned with erroneous entries. I prefer to enter it myself. And sorry Terrel, but I save a bunch of time with the Disto. There is a learning curve that not many people work through. If you stick with it, there is a ton of time savings both in the field, and back in the office.

I still have my original "Brick" along with one other I used over the years. 3 distos and counting. Can't imagine measuring any other way. Thanks for your input!

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Saves me 20 minutes or so a report.

As I said, you might save time. In my case no...I don't use forms. It can't save me time unless I build a model around a conforming program. But you could with the Technology you have. I have a Disto but Bluetooth won't help me...

And sorry Terrel, but I save a bunch of time with the Disto.

So do I. My Disto is 10+ years old and works fine. If you use forms and mobile apps I hope you shave some time since they aren't cheap, but I simply pointed out that I cannot save a thing in my biz but from what I've seen, Bluetooth users like one of my old trainees, isn't saving that much time...maybe five minutes per report. How long does a sketch take? I measured a six buildings in 15 minutes yesterday. Then maybe 10-15 min. more to sketch and paste into report. Can it save me that during inspection? I don't see how. The time saved will be from the office. In an open barn, I can shoot from the center to one side multiple x 2 times length, then sketch on paper. EZ PZ.

 

[Thomas Holding]

....is it worth it to upgrade my Disto to a version that features Bluetooth? Will it make sketching that much easier and faster or is it just a hassle?

I recently installed the newest version of Apex on a Surface Pro with the intent of using it with my Disto with bluetooth. I was hoping that it would make entering sketches easier but in all honesty, it was way too much trouble to get it to work. The problem is that once you take your first measurement, the disto needs to determine the bearing of the next measurement. If it is anything other than 90 degrees, you have to input it in manually into the computer and then set it up for the next measurement. I was hoping that I could just start on one corner of a house, walk around the structure and when I was done, the perimeter would be sketched. Unfortunately, unless the building was a simple square or rectangle, it never was that easy. Apex 7 is fantastic and allows for very quick input, especially on a pen computer, but entering measurements using the Disto and bluetooth was pretty much a waste of time.

 

[CNYAppraiser]

I recently installed the newest version of Apex on a Surface Pro with the intent of using it with my Disto with bluetooth. I was hoping that it would make entering sketches easier but in all honesty, it was way too much trouble to get it to work. The problem is that once you take your first measurement, the disto needs to determine the bearing of the next measurement. If it is anything other than 90 degrees, you have to input it in manually into the computer and then set it up for the next measurement. I was hoping that I could just start on one corner of a house, walk around the structure and when I was done, the perimeter would be sketched. Unfortunately, unless the building was a simple square or rectangle, it never was that easy. Apex 7 is fantastic and allows for very quick input, especially on a pen computer, but entering measurements using the Disto and bluetooth was pretty much a waste of time.

Thank you for this info. I appreciate your input. It's kind of what I've gathered through researching this topic. More of a pain than anything.

 

[Dale Smalley]

My new Disto X4 doesn,t work with Wintotal Mobile