Pocket PC

[wyecoyote]

I use one with ACI the Pocket PC. And I use Mobile Sketch from Apex. Works great for me Have a HP Ipaq 4705. Now I hate going back to paper and graph paper for inspections.

Mike you don't think it saves time? I find that it takes slightly longer on the inspection but less time on the actual write up of the report.

 

[Couch Potato]

I'm with you Ryan. Probably an extra 5-10 min on site, but easily 20-30 min less to finish the report back at the office.

 

[Mister Ed]

Ryan & Greg,

One thing for sure... using the PDA does cause a little extra time in the field, but it keeps the homeowner from saying, "That appraiser just zipped in and out."

I use Mobile Sketch for entering the dimensions sketch, then I do a rough sketch on graph paper and do the interior (with walls) and labels, etc. I rarely use the interior sketch on the report (just labels), but I find that labeling in Mobile Sketch is clunky on a pda. Using PocketTotal is really not good for gathering data in the field... The field notes is not as clean as I would like it to be, so that would really slow me down.

 

[Couch Potato]

Works fine for me.

..., but I find that labeling in Mobile Sketch is clunky on a pda. ...

I use the labeling in MobleSketch and find it very efficient. What is your problem with it?

 

[Mister Ed]

I use the labeling in MobleSketch and find it very efficient. What is your problem with it?

The few times I have used it, label placement in sketches (especially on such a small scale) was not very exact. I also (for my own records) prefer to place interior walls, etc. That is just really slow on the pda. I am very interested in either getting an EO or tablet pc as they show real promise for doing this "on screen"

 

[Robert Smoote]

Ed:

Look for an announcement from us on a Labor Day sale thing in a day or two. We have one or two EO's left that were used for the development and testing fort MobileSketch v3 that we will be putting on sale on a first come, first served basis. I believe that the total for an EO with 1 GB RAM and 40 GB hard drive (w/Bluetooth, WiFi and all that), wrapped up with a pre-installed version of MobileSketch v3 is priced way below the normal price. We had about 30 EO's purchased for testing & development and have already moved most of them to our Beta members - sorry, they get first "dibs" on that stuff, but our Marketing Department made us hold onto a few of them for the general public. If history repeats, the ones left will be gone in a matter of minutes/hours, so if you want one, you'd better be quick. That said, we also have two units with 512 MB RAM and 40 GB drives that are available. We bought them to test for memory consumption and for "non-Aurora user's profile", but WinTOTAL people would not be interested in those units. We have some 256 MB units for minimum memory model testing, but those are not for sale - we continue to use them for memory testing in XP and Vista. Anyway, if you are using something other than Aurora, a 512 MB unit might be just the ticket for you. You can check out the MobileSketch v3 info at http://tinyurl.com/nacwu - on the left side is a link to a quickie video. You'll see that MSTT v3 is based on the FULL Apex engine vs. MSTT v2 being based on the Pocket PC code, so MSTT v3 does everything (and more) that the full Apex IV v3 desktop product does.

Also, look for a MAJOR announcement from us tomorrow. We'll be launching a new product site where we start to show the full range of stuff we've had under wraps for over two years, including a glimpse of our Nexus product currently being used overseas, as well as our more "industrial" applications... Fun and germane stuff, IMHO.

Hope this helps!

 

[wyecoyote]

The few times I have used it, label placement in sketches (especially on such a small scale) was not very exact. I also (for my own records) prefer to place interior walls, etc. That is just really slow on the pda. I am very interested in either getting an EO or tablet pc as they show real promise for doing this "on screen"

Ed,

I put in the interior walls on some of mine in the field (FHA) and a few other times (functional obsolecense) not difficult for me. I don't put in the icons though on mobile sketch. Took some time to get used to but well worth the effort.

I would like to some day get a tablet PC or EO. Something with more of a larger screen. That is why I bought the IPAQ 4700 has the largest screen of all PDA's (Back then). Bout a year or six months later the Tablet PC's came out. Thing that holds me back from the Tablets or EO's is the price and the drop factor. Cheaper to replace a PDA than a Tablet or EO just in case.

PocketTotal I don't know much about. I use ACI Pocket Zoo which works well for me. I just have to clean up the notes when I get back to the office some. That is one thing I like about the new forms it actually has a space for notes above the CA.

 

[Couch Potato]

Interior walls could be cumbersome.

The few times I have used it, label placement in sketches (especially on such a small scale) was not very exact. I also (for my own records) prefer to place interior walls, etc. That is just really slow on the pda. I am very interested in either getting an EO or tablet pc as they show real promise for doing this "on screen"

I agree that interior walls could be more difficult on the PDA, but then I have never tried. Labels I find very easy to place very close, if not exactly, where I want them. Even if the labels are off a tad, adjusting when importing the sketch on the desktop is almost effortless. I think the keys are to have the list set up well and to practice (do it enough).

 

[DonaldNeal]

Ryan,

I thought that ACI's mobile software was only on the Palm OS. They have a mobile software that runs on a Pocket PC OS?

 

[Brad Davis]

I have tried several different pocket pcs and a couple different appraisal programs and have come to the same conclusion with all of them. They are to small to do efficient field work. I purchased a tablet kiost eo and a very happy with it so far. It does take some time to get used to though.