Portable Office

[Nickrosis]

Below is a setup for anyone considering portable office solutions for inventories or sales work. The applications cover a broad spectrum of uses!

Handheld computer capable of wireless printing: $271
This is basically a nicer version of what I have for less than what I spent. Argh. You've got Pocket Word, Excel and Outlook with Windows Media Player and even Solitaire. It has wireless internet connectivity and is able to print wirelessly and even communicate with Bluetooth cellphones to send e-mail or view web pages when you aren't in an Internet hotspot - like Barnes and Noble or near your wireless hub in an office, etc.
http://www.ubid.com/actn/opn/getpage.asp?AuctionId=9473670
http://reviews.cnet.com/HP_iPaq_Pocket_PC_H4155/4505-3127_7-30588573.html

Portable printer: $200
This a pretty standard printer except for the fact that you can carry it anywhere. Unfortunately, the accessories are an additional price, but the total cost is not unreasonable if you need to print in the field.
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=28-102-141&depa=0
http://reviews.cnet.com/Canon_i80/4505-3156_7-30732992.html?tag=dir
Wireless adapter for the printer: $80 <-- required to print from a handheld, not necessary for laptops
Car power kit: $90 <-- AC power cord is standard, this option is for DC

Wired GPS Receiver for PocketPC: $247
Pretty sweet. This will give you turn-by-turn instructions to a job site and allow you to find your GPS coordinates for tree inventories. You can get a wireless (Bluetooth) version of this, but the wired version does the same job for $100 less. It includes software for streets, but you may have to get a separate package to interface with different systems in place already.
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=589124
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1538431,00.asp (Bluetooth edition review)

For $888, you can get a cutting edge setup for the ultimate portable office. The price will surely drop as time goes on, and I could probably shop around more for lower prices, but I think this is a good starting point for finding what might work for municipalities or commercial companies. Lemme know what you think.

 

[TreeJunkie]

Nick,
On the pc, is it capable of handling Quickbooks? Can you add a wireless modem?

 

[begleytree]

Why?

I purchased a laptop to keep in the truck for the same thing. Total waste of money and time. Besides needing software (not included in your setup price), and gps not being fine tuned enough to pinpoint individual trees, I fail to see the point of spending over 1,000 dollars to purchase a bunch of cool gadgets that will not help make my staff more productive.
For example: Proposal forms from nebs -0.32 each, ink pen -12 for .88, city map -$20.00 and cell phone 39.99 per month I can do the same job.

You said here is the setup to be on the cutting edge. Just being on the cutting edge will not persuade a company to purchase gadgets. You have to explain to me why I need to invest in them, and how it makes my staff more productive.

 

[Nickrosis]

Whoa. Missing the the Queen Mary.

The wireless modem and software is included in the purchase price, like I said. Pocket Word, Excel, Outlook, etc. Quickbooks has a web edition that would be compatible with this but not their other versions. The have a Pocket PC Quicken now, and I would imagine a Pocket Contractor Edition is in the works.

Begley, I'm not telling you that you should go out and buy this! I posted this as a landmark in how far prices have dropped and how incredibly the power of these devices has grown. Essentially, you can do on the move what used to be an office-only thing just two years ago.

Personally, I can't imagine hand-writing a proposal. I stopped hand-writing notes in class as a sophomore in high school. It's all digital, all the way for me. That's just me, we all have our preferences. I draw digitally, I bought my second stamp this year at the post office this week, I've had a cell phone since I was 12 - I just do things digitally.

Laptops are frustrating to me. Here I have one that pretty much just acts as a desktop. Well, you can't upgrade it as well, and I had to buy lots of external devices to do things (external sound card, external Ethernet, external USB hub, etc). By and large, you spend $1200 on a laptop to just be an overpriced, dysfunctional desktop that can be moved more easily.

Handhelds, though, are a different deal. I carry mine around in my pocket, jotting down notes, sending and receiving e-mails, reading PDF files, surfing the Internet, writing reports, recording meetings and voice notes, keeping track of my schedule as president, watching videos, listening to music, and playing chess or Monopoly. Handhelds are going to change how we do things. That or cell phones with handheld capabilities will, however you want to look at it.

