Early Bird Special: Save $100! (good until Aug 31, 2006) Buy our pre-release now for $199 and save $100 off of our regular price of $299. Call us at 877-274-4299 and buy today! Hardware not included. Requires Windows Mobile 5 to run HG PPC software.

HomeGauge Pocket PC Update!

HomeGauge announced last month that beta testers were cleaning and grooming the HG PPC. So far, it has been a big success and this little gadget is getting better and better.

I (Russell) personally tested the beta 2 version yesterday at a real inspection. As many of you know, I have been anti-PPC because I had developed an efficient mobile method of using the Tablet PC. To my surprise, the PPC is even more mobile than the tablet. It affords the inspector quicker entry to the report because the PPC instantly comes on and instantly goes off, at the push of a button, rather than the typical 8 second ramp up from stand-by mode you see with the tablet. Many times, immediately after I enter information and put my tablet on stand-by, I would remember something else and have to repeat the process. The PPC doesn’t penalize you for that. As far as functional ability, the HG PPC software design allows for quick entry to the PPC, even allowing for the smaller screen compared to the tablet. Outdoors, the PPC screen is easily readable, which encourages immediate entry of findings and reduces the time spent putting the report together at the end of the inspection.

Two new features of the HG PPC software are a voice recording capability for each inspection item and automatic picture placement.

The voice recording feature is not my personal style or preferred method, but at each inspection item, you can tap the microphone and describe the problem. When you sync to the main version of HG there will be an audio byte that you can click and listen to back at the office. This will come in handy if you are in a hurry to get out of the home, or if you plan to prepare a detailed explanation back at the office and want to quickly add verbal notes.

The extra cool feature that will cut your picture insertion time in half is our new auto picture insertion. As you inspect and find a problem, simply take the picture, go to the PPC, and click on the camera icon at that inspection item. Continue doing this as you inspect. When you are finished, sync up to the full version and load your pictures. You will notice a “Jump” button at each picture in the filmstrip. Simply hit the jump button and wham, your inspection item for that picture appears and is ready to go. Drop that picture in, hit the jump button on the next picture and you'll quickly discover that you don't have to navigate to each inspection item because HG does it for you instantly. You have to make sure that your camera clock is set to the same minute as the PPC and the clock on the computer that has the full version. Your picture insertion time will be cut by as much as half and it will actually be fun to complete the report. Here’s a link to screen shots for the HG PPC. The camera and microphone icons can be seen here as well.

Pre-purchase sales of the HG software for PPC have been extraordinary. Order now for $199 and save one hundred dollars!
(offer expires August 31, 2006)

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