Thread: Software change?

As many of you know I have been a 3D software user for over a decade. Yep, I used it when it was only in DOS! Well, while I was at InspectionWorld this past week I had a chance to test drive just about every program on the market. Some look good on the outside but are real stinkers once you get into the meat of the software and how well it works.

After looking at everything available I landed with Home Inspector Pro (HIP) as the software that I want to test drive on my computer, this is software by Dominic Maricic. So far after installing the full working sample program (30 day license) I kind of like it. The major problem I'm dealing with is that I have over a decade of boilerplate with 3D and right now it will not convert to HIP. Dominic said he should have it to where you can covert from 3D to HIP in 6 months or so.

I'm just curious as to how folks that are using HIP like it and if anyone is willing to share a few good templates for it.

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I will be moving to it very soon Scott. One of the reasons I will be choosing HIP is because I have met Dominic and find him knowledgable about our industry (not just a software geek) and it appears he will be around for a very long time (so not much chance of his software becoming obsolete or not having upgrades).

Other features of the software are impressive as well, but he is the main reason I am going with HIP. I'm sure many other IN members have met him as well and would agree.

Scott,

After so long why are you thinking about switching?

Mike

I spoke with Dominic about switching and got the trial version as well. My problem was that I am just so used to 3D that I was not able to easily make the finished report look the way I wanted it to. I ended up upgrading 3D. Might look into HIP in the future.

Thanks for the kind words guys. There's a few dozen templates you can get online here: Home Inspection Software - Home Inspector Pro - Template Design & Sample Inspection Reports . The top ones are listed in the first two posts which has a master list. The NOVA templates (there's 3 or 4) are the most popular.

Let me know if you guys have any questions!

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

As many of you know I have been a 3D software user for over a decade. Yep, I used it when it was only in DOS! Well, while I was at InspectionWorld this past week I had a chance to test drive just about every program on the market. Some look good on the outside but are real stinkers once you get into the meat of the software and how well it works.

After looking at everything available I landed with Home Inspector Pro (HIP) as the software that I want to test drive on my computer, this is software by Dominic Maricic. So far after installing the full working sample program (30 day license) I kind of like it. The major problem I'm dealing with is that I have over a decade of boilerplate with 3D and right now it will not convert to HIP. Dominic said he should have it to where you can covert from 3D to HIP in 6 months or so.

I'm just curious as to how folks that are using HIP like it and if anyone is willing to share a few good templates for it.

Scott ,I am a long time user and have chatted so many times with Dom plus met him and assisted him on his last trip to Chicago.
Feel free to contact me.
He is totally dedicated to Home Inspection products and his report software is second to none.
There are only two real options for the best choice IMO.
HG and HIP.
They are different in their approach and neither is closing shop anywhere in the near future.
Dom's Inspector sites are ranked #1 on Google all over the country.
Anyone with questions is free to contact me for help as I am always glad to help fellow inspectors of any association.
I will be going to my first ASHI meeting on the 26th to hear Dom talk on SEO.
Hope I do not catch fire as I walk through the doors.

Originally Posted by Gunnar Alquist

I spoke with Dominic about switching and got the trial version as well. My problem was that I am just so used to 3D that I was not able to easily make the finished report look the way I wanted it to. I ended up upgrading 3D. Might look into HIP in the future.

It is always hard to change software so that is understandable.
You are used to a certain look that grew on you.

Originally Posted by Gunnar Alquist

I spoke with Dominic about switching and got the trial version as well. My problem was that I am just so used to 3D that I was not able to easily make the finished report look the way I wanted it to. I ended up upgrading 3D. Might look into HIP in the future.

Gunner, I'm in the same boat! I like the look of the 3D report format, but I have been playing with HIP for the past couple of days and I think with a good amount of time I might be able to get the look I want.

I like a report that does not have all of the boarders around the page, titles and sections.

Why am I considering changing from 3D?

For starters, would be the ability to load the program on more than a couple of computers without paying extra. Also 3D is a memory hog; it eats up memory and HIP does not.

Report Settings->Formatting and change the border width to 0.
Report Settings->Section Colors & Print Order to adjust the header/footer colors as you'd like.

Wow, I saw one with a black header, someone must own stock in printer ink!

