SnackOn Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 My laptop is flaking out on me, and I need to get something more reliable to work with. Originally, I had planned to use binders and make notes on paper, while on route, then transfer to excel when I got home. But if I am going to buy something new anyway, I thought I'd consider other options. It would be nice to only enter the data once. And... time is money. If you were going to buy a new device to use on route, what would you choose? Would you go with an ipad, surface, some other tablet, or would you get a laptop? iphones are too small for me to use for this sort of thing. Or would you just stay with the binder on the road, double-entry system? I know this has been discussed a lot, but I didn't really see the tablets discussed much, which I thought might be better than a laptop- quicker to access, no hinges, longer battery life... Many thanks! Jennifer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mainor5251 Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 I like small route cards and you can enter later if you have some sort of route management system in your computer. The ones I use are in the download section, I ripped them off of will.vend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetstop Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 I changed over to a surface from an old 10" netbook which also worked fine it was just a little more clunky it runs office and all my excel docs are there, I enter data in the car. it works great for me. surface has come down in price also Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grazing Hippo Vending Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 So I use the old double entry system. I print my spreadsheet (Google Docs) and take it with me. When I get home I update everything on the computer. I considered using my Ipad but a couple of things made me decide not to do that. 1. I live in upstate NY where it gets pretty frigid. If I left the Ipad in the car then I figures the battery would drain from the cold. 2. While running my route I just didnt want something like that left in the car in certain neighborhoods. 3. I really didnt want to bring it into a location with me. Its hard enough to watch $20 in quarters with everyone poking around. I would be pretty mad if my Ipad took a stroll with someone else. 4. Sometimes my hands get a bit dirty after cleaning machine bases or picking candy off the floor near my machines and I didnt want to get my Ipad all disgusting. I just dont want to have to think about it. If you decide to go with a tablet, I would politley suggest that you consider using Google Docs if you are not doing so already. At least if someone grabs your tablet, the data is available on the cloud. Plus, it keeps you from having to use any other back up system AND you can access your data from any device with internet access. Good luck with your choice. Keep us posted with your final decision! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnackOn Posted February 21, 2014 Author Share Posted February 21, 2014 Thanks for the google docs tip. Right now I'm leaning toward the ASUS Transformer Book T100, because it comes with a keyboard, Office pre-installed, and it's one of the cheaper tablets. I tried going all Apple products once. They're really slick, but I just couldn't get used to their productivity apps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetstop Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Fyi I tried using the app that runs office for apple devices it works for basic entries but all my totals run automatically for route and daily totals as I enter data. it could not process the formulas correctly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 I like small route cards and you can enter later if you have some sort of route management system in your computer. The ones I use are in the download section, I ripped them off of will.vend. I also use a version of the route cards. Spreadsheets are fine but when you get 300-400 machines out the route books are the way to go. All I put on my spreadsheets are the deposits. Commissions paid goes on another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItsTodd Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 This is something that I've been interested in as well. Right now I just have 1 u-turn machine in the break room at my office. Even though it is right there, keeping things straight can be complex. I'm starting to get a system down, but can improve. What would the ideal solution look like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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