GPS units are down to sub-meter accuracy - plenty good enough for a municipality. And great for commercial arborists, too. Know anyone who can't read a map? I bet they can follow voice directions.

All the things I'm talking about cost $888 or less. I don't know where the grand came in. My point is that productivity can be boosted by these tools, especially now that the prices are with in range of most people. I mean, $271 is affordable, even for students.

If you want to use paper, that's fine. At our company, proposals are almost entirely typed. In the future, they'll probably get signatures in the field on handhelds. It's just part of making things easier for the customer to understand, improving productivity, and letting people spend more time in trees than at their desks.

I could go on and on about productivity, but I think my point is best made by saying that $888 is less than what it costs to have office space, a desk, and utilities.

As a sales tool, I think having possibly thousands of pictures of work that you've done stored in a device the size of your hand to show prospective clients will do a lot more than stacks of photo albums.

It's my two cents, and it's something that clearly enjoy dealing with. Like I say, if I can do something for trees and for the industry, I'm happy.

Edit: Found a third-party Pocket PC software package for Quickbooks: http://www.pocketpcpassion.com/ws_d...tem_id={12B850AA-126B-4DCB-B5D7-19311BD55639}
And if you can't find the software you're looking for, you can write your own. That's been my attitude lately.

 

[a_lopa]

pen and paper work

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

yes its all good if you can be botherd to spend hours to learn how to turn it on let alone use it

 

[jamie]

computers

my boss left his computer on for 3 weeks as he couldnt figure out how to turn it off....push and hold the power button....he was just pushing the power button...

jamie

 

[ORclimber]

Cool. A potential cure for my unreadable handwriting.

 

[Nickrosis]

No doubt, training is important. It's something that seems to get overlooked in the whole process - you should always budget that in when you're planning.

But seriously, tinker before quitting. If the power button isn't working, try holding it down. Hold it down for a minute. Hold it down for a minute with your ears plugged while drinking water out of a straw upside down. You can't give up until you try.

Handwriting. Yes! We've got some near-impossible handwriting on forms that could be a thing of the past with handwriting-recognition technology and mini-keyboards.

Keep PMing me if you have questions, I'd be happy to help.

 

[Nathan Wreyford]

In Austin, I used to from time to time bid against a guy who had a moble unit in his car that fit this quote.

Laptops are frustrating to me. Here I have one that pretty much just acts as a desktop. Well, you can't upgrade it as well, and I had to buy lots of external devices to do things (external sound card, external Ethernet, external USB hub, etc). By and large, you spend $1200 on a laptop to just be an overpriced, dysfunctional desktop that can be moved more easily.

It was half his car with all the external stuff and wires. Great guy with a great service.

I always emailed proposals. No way I could have done it written. Too many multi-pronged proposals. It is easy in this industry. Just say that you don't want to cause unneccessary killing of trees:angel: It is easier for you and you have their email for quick contact and database purposes.

Sometimes I would show up as he was leaving. These clients had printed paper in hand. Pretty impressive.

Also bid against him on removals. Where as he was fiddling with getting something typed and printed, I just walked up, said how much, shook their hand and walked away. I already had the job in the time he was still fiddling with his techno gear trying to connect with the mothership or whatever.

Guess the point is, it is a GREAT sales tool. Knowing when to use it is great too.

2 weeks ago, I snapped some digi-fotos of severe sun scald on a hanging beech. Sent the camera down, plugged into the city forester's laptop, and the decision to remove it was made before I could get down from the tree.

Techno stuff is cool. $888 is CHEAP. But this is an industry where people will spend 10 minutes exta every day (200 minutes a month) just so they don't have to spend an extra $20 on equipment.