After the agents printer runs out of ink the 2nd time they won't be calling back. LOL!

Originally Posted by Bruce King

Wow, I saw one with a black header, someone must own stock in printer ink!

After the agents printer runs out of ink the 2nd time they won't be calling back. LOL!

Bruce it must depend on where you live.
Most of my clients are all electronic here in the city and younger than me so are tech savoy never printing it.
I use Dom's upload service that he keeps all PDF's at minimum 5 years unless he expanded it.
If I email the Agents a copy they create a password so they can view every report we ever had a client in common with at once.The client just click on the email link with no password needed.
Many just pull it up on the phone since the software makes a very small 1 or 2 MB file PDF even with the pictures..

Originally Posted by Bruce King

Wow, I saw one with a black header, someone must own stock in printer ink!

After the agents printer runs out of ink the 2nd time they won't be calling back. LOL!

As Bob mentioned, I never hear of it being a problem. Years ago when I first started the program the majority of guys were printing on site. At that time people used Cyan, Magenta, Yellow & Black throughout the program to balance ink usage in the CYMK cartridges. Now almost every tells me that they tell the clients that they've "Gone Green" and no longer print reports. If they want to, they can turn off all colors or change them.

The guys that use different color borders for each section (like Bob) are the ones that mention getting referrals because of the report the most. I was talking to the ASHI COR Leader Bob Whittington at the ASHI Conference and that's exactly what he was telling myself and several others.

Originally Posted by Bob Elliott

Scott ,I am a long time user and have chatted so many times with Dom plus met him and assisted him on his last trip to Chicago.
Feel free to contact me.
He is totally dedicated to Home Inspection products and his report software is second to none.
There are only two real options for the best choice IMO.
HG and HIP.
They are different in their approach and neither is closing shop anywhere in the near future.
Dom's Inspector sites are ranked #1 on Google all over the country.
Anyone with questions is free to contact me for help as I am always glad to help fellow inspectors of any association.
I will be going to my first ASHI meeting on the 26th to hear Dom talk on SEO.
Hope I do not catch fire as I walk through the doors.

Your're going to an ASHI meeting Bob? You talk nice about ASHI here but it's a different story on the other message board isn't it??

Are you coming Linas? We could have the two of you boxing for my opening act

Originally Posted by Dominic Maricic

Are you coming Linas? We could have the two of you boxing for my opening act

Nah. Linus is just happy stalking me .
Guess I will bring the pepper spray.

Originally Posted by Linas Dapkus

Your're going to an ASHI meeting Bob? You talk nice about ASHI here but it's a different story on the other message board isn't it??

You mean the one you keep visiting but are not allowed in the members only section anymore?
You have no idea what they are saying about you.

Originally Posted by Bob Elliott

You mean the one you keep visiting but are not allowed in the members only section anymore?
You have no idea what they are saying about you.

Why talk bad about anyone? We are all in this to learn and do a good job for our clients.

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

Why talk bad about anyone? We are all in this to learn and do a good job for our clients.

Scott I am pulling his chain as he has been stalking me lately.
Send me a PM for details.

Originally Posted by Dominic Maricic

Are you coming Linas? We could have the two of you boxing for my opening act

No, Bob will accuse me of stalking him.

Originally Posted by Bob Elliott

You mean the one you keep visiting but are not allowed in the members only section anymore?
You have no idea what they are saying about you.

I rescinded my lifetime membership. I don't miss the 2 JB's BS and all the spin to sell memberships.

Originally Posted by Linas Dapkus

No, Bob will accuse me of stalking him.

I wonder why?Phoenix Home Inspector Needed - InterNACHI Message Board

However he may have something against Dominic or HIP which makes no sense when he uses it.

Originally Posted by Bob Elliott

I wonder why?Phoenix Home Inspector Needed - InterNACHI Message Board

However he may have something against Dominic or HIP which makes no sense when he uses it.

I have no problem with Dom. He hosts 6 of my websites. You're the one with mental issues Bob.

Scott I know that HomeGauge has a "template migration tool" that's compatible with 3D. This would allow you to transfer your templates and comments into HG. I have been using HG for several years now, their support is second to none. They are always upgrading and improving the software and other features. They really listen to feedback and requests from users. If you pay to use there report upload service new releases and future upgrades are free.

