I am looking into purchasing a tablet pc for on-site reports.
Any ideas on what’s best for report creation , printing on-site etc.
Right now I use inspect-vue. and create the reports back at the office for delivery over the internet or I deliver them personally later in the same day or the following day.
I am looking into being a little more professional and efficient.
Hi Fred,
Check out the computer section, we’ve had some good discussions in there lately. Also, it depends on what you feel comfortable with. You can use a Samsung Q1 with a 7" screen, or one of the nice Fujitsu/HP/Lenovo tablets with 10" to 12" screens.
Do you plan on using this tablet for more than home inspections? If so, what else? Remember, tablets are normal computers so some guys use them for other things which require more resources.
I agree with Dom…I tried dragging around the tablet for about a week–:(, then realized how much time I was wasting trying to see the screen, worrying about dropping it, and it’s a pain in the azz carrying around with your tools I found out very quickly—:shock:
Now it sits in my filing cabinet, an Acer tablet with 10 in. screen, being old like I am, I need binoculars to see the type on the small screens, or when the type is enlarged than your scrolling back and forth to see the entire screen, pain in the azz again—
So no more Tablets for me anyway–
You using a tablet Dale or you just doing the report back at home?
No Tablet…the Acer I have has a 10 inch screen…I cannot see $hit–
I do everything on my decktops now, but have Laptops also I take to large buildings to download pictures for different sections of the report…but a Tablet is a waste of money for my needs anyway.
Yeah that really depends on eye sight. I know plenty of guys that love their 7" or 10" tablets. Other guys take 17" laptops on site.
I really don’t see how anyone can drag a tablet around with tools, beleive me I tried every way possible, its the biggest pain in the azz I can think of.
And the SUN is so intense here you need to wear welding goggles to see the screen also—:twisted:
Mike Larson had a good shot of his Q1 stored inside of his clipboard. But the big difference is you do mostly commercial. Residential guys can leave something on a counter and come back to it. You also have more toys.
I love the 10.4 inch, “daylight-readable” (truly) screen on my ToughBook. I can see the screen in any position except when the sun is reflected directly into my face.
I use InspectVue as well, but I don’t print reports on site - I don’t “print” them at all, for that matter. I usually email them (from my truck) 15 or 20 minutes after completion of the inspection.
If it helps I have been using a 10" hp TC1100 for 2 years now and had the main board replaced at the factory due to the screen scrambling. Running Palm tech 5 and windows xp, had ito use a external cd wrighter. it is a good tool. A little hard to see in direct sunlight. It did increase the speed of the job. I replaced it with a new acer and bigger screen and just keep it plugged in at the kitchen and enter data there. If you would like to buy it for a reasonable price, Let me now. I have all that came with it and the software. I just think I like it sitting in one place and i bring my notes to it and enter the data.
When I can wrap a screen around my forearm,and blue tooth back to my kitchen laptop, I am sure I will buy one.