Pros and Cons

[jtinmichigan]

Silver membership has been very good to me for 15+ years. Support is good. Occasional glitches, mostly on new forms, but generally fixed very quickly. I would recommend.

If you need to send reports to AP, and some others, you will need the X-Site. Used to have to have it for Lighthouse, but Lighthouse will convert a PDF file, but Win Total can create a PDF for Lighthouse to convert.

 

[Bill_FL]

Some 12 years ago or so, I had a lender that required us to use Alamode, due to a way they had, back then, to transmit the reports. I was not a happy camper and an Alamode basher. Today, you wouldnt be able to pry it out of my fingers. The software makes me more productive than any I have ever used. I like not having to use a bunch of add on software. Yes, its not the cheapest software out there, nor is the support contract cheap. But - its worth every penny.

I recently upgraded my computer to a much bigger machine, that runs Vista64. I had a couple of glitches installing the software and getting my databases moved over. Specifically, my clients and appraiser database files. The help info online was not for Vista 64. I sent a tech support request on a Sunday morning (at 6 am), out of my contract time figuring I would hear back Monday. Not mad mind you, just figured I would send it then, get it all fixed up Monday. Much to my surprise, they called me within an hour. Mr. Biggers - no punishment for the tech please - This kind of above and beyond service that the company provides is huge. In my migration to the new computer, I also found that my previously owned version of Apex wont run on Vista 64. So, I decided to go ahead and give Davinci a try. The FREE sketch software from Wintotal. I could not get it to install, again a Vista 64 issue. Sent a tech request and again, within an hour an angel of a young lady called me and in literally 2 minutes had me up and running on Davinci and sent me a link to some training videos for it. I have not yet watched them, but completed 2 sketches on this easy to use software.

I am a fan of Dave Biggers as well. While I dont agree with him on everything, he is taking money out of his wallet and pouring it into the appraisal profession. He does not need the lawyers on staff to be out front on copyright, on the HVCC, on many of the issues they tackle. But he does it. That a software vendor does that, and better than most appraisal orginizations, says a lot about him.

My suggestion. Buy it. Buy the support. Buy access to flood maps. You will be a happy appraiser.

 

[namaste]

Hey all,

New to this forum. Have been reading posts for the whole week on various topics. Good to find a place with people in our profession where you can speak your mind. I too have been looking into switching from ACI to A La Mode. Took a hiatus this past year after I got my certification and have been researching how HVCC will affect us in the days ahead and such. My decision on software was going to be based on the factors of ease of use and the whole political talk I hear from so many throughout these threads.... What I've deduced so far is that Mercury is not what people were expecting it to be. At the same time I feel the pain of all those out there that are "hating" all of the AMC's out there. But in reality, it seems that we can all cry about this till we're blue but that AMC's will probably be the standard. I get A La Mode's proactive response, but I also think that the fact that the implications behind liability that will be going on all AMC's will be elevated with these new regulations. I guess this is for another thread, but back to the topic....
For those out there that know the capabilities of ACI vs A La Mode. If money weren't an issue, which program offers the most efficient platform to get the job done? Including the bells and whistles that could make it easier. Thanks!! :new_newbie:

 

[Tom Woolford]

There have been several times I have posted a question on a forum discussing alamode topics (not RUN by alamode) and tech support has called ME. You can't beat that with a tree trunk. I had issues in the past with ACI and rarely got any satisfaction. My money is on alamode, and has been since the DOS days. I was forced into ACI for a few years and was never happy.

 

[namaste]

Thanks Tom for the response. I've gathered that tech support is great. Here's the thing. I think I've only had to call tech support for ACI twice in 3 years, and once was after I rebooted my computer because of a virus. Are you guys having that many issues with the software where it's that big of a deal? So besides the tech support, unless you guys are finding that tech support is used more than a few times a year, what about the bells and whistles and true capabilities of the software? Thanks!!

 

[TC]

What's tech support? Never had a reason to pay for it.

TC

 

[Steve Forstner]

I've used tech support maybe once in the last 6 years. Last week I switched to Aurora running on XP. No installation problems and I've had fun figuring out how to use all of the bells and whistles. And there are some stunning bells and whistles.

 

[Wyoming]

Quote:

"What's tech support? Never had a reason to pay for it."

TC
__________________


Tech support is what ACI forces you to pay $395 - $695 for if you want the privilege of paying another $199 for their eservices. I wish I didn't have to work for AMC's but I do so I must have the eservices. I am in the same boat as the original poster and will likely go with a la mode even though I was trained on ACI.