I am one of the Beta testers for Home Inspector Pro and Dominic has released yet another improvement to an already great product.
The new test patch came in this morning and let me tell you guys it is sweet.

Photo thumbs are right next to the comments and all the comments material or issues have drop down capabilities.
Works perfect in all my tests so far and no issue reports from other testers all day.

There are a few more features I can not say what they are yet are being added very soon.
Here is the Beta release statement.......

2.9 Beta for windows has been released. I have quite a few other features that have been added to but I have disabled them as I need to test them out more. Rather than make you guys wait longer I've packaged up this release with some of the major updates so you can start testing them out. The two new features are huge. Photo slideshows within each area of the program (appear after batch adding & assigning) and SelectionPanel Lists. Check them out!!



2.9.0

New Feature: Photo Slide Show appears to the right of damage/observation panels. After batch adding and slotting your photos you can then go through your report with the photos right showing right next to the comments. You have 3 options you can use here (selectable under Report Settings->Options->Photo Editing). The first option is to turn them off (will look like previous versions of Home Inspector Pro). The next option displays the slide show to the right of the Red/Black observations allowing you to see everything at once. The third option is useful for smaller screens and allows you to flip between Red/Black observations and photos with the click of a button. More flexibility will be added to this area as time goes on!

New Feature: Drop Down Lists now work with Selection Panels. Comments are displayed in the program in the format <<ListName::Selected Comment>>. The "Selected Comment" is what will appear on the report. Then just highlight the comment like normal. When you double click an item you'll see the drop downs. Let me know if you like how this works. It's slightly different than how the damage panel Lists work since there's no red/black sections. It might need a little tweaking based on your input.

Here is a sneak preview of the photo thumb feature which will soon allow most functions to be done with much less clicking thus saving time.
Like most functions the new ones are allowed to be turned off when wished very quickly since the whole software is based on speed.

Originally Posted by Trent Tarter

Scott I know that HomeGauge has a "template migration tool" that's compatible with 3D. This would allow you to transfer your templates and comments into HG. I have been using HG for several years now, their support is second to none. They are always upgrading and improving the software and other features. They really listen to feedback and requests from users. If you pay to use there report upload service new releases and future upgrades are free.

Thanks!

Any previous HG users that have switched to HI Pro ?

Just wondering how they find it in comparison ?

Also, a big sore spot for me right now is, when a client goes to the inspection report landing page, is there any HI Pro branding or links laced throughout everything (either there or anywhere else?)

Does HI Pro have a library converter for HG data ?

Originally Posted by Joe Klampfer

Any previous HG users that have switched to HI Pro ?

Just wondering how they find it in comparison ?

Also, a big sore spot for me right now is, when a client goes to the inspection report landing page, is there any HI Pro branding or links laced throughout everything (either there or anywhere else?)

Does HI Pro have a library converter for HG data ?

I know Dominic has converters for some software but not sure as far as HG off hand.
HIP and HG are the most popular right now so you might think so.
HIP does not leave watermarks.

I think you should decide for yourself but all I hear is that it is the best looking product on the client end with the photo and bookmarks making it better for your clients to understand all data.

Hi Joe,

We've had a good number of HG users switch, but not nearly as many as from other programs. Jump on HomeInspectorPro.com and go to the message boards if you'd like to talk to guys that have switched.

As Bob said, our reports have NO, zero, zilch, nada, watermarks or anything else denoting the report is anything but yours.

Thanks Bob & Dom. I will check it out.

I love the look & feel of my Homegauge report but I can't get past their insistance on Branding the hell out of the report retreival landing page. After a few rounds with mgmt there, it might be time for me to move on.

Now if only I can get your repot to look and flow like mine, I might get excited.

Dom, I hear you have a few data converters available. Anything for converting Homegauge libraries.

Thanks,

Just a question. I am curious and always have been about loading reports to a site on line. Paying for reports and or the storage and retrieval thing. I am not sure what software does that but I know a lot do.

You can get small hard drives for nothing and large ones for next to nothing. You can save your reports to a disk or to drives. You are uploading your report to a website that information has to be given to others to retrieve that information.

Why not buy software that needs none of that and the involvement and or extra cost and email the report to the client and if wanted by the client, to the Realtor and all done. All done and for less. All he info is taken at the time of booking the inspection. If the client does not have the email for the Realtor it takes a 45 second call or look up if it is like around here such as North Texas Realtor Information service or ntreis.com

Again, to each his own but I never understood the daily, weekly monthly, yearly tie to a software company and that company having the endless tie to you through holding and hosting and and and. Just curious.

With my software I can make the report look any way I wish in seconds. Make any template I want in minutes. I pay a one time fee and have a couple different options for report software. No monthly, bi-annual or yearly add on extra cost etc.

I was going to switch, when they get NUMBERING!

Originally Posted by Joe Klampfer

Thanks Bob & Dom. I will check it out.

I love the look & feel of my Homegauge report but I can't get past their insistance on Branding the hell out of the report retreival landing page. After a few rounds with mgmt there, it might be time for me to move on.

Now if only I can get your repot to look and flow like mine, I might get excited.

Dom, I hear you have a few data converters available. Anything for converting Homegauge libraries.

Thanks,

Hi Joe
LOL I hope you do not get it to look like your HG because HIP looks better.IMO

The biggest mistake I made when changing over from Horizon was thinking it should look like my old software.
We all do that.

The hard part is adding your canned drop down comments and templates to where you want them.

Remember ctrl a,v and x are your friend.
This is also a good chance to fine tune your report comments and get rid of frivolous hardly used text.

Once you learn which will come easy after initial work you can make use of the features that are new to you to your advantage.

Originally Posted by Ted Menelly

Just a question. I am curious and always have been about loading reports to a site on line. Paying for reports and or the storage and retrieval thing. I am not sure what software does that but I know a lot do.

You can get small hard drives for nothing and large ones for next to nothing. You can save your reports to a disk or to drives. You are uploading your report to a website that information has to be given to others to retrieve that information.

Why not buy software that needs none of that and the involvement and or extra cost and email the report to the client and if wanted by the client, to the Realtor and all done. All done and for less. All he info is taken at the time of booking the inspection. If the client does not have the email for the Realtor it takes a 45 second call or look up if it is like around here such as North Texas Realtor Information service or ntreis.com

Again, to each his own but I never understood the daily, weekly monthly, yearly tie to a software company and that company having the endless tie to you through holding and hosting and and and. Just curious.

With my software I can make the report look any way I wish in seconds. Make any template I want in minutes. I pay a one time fee and have a couple different options for report software. No monthly, bi-annual or yearly add on extra cost etc.

I used to try reinventing the wheel to Ted.
However I found my business is to important to spend so much time reinventing the wheel.
Guys like Dominic know how to write software and have it perform far better than you or I could.
Agents and clients may wish to download a copy at 3:00 am and are you up to send a copy?
When my report is opened I know it and at what time.
Do you?
I can download 300 pictures in a minute.
Can you?
My 70 page report is 2 MB in size but how large would your 70 page report be?
I am guessing you will tell me it is not needed to be that large because your file would actually be giant.Not ripping you but I have had many tell me how great their home made excel style reports are only to be disappointed when I viewed them.
Ted I can make my own report easily by using One Note also and have any look I wish or even using Power point then simply convert them to PDF or post on line but it would still be inferior to HIP.

I hope you do not store those hard drives at home where your computer is or a fire will ruin your business.
Keeping info on the cloud and a aux drive is the way to go.
Your business is far to important to be cheap on that issue.

Originally Posted by Bob Elliott

I used to try reinventing the wheel to Ted.
However I found my business is to important to spend so much time reinventing the wheel.
Guys like Dominic know how to write software and have it perform far better than you or I could.
Agents and clients may wish to download a copy at 3:00 am and are you up to send a copy?
When my report is opened I know it and at what time.
Do you?
I can download 300 pictures in a minute.
Can you?
My 70 page report is 2 MB in size but how large would your 70 page report be?
I am guessing you will tell me it is not needed to be that large because your file would actually be giant.Not ripping you but I have had many tell me how great their home made excel style reports are only to be disappointed when I viewed them.
Ted I can make my own report easily by using One Note also and have any look I wish or even using Power point then simply convert them to PDF or post on line but it would still be inferior to HIP.

I hope you do not store those hard drives at home where your computer is or a fire will ruin your business.
Keeping info on the cloud and a aux drive is the way to go.
Your business is far to important to be cheap on that issue.

