Hello everyone, my name is Robert and I’m in the process of starting my home inspection business in Missouri. I’ve been a contractor for over thirty years and have a decent knowledge of most all trades. Not so much with electronic devices. My 11 year old daughter may know more than me. I have a variety of questions, mostly pertaining to tools needed and electronic devices. So my first question is about using an iPad for the inspections. Is it efficient. Would you still need a camera? Would an iPhone work for camera backup? I have been looking at various softwares and will probably go with HIP. My other questions will be about the essential tools needed in the field. Thanks! Email is neighborshomeinspections@gmail.com
I use an iPad mini for HIP mobile and find it very useful. Downfall is no flash. I use my phone as an alternative. I carry digital cameras also but never use them. HIP mobile on the iPad works great, but takes some getting used to. You’ll have to use it and get use to it before you can finish the report as you go. If the client is with me I use it for pictures and to take general notes otherwise I would be constantly staring at it. Also don’t let it distract you from the actual inspection. I have a website hosted through HIP and their cloud service and the software and have been very satisfied. Customer service is excellent. Good luck!
Thanks Travis, all good to hear. I’m in the process of setting up my website with HIP. Still a lot for me to learn in building it. There support has been great.
I thought about the mini.Went with a large phone instead.Has a flash plus where you gonna set that Ipad when you go into the crawl/attic etc?
I tried an ipad and found it cumbersome, worked good but the camera part was a pain.
Wifi digital camera and write report after done, that’s how I roll.
I have used the iPad mini For the entire last 14 months. I was very pleased with it and it does have a few benefits over an iPhone. That being said, in the last three weeks I’ve switched back to using the iPhone for my inspections and found my reporting is less cumbersome and easier. The photos on both of them are an acceptable size since HIP reduces the photos either way, but you must be careful to provide adequate lighting or they will be grainy.
Here’s what I would say would be the pros of each:
iPhone - One-handed use for both pictures and reporting, iPhone 5 has a higher resolution camera which allows zooming in without picture quality loss, easier to handle in crawlspaces or attics, it eliminates one item you have to bring with you and keep charged, battery life can be boosted with a powered case.
iPad mini - Much easier to review photos with clients using the larger screen, larger screen also makes finding your comments faster and navigating the program a little easier.
PS The flash has never been that much of an advantage for me personally, because I use a flashlight with a flood feature for all my photo lighting. It is significantly more consistent than the flash on a phone camera.
Hang on as apple will likely have a couple options opening up that will let you have larger screen, higher res and flash. Talked with a friend last week who is in that world and he told me to wait till october…
Iphone i use for condo and town homes as well as attics and crawls. iPad everywhere else. IPhone slows me down due to small screen and always scrolling and searching the small screen.
Have a mini but have not used it much. Trying to avoid my camera unless im taking archive zoom shots as i am confident that very soon someone will get a PDF conversion that will allow us to seamlessly finish the report and send it on my way to the truck from my ipad… That will be the day i gain 5-6 hours a week of my life back…
For those of you needing a flash, here’s what some inspectors are using with their iPhone/iPad. I’ve seen the quality of pictures with it, it’s great!
What?
Weird, the link didn’t show up!
Lets try this again : http://www.amazon.com/Polaroid-iPhone-Samsung-Blackberry-Motorola/dp/B00DC6PRI4/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1409890849&sr=1-5&keywords=polaroid+led+light
I’ve thought long and hard on this reporting on the go stuff…my conclusion?
For me, I want to get the f out of Dodge ASAP for everyone’s benefit (mostly mine)
So…my dig. Cam only …no notes on site …no reporting on site, get in and get out asap then do report off site.