MSI International, Inc.
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Thinking about using a Pocket PC for doing Inspections?

Then, you owe it to yourself to read this article.

Earning a living in the home or commercial building business is all about being able to work
efficiently. It's about earning a living.  XL Pro allows you to create great looking, accurate, comprehensive reports at lightning speed. Most inspectors, even those with very little computer experience, will be
able to create reports within minutes of installing the software.

Pocket PCs are very inefficient. 80% of home inspectors who use a Pocket PC to do home inspections will abandon them within six months. We stopped supporting Pocket PCs a while ago because they are not practical. We did not want to contribute to inspector's being failing in the business. Here are some points to consider.

1. You will always have some text that needs to be typed in (address of the house, etc.); regardless of how extensive the comments library is. The small screen and use of a stylus make writing notes very difficult, time consuming and prone to error.

2. You need TWO PCs. The entire report cannot be done on a Pocket PC alone. Generally, you are going to have to use two PCs to complete the report - the Pocket PC and a desktop or laptop PC.

3. You are not likely to take the Pocket PC into attics, crawlspaces, and other similar locations. You also are not likely to take it out into the rain or snow. Inspectors often forget to put the Pocket PC in a safe place and either damage it or lose it.

4. With a pocket PC, your focus will be more on the Pocket PC than either the inspection or the client. Inspectors become a slave to the device rather than the device being a tool to help the inspector.

5. It is very difficult - in fact, nearly impossible - to insert photos into the report with a Pocket PC (now you are back to using a second PC again).

6. Pocket PCs use scaled down versions of operating systems. Scaled down operating systems means that the Pocket PC cannot perform the more complex tasks that save you time.

7. The small screens on Pocket PCs make it very difficult to see what you need to see. The longer you work on the Pocket PC the more likely you are to develop eye strain. It becomes harder to read the information on the screen the longer you look at it.

8. You cannot see how the report is going to look until you print it. Pocket PCs need to use a variety of tricks to make enough information fit on the screen at one time to make it useable. (our reports are all What-you-See-Is-What-You-Get; they look exactly the same on the screen as on the printed page)

9. Pocket PCs are not designed for extended use. They do not have the battery life to get through two inspections a day. In fact, most do not have enough battery life to get through one full inspection without being put on a charger or plugged into a PC to charge.

10. It takes much longer to complete a report using a Pocket PC. To be cost effective and competitive, you should spend no more than approximately 30-40 minutes total report writing time. Inspectors who user a Pocket PC rarely are able to complete a report in less than an hour. Most inspectors who use a Pocket PC spend around two hours writing a report. Time is money!

Our software is designed for ease of use and efficiency. We are known in the industry for having the easiest to use software and the easiest to read reports. Those are just a couple of the reasons that we publish more home inspection report software than anyone else. With our software it is possible to write a very good report in 30-40 minutes. With practice, it is very easy to create a report in 30 minutes.

Our software works very well on any portable PC that uses Windows XP (Home or Professional); including laptops, notebooks, Tablet PCs, and Ultra Portables. It will run on an Ultra Portable or any other hand held that runs Windows XP or Windows Vista. Our software is also more reasonably priced than most of our competitors. You will not find the features of XL Pro Bronze or Titanium in any other inspection report system in the under $500 price range.

Before you buy software to try to use on a Pocket PC, you may want to give me a call. Unlike most of our competitors, our software is designed by inspectors (I am an inspector myself and have done many hundreds of inspections using our software - I have also used Pocket PCs to perform inspections!)  I can help you make an educated decision and I'm sure that I can also save you a lot of time and money.

George Wells

Sale!

XL Pro Express
State of the Art
Home and commercial Inspection report

⁸ Easy to use
⁸ Lightning fast
⁸ Comprehensive
⁸ Flexible
⁸ Value priced

Trade-in Special
Up to $250 for your old inspection report software
That's right, we'll give you up to $250 for your old inspection report software with your purchase of XL Pro Platinum Edition or up to $100 toward the purchase of XL Pro Gold Edition.


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