Hey Bob

Are you so ever lucky. I have a day off today so I get to go out and eat breakfast. Take care of paper work. Answer some of the old emails I have been meaning to. Oh yeah. Answer your reply to my post

Where the heck did you get any of that from. Who said anything about reinventing the wheel. Who said anything about my own software or or Excel or One Note. I buy my software from Whisper. I can in moments make my report look as I wish. I can create an entire template in minutes if I wish. I get a receipt in my email when someone opens an email/report. I have no need to download 300 pics in a minute. While my pics are down loading, in a couple minutes , I am working on my report. My reports would never be 70 pages long. I do not do a report and then add a second report as a summary. I do not put page after page after page of helpful hints and lengthy disclaimers. My reports probably range from 20 pages of meat and pictures to a rougher home, 30 pages. When I turn them into a PDF that takes about 10 seconds it is by hitting one button. My thirty page reports with a bunch of pics .... maybe a couple meg at best. If they are larger I hit the optimize button on the PDF software, another few seconds, and it is cut by a third or a half.

I get the clients email when booking the inspection and most of the time they have the Realtors email as well. If not I go to NTREIS | North Texas Real Estate Information Systems, Inc. , another 30 seconds. The vast majority of folks save a copy of the report online even though their computer email is taking a copy. If not they just need to open their email and oh my, their is there report IF they did not already save it.

I store my own files

I do not pay monthly fees or per report fees or anything of the such.

It is all so extremely simple and inexpensive I was just asking you what one would get out of it that they could not already do themselves.

No Bob. Not trying to reinvent the wheel. It is just that some things need not be so expensive AND INVOLVED. It is so uninvolved it is pitiful. Some things as you have said do not need to be reinvented. It is the newer store on line, per report or monthly fees that have reinvented what was so easy to do already.

Not to try to sway you in anyway because it works for you but. Why would I want to hand anyone a 70 plus page report when you know and I know, if we took out all the hype, fluff and pictures and what other crap there may be in a report, the report would only be several pages at best. My clients get a cover page with a pretty picture of the home. The page and a half of TREC preamble and then the rest is the report with plentiful pictures to explain the text or is it the other way around. They immediately see what the concerns are in the home and do not have to filter thru countless dribble that does them no good in telling them what is wrong with the home they are purchasing. They do not have to read a summary only to find that the report is the exact same thing. They do not get a paragraph of disclaimers for what could have been a short sentence of the concern and at best another short sentence as an explanation or follow up advice.

Just saying!

Ted,
Which report program do you use?

Bode

Ted,

The upload service is completely optional. The reports are PDF's. Email them, print them, upload them to your site or use our upload service. Most, if not all of these reasons would apply for HG's upload service as well.

Guys choose the upload service for a few reasons.

1) Online backup. I get at least 5 emails a WEEK from guys who had their computer crash, blow up, get stolen, etc and they're happy all their reports are online. Often they do not backup to a local hard drive, or that got destroyed too. I always tell guys if they don't get our online backup, go get carbonite.com. It's $5 a month and will back up even more than our upload service does (it just doesn't have the other features).

2) The upload services emails you a 3rd party verification that you uploaded the report.

3) Even more importantly the upload services emails you a 3rd party verification that the client and/or agent viewed the report. This is good in case there's ever any legal disputes, we can verify the time/day the client saw the report.

4) You can embed the upload service into your website so clients view the reports on your site. When they forward the report to family and friends they drive traffic to your website, who then bookmark your site for when they need an inspector.

5) When you're on vacation and don't have your computer with you you're able to log in from any computer, pull up a report and forward it off to the client or agent who lost theirs. I get a few comments about this a month.

6) Agents can log in at any time and view reports that have been done for them. For many agents this is a perk that encourages them to refer you. For other agents who have a hard time with computers, you'll still end up faxing them a report.

In the end I ALWAYS recommend at least carbonite.com. I have a new class I'm teaching chapters & bigger conferences that goes over this over and over. If you want the added features, try the upload service. It's not a huge money maker. Storage for us is very expensive, the bandwidth is expensive. We don't make guys use the service but I do encourage them to have some sort of online backup.

Originally Posted by Marc M

I was going to switch, when they get NUMBERING!

I know, I know. Coming VERY soon to a computer near you.

Here's the funny thing.

You are waiting for me to ADD numbers to every comment to buy Home Inspector Pro (not just the items).

Scott Patterson is waiting for me to REMOVE numbers everywhere within Home Inspector Pro.

Either way, Home Inspector Pro 3.0 is right around the corner and has some a lot of exciting new features.

Originally Posted by Dominic Maricic

I know, I know. Coming VERY soon to a computer near you.

Here's the funny thing.

You are waiting for me to ADD numbers to every comment to buy Home Inspector Pro (not just the items).

Scott Patterson is waiting for me to REMOVE numbers everywhere within Home Inspector Pro.

Either way, Home Inspector Pro 3.0 is right around the corner and has some a lot of exciting new features.

Thats funny. I guess it depends on your area and what you're used to, or what your clients (agents) are used to. Anyhow, hurry up!!!!!!!!!!

I use HG V3 and it works fine for me. My reports are all narrative and custom for the house I inspected. I really don't get hung-up over the way the report looks..... it's what inside that counts. I gets lots of positive comments about the contents of the reports I create. I have never had a good or bad comment about the report format. Frankly as long as it readable it is not that important to me or my customers. IMHO of course..

Originally Posted by Ted Menelly

Hey Bob

Are you so ever lucky. I have a day off today so I get to go out and eat breakfast. Take care of paper work. Answer some of the old emails I have been meaning to. Oh yeah. Answer your reply to my post

Where the heck did you get any of that from. Who said anything about reinventing the wheel. Who said anything about my own software or or Excel or One Note. I buy my software from Whisper. I can in moments make my report look as I wish. I can create an entire template in minutes if I wish. I get a receipt in my email when someone opens an email/report. I have no need to download 300 pics in a minute. While my pics are down loading, in a couple minutes , I am working on my report. My reports would never be 70 pages long. I do not do a report and then add a second report as a summary. I do not put page after page after page of helpful hints and lengthy disclaimers. My reports probably range from 20 pages of meat and pictures to a rougher home, 30 pages. When I turn them into a PDF that takes about 10 seconds it is by hitting one button. My thirty page reports with a bunch of pics .... maybe a couple meg at best. If they are larger I hit the optimize button on the PDF software, another few seconds, and it is cut by a third or a half.

I get the clients email when booking the inspection and most of the time they have the Realtors email as well. If not I go to NTREIS | North Texas Real Estate Information Systems, Inc. , another 30 seconds. The vast majority of folks save a copy of the report online even though their computer email is taking a copy. If not they just need to open their email and oh my, their is there report IF they did not already save it.

I store my own files

I do not pay monthly fees or per report fees or anything of the such.

It is all so extremely simple and inexpensive I was just asking you what one would get out of it that they could not already do themselves.

No Bob. Not trying to reinvent the wheel. It is just that some things need not be so expensive AND INVOLVED. It is so uninvolved it is pitiful. Some things as you have said do not need to be reinvented. It is the newer store on line, per report or monthly fees that have reinvented what was so easy to do already.

Not to try to sway you in anyway because it works for you but. Why would I want to hand anyone a 70 plus page report when you know and I know, if we took out all the hype, fluff and pictures and what other crap there may be in a report, the report would only be several pages at best. My clients get a cover page with a pretty picture of the home. The page and a half of TREC preamble and then the rest is the report with plentiful pictures to explain the text or is it the other way around. They immediately see what the concerns are in the home and do not have to filter thru countless dribble that does them no good in telling them what is wrong with the home they are purchasing. They do not have to read a summary only to find that the report is the exact same thing. They do not get a paragraph of disclaimers for what could have been a short sentence of the concern and at best another short sentence as an explanation or follow up advice.

Just saying!

Hi Ted
Just flying by and been busy as heck since returning from vacation.
Sorry if I mis read the post .
Did not notice if you had mentioned Whisper however i do know that they are big in Texas from my deep research looking for the perfect software several years ago.
Please let me mention for Dominic that he has Texas templates and I am aware of your strict guidelines.
Dom can tell the rest if he sees my reply.
This was an old thread and I thought your tone sounded like the guys who are proud of their personally developed software .