 

[Toddppm]

I was looking into buying the laptop/printer etc. to do my proposals for maint. contracts. It takes a long time to write them out when you're at the property. I like to give them as asoon as possible instead of coming back later. It would be soooo easy to just plug in whatever sentence you need and price on each line, then plug in the rest of the proposal language, extra directions etc.
I got estimates earlier this year from a roofing co. that did this and also had a map program that was killer, could almost pinpoint the house/which side of the street etc. and print it out for the crew.....
But I got so busy so quick haven't had time to look into it anymore, so I'm still wasting time writing them out.
For one time jobs like tree work or landscaping I'd still keep my 4 part proposals and write them up, there's a place for each tool.
I'm definately not a techno geek, bought a very expensive design program and installed it but haven't taken the time to even do the demo yet One piece of technology at a time please

 

[Nickrosis]

I'm continuing to re-think all of this. It seems that wireless Internet isn't particularly useful at this point, but infrared printing could be great. Most handhelds and many laptops have infrared ports (it's a red-tinted opaque window for the sensor), and printers are now available with infrared printing. I just put a winning bid in for a $50 printer that prints 350 pages on a charge. To print, put the handheld next to the printer and fire away.

For that, you only need to spend a total of $250 for a wireless office that prints. Pretty cool.

 

[a_lopa]

interesed in your cheaper version nick print onsite would be the key

 

[ORclimber]

What $200 machine are you thinking of Nick?

A salesman at Bestbuy said this Sony could do the invoice/bid/print thing. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?type=product&id=1072287820519&skuId=6295172 He also said it was a matter of finding the right software for communicating with quickbooks and printing. He recommended using the search functions on these .coms: handango, palm, palmgear, pocketgear, and google for "palm quickbook invoice" They yielded the programs Captra($249), QBmobile Single-user Licence($59.95), and Pocketbooks($94.95)

The palm zire 72 at $300, and pocketbooks for 94.95 are tempting to this newbie.

 

[Nickrosis]

The QuickBooks software I've heard about is from Low Fat for Pocket PC. Here are some screenshots: http://www.lowfatsoftware.com/LFS_screenshotsQB.htm
It costs $150, runs on the handheld and has a desktop companion that mates it to the full Quickbooks version.

The Sony Clie uses the Palm operating systems (different from Pocket PC). So, you'd have to pick one and go with the software for that. Either way, there are solutions for doing all the same tasks. I just don't know much at this point about QuickBooks software, but I'll probably know more in about two weeks and have had a chance to work with it in the office.

The $200 handhelds I'm thinking of are the iPaqs from HP.
HP 1945 (closed at uBid.com for $239)
HP 1910 (closed at uBid.com for $171)

With them, you have built-in infrared capability that can work with portable printers without having to buy anything extra. The 1945 has Bluetooth which can communicate wirelessly with Bluetooth-enabled printers, GPS units, cell phones, and more for up to 30 feet. Infrared requires a line-of-sight for up to 3 feet.

Edit: List of QuickBooks software packages for handhelds: http://solutionsmarketplace.intuit.com/search.asp?category=204

 

[SilverBlue]

Regarding wireless Internet, I have been testing high speed wireless @2.3 MBS although at limited range currently while going through the testing stage it is very promising. Around town I have all the benefits of cable internet while being mobile. It’s great to be in constant contact with the office and other members of my crew with live video, not to mention access to AS although work prevents me from participating nowadays.

 

[Nickrosis]

Are you using Wi-Fi for that kind of range? Or are you using cellular signals?

I've seen ads for a laptop card that works with Verizon's network, allowing you to connect to the Internet whenever you're within range of a Verizon tower. The cost of that can be prohibitive on a per-month basis, but if you can find a value in it and make money....more power to you!

 

[SilverBlue]

They haven't disclosed tech details to us Nick since this system is under development, it is through a cell company though. Right now I am 5 miles from the office sending pics from the job site.
Real cool.

 

[Nickrosis]

Thaaat.....is awesome.

 

[Nickrosis]

Originally posted by SilverBlue
They haven't disclosed tech details to us Nick since this system is under development, it is through a cell company though. Right now I am 5 miles from the office sending pics from the job site.
Real cool.

Any updates?