Originally Posted By: tsinclair This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Just wanted to post my opinion of Palm-tech inspection software to warn others. I am unhappy with the software and wish I could get a refund. I bought it a while back and have since realized its shortcomings. Anybody thinking about getting this program feel free to contact me. Anybody else with similar view?
Originally Posted By: jburkeson This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
tsinclair wrote:
Just wanted to post my opinion of Palm-tech inspection software to warn others. I am unhappy with the software and wish I could get a refund. I bought it a while back and have since realized its shortcomings. Anybody thinking about getting this program feel free to contact me. Anybody else with similar view?
Tom,
Just the opposite, I have been using it for three years and have have only praise for the product.
Using a database to populate a template is very efficient, you can create as many templates as required and simply reuse existing fields or create new fields as necessary. The best thing is, it all runs in my hand on a very powerful PDA that can be operated in full daylight.
What caused your disappointment, what were its shortcomings?
-- Joseph Burkeson, RPI (Hooperette)
?Anyone who has proclaimed violence his method inexorably must choose lying as his principle.?
~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Originally Posted By: tsinclair This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
It’s shortcomings are these: 1) a limit of 30 notes per note category. 2) the inability to add and delete line and categories and use those changes as a template for other inspections. You have to buy a cheesy $500 program to do that. 3) The lack of standard industry notes. The porter valley software comes with I think 11,000 installed notes; we have about 500.
Other than that I like the program and photo program I bought with it. If they change just 2 of these problems I would praise the program.
Originally Posted By: bchester This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Thought I would throw in my two cents worth.
I have completed around 200 reports with my Axim and Palm Tech and found it to be a very usable system once I got used to the screen size and flow of the program. I started out printing report summaries on site but now use it mainly for data collection. I found people really did not want my printed summary if my full report would be out the next day.
I too was a little frustrated with the limit of comments until I actually reviewed a couple of hundred reports and found most categories had less than twelve comments that repeated. I also learned to write the comment so that I recognized it by the first three words. Scrolling eats up time on PDA’s.
Knowing I would have problems transitioning from hand written to computerized, I made it a point to write down my issues and talk to Jim (Palm Tech) frequently. I spent at least two hundred hours of spare time reviewing every reporting software I could find before I settled on Palm Tech. Of course, none of their reports were the way I was used to writing them. The one that was closest did not have a PDA version. (In a previous life, I had lead a plant startup on SAP. I knew I had to work myself through this change, like I had done with others)
I now do all reports in the “By System” template and call out the location of conditions. I have also changed the template over time by asking Palm Tech to make changes, one or two at a time, and send me my new template. I have not had to buy the “change” portion of the software and my new templates are usually in my inbox the next day, no charge!
I inspect in Georgia and sometimes wonder if many standard industry notes apply. Most of my homes are less than fifteen years old, we do not have earthquake or hurricane codes and I never saw an oil fired furnace until I went to inspector school (and have not seen one since). I did learn a lot about other opinions of necessary disclaimers and the variety of notes available when I reviewed reporting software. I built my system around the best of what I saw when I started it up.
Originally Posted By: dlee2 This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I have been using Palm-tech software, and I’m very satisfied with the product. It’s very easy to carry it in your hand or put it in the carry pouch when you need to use your tools. It is easy to delete lines and add or delete categories. The instruction booklet is very helpful or you can call Palm-tech anytime and they will help you.
Originally Posted By: ekartal3 This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Palm Tech may lack the thousands of standard library comments which in my opinion is a good thing - you should create your own. But I’ve never known a more user friendly software. I’ll take that over the bells and whistles that others offer.
Originally Posted By: sspradling This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Palm Tech is, in my opinion, excellent software. I started using it this summer. The initial learning curve was kinda steep, which is not always comfortable in the busiest time of year, but it is the best thing I did for my business this year! (Except for bringing on Melanie as an inspector.)
The company support has always been dead-on and very timely. Can’t say enough good things about the program.