It always kinda sucks except for a guy in Chicago named Kurt whose samples look descent and I recall he spent years on it.
Once again sorry.
The Texas guys speak highly of Whisper.
Did not care a whole lot for the look of the final product when looking, but that was maybe 5 years ago.

(edit)
OK I see Dom did answer.Told you I was busy.

Originally Posted by Bob Elliott

The biggest mistake I made when changing over from Horizon was thinking it should look like my old software.
We all do that.

The hard part is adding your canned drop down comments and templates to where you want them.

Remember ctrl a,v and x are your friend.
This is also a good chance to fine tune your report comments and get rid of frivolous hardly used text.

Once you learn which will come easy after initial work you can make use of the features that are new to you to your advantage.

I agree completely. Every inspector thinks that the new software should produce a report that looks exactly like their old report did. Over 15 years we have NEVER had an inspector have any complaints from clients on the newer look. I also agree that the most work is getting your current comments over and that copy and paste are your friend and it gives you an opportunity to reevaluate what you currently have in your comment library.

Originally Posted by Bob Elliott

Here is a sneak preview of the photo thumb feature which will soon allow most functions to be done with much less clicking thus saving time.
Like most functions the new ones are allowed to be turned off when wished very quickly since the whole software is based on speed.

As the HomeGauge screenshot below shows, HIP is working more and more like HomeGauge everyday. Even more so when the numbering option gets added.

Well, you are still missing the smart sentences, but I'm sure it'll be coming down the pike.

Dom,

Someone in the thread there was a question of whether there was a conversion tool for 3D. Is that available? I have been a 3D user for almost 10 years. I am getting tired of recurring issues and supports canned "its not us" response to issues that I have to painstaking document.

//Rick

For anyone considering a Software change...I have used 3D Inspection since 2004. "Report writer" is still basiclly this same, no matter what marketing says. Earlier this year I choose to upgrade. Sadly, the support from the head of there sales department just wasn't there; with an undeniable lack of interest even when I was all ready to provide my credit card Info. 3D makes it clear your'e forced to upgraded if you wish to advance to the next level of Windows. However, they fail to tell you that Windows 7 Professional in XP mode works just fine. Im sure 3D will say they can't "support" that.

Yes, people still live in Russia; It's hard to get out of a country once you live there. Looking for an exit strategy....I came across Home Inspector Pro. What catches your eye with HIP is the style of the finished Report. They make rookie inspectors look like a veterian! For a software guy, Dominic(HIP) truly did his homework about our industry. Not only is it a great product...there is great support.

Truly, three of the best software programs are 3D, Homegauge, and HIP. You decide! Im not a Homegauge user..it does't fit my personal style; but the "chatter" has always been postive.

Your not just purchasing a software program; but who is supporting you, your company, and your growing inspection needs.

Originally Posted by Dan Musielski

For anyone considering a Software change...I have used 3D Inspection since 2004. "Report writer" is still basiclly this same, no matter what marketing says. Earlier this year I choose to upgrade. Sadly, the support from the head of there sales department just wasn't there; with an undeniable lack of interest even when I was all ready to provide my credit card Info. 3D makes it clear your'e forced to upgraded if you wish to advance to the next level of Windows. However, they fail to tell you that Windows 7 Professional in XP mode works just fine. Im sure 3D will say they can't "support" that.

Yes, people still live in Russia; It's hard to get out of a country once you live there. Looking for an exit strategy....I came across Home Inspector Pro. What catches your eye with HIP is the style of the finished Report. They make rookie inspectors look like a veterian! For a software guy, Dominic(HIP) truly did his homework about our industry. Not only is it a great product...there is great support.

Truly, three of the best software programs are 3D, Homegauge, and HIP. You decide! Im not a Homegauge user..it does't fit my personal style; but the "chatter" has always been postive.

Your not just purchasing a software program; but who is supporting you, your company, and your growing inspection needs.

Wow Dan, thanks! That was extremely nice of you to post. We are definitely dedicated to support. In fact we just hired another tech support person and will be announcing next week that our phone hours are now 6am to 4pm PST (9am-7pm EST). There are a ton of other announcements coming out next week, stay tuned.

Rick, sorry I didn't see your post until now. Yes we have a 3D and InspectVue